“Households should start a short timeline as soon as the connection fails."
Broadband customers could receive £10.34 for every calendar day their service remains completely unavailable if their provider takes too long to repair the fault.
The payment is available under Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme, which is designed to compensate eligible customers when broadband or landline services are not restored within the required timeframe.
However, customers will not automatically receive compensation simply because their Wi-Fi is slow or unreliable.
The service must have completely stopped working, and the fault must first be reported to the provider.
If the service remains unavailable after two full working days, compensation should begin automatically when the scheme covers the provider and service.
Ofcom’s guidance states: “If your broadband or landline service stops working, you simply have to report the fault to your provider.”
Once the two-working-day repair deadline is missed, customers receive an initial £10.34 payment.
A further £10.34 is then added for each calendar day that the service remains unfixed.
The compensation is normally applied as a credit to the customer’s bill and should be paid within 30 calendar days.
Ofcom’s current consumer guidance lists ten provider groups participating in the automatic compensation scheme.
These include:
- BT
- EE
- Hyperoptic
- Plusnet
- Sky
- NOW Broadband
- TalkTalk
- Utility Warehouse
- Virgin Media
- Vodafone
- Zen Internet
TalkTalk has restrictions for customers who don’t use the Openreach network.
The scheme applies to residential fixed-line broadband and landline services, meaning some customers and connections may fall outside its scope.
A slow or unreliable connection is also different from a qualifying total loss of service.
Customers may not qualify for the automatic payment in certain circumstances.
This can include cases where the fault has not been formally reported to the provider.
Compensation may also not apply if the loss of service was caused by equipment or activity inside the customer’s home.
Dedicated business connections are also outside the scope of the scheme.
Customers should also check whether their provider participates in the scheme and whether any provider-specific restrictions apply.
Consumer-bill specialists at Mothers assistance said customers should record when they report the fault, keep the reference number and check that the problem is being treated as a total loss rather than a speed complaint.
Customers should ask for a fault reference number and record when the report was officially accepted.
It is also useful to keep repair messages, updates and details of when the connection eventually returns.
Consumer-bill specialists at Mothers Assistance said keeping a timeline could help customers understand when the compensation period begins.
A spokesperson said: “Households should start a short timeline as soon as the connection fails.
“Note when the fault was reported, keep the reference number and save repair updates.”
They added that the two-working-day period starts from the formal fault report rather than the first moment when Wi-Fi becomes unreliable.
If a customer believes they are entitled to compensation but the credit does not appear, they should raise the issue directly with their provider.
Customers should keep records of their complaint and any response they receive.
If the issue remains unresolved, Ofcom says customers can take their complaint to an approved alternative dispute resolution service.
