What compensation can I claim when my broadband goes down?

The scheme is voluntary for providers but the main ones have joined, and the amounts are set by Ofcom and uprated each year. The catch is 'automatic': the credit appears on a bill without explanation, or not at all, and few people check.

Step by step

1. Check whether your provider is in the scheme.The large residential providers are signed up, including BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Vodafone and EE, among others. Smaller providers may not be, in which case you fall back on their own complaints process.
2. Know the three situations it covers.Total loss of service not fixed after two full working days; an engineer appointment missed or cancelled at short notice; and a new service that does not start on the promised day.
3. Note that it is total loss, not slow service.A connection that is working but poor is not covered by this scheme. That is a service-quality complaint, and the route there is the provider's complaints process and then an ombudsman.
4. Report the fault properly and record when.Compensation runs from the day the fault is reported, not the day it started. Note the date, time and reference number, and keep any text or email confirming it.
5. Keep your own evidence while you wait.Photograph the router lights, keep speed test screenshots, and note each contact. Providers occasionally record a fault as fixed when it was not.
6. Check the next two bills.Credits usually appear within thirty days of the fault being fixed and are often a line item with no explanation. Compare against the daily rate multiplied by the days lost.
7. Claim in writing if it does not appear.State the fault dates, the reference number, and the scheme by name. Ask for the calculation. Keep it short and factual rather than angry — this is an administrative process.
8. Escalate after eight weeks or a deadlock letter.Telecoms complaints go to an alternative dispute resolution scheme; your provider must tell you which one covers them. It is free to you.

Tips

• Ofcom publishes the current daily rates and updates them annually. Check the current figure rather than relying on a number quoted in an old article.
• If the outage cost you money — a missed working day, a paid-for hotspot — say so, but claim it separately. The automatic scheme is a fixed rate, not a reimbursement.
• A fault that recurs repeatedly is worth logging as a pattern. Repeated short outages may not trigger compensation individually but strengthen a complaint and a case for leaving without penalty.

Common mistakes

• Not reporting the fault because you assume they know — The compensation clock starts when the fault is reported. An area-wide outage they already know about still needs your report on your account.
• Accepting a goodwill credit as settlement — A small goodwill gesture is not the same as the scheme rate, and accepting it can be treated as resolving the complaint. Ask explicitly whether the payment is under the automatic compensation scheme.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask