Customers pocket £20m in record broadband payout

Record compensation paid out to landline and broadband customers under voluntary scheme launched last year.

Customers of some of the country’s biggest telecom providers, including BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk received a total of £20.7m between July and December last year.

What is the Automatic Compensation Scheme?

The Automatic Compensation Scheme was set up by industry watchdog Ofcom and automatically pays out for delayed repairs, late installations and missed appointments, without customers needing to claim first.

The industry regulator found that engineers failed to turn up to 250,000 appointments every year, while around 1.3 million homes and businesses were affected by late installations prior to the scheme’s introduction.

Under the Automatic Compensation Scheme, broadband providers are expected to automatically pay out:

• £8 for each day that a service is not repaired,
• £5 a day for delays to new installations,
• £25 for a missed appointment.

Ofcom is hailing the new scheme as a success, as it estimates that providers paid out just £8m over the equivalent six month period before its introduction.

However, as the data only covers July to December 2019, we are yet to see any impact the coronavirus pandemic may have had on the scheme.

Just how much did suppliers pay out?

The compensation that participating providers paid out breaks down as follows:

• £9.7m for delayed repairs following loss of service,
• £1.6m for missed appointments,
• £9.5m for the delayed installation of new services.

Best and worst broadband providers revealed

Together with the update on its Automatic Compensation Scheme, Ofcom also revealed its annual report into the best and worst performing broadband service providers.

It wasn’t particularly good news for TalkTalk, with only 78% satisfied with their level of customer service. Customers were also less likely to be satisfied with their overall service reliability than the average and unlikely to recommend their provider to a friend.

Virgin Media customers experienced the longest call waiting times, with advisors taking an average of 4 minutes and 26 seconds to answer their call.

At the other end of the scale, Plusnet came out top, with customers reporting higher than average satisfaction with their broadband service, though they did have to wait longer than average for their calls to be answered.

If you’re not satisfied with your broadband service, we recommend speaking to one of our expert advisors about switching providers. We work with companies who not only offer great deals, but also top class customer service, to give you the best of both worlds.

Give us a call today on 01704 468 005 or get a free callback now and let us find the right broadband package to suit your needs.