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Landline and broadband customers who suffer poor service could get money back automatically under plans set out by the telecoms regulator, Ofcom.
Under the proposals, they would no longer have to “fight tooth and nail” to get “fair compensation”, Ofcom said.
The plan, which is now subject to consultation, could benefit up to 2.6 million customers, the regulator added.
The payments would apply whenever services go wrong and are not fixed quickly enough.
Slow repairs, missed deadlines and engineers’ visits that fail to happen as promised would all be covered.
Ofcom said up to £185m could be paid out as a result.
Cash or credit
“Customers would be entitled to automatic compensation, without having to go through a potentially lengthy and difficult claims process,” the regulator said.
They would receive either a cash payment or a credit on their bill, with the level of payments set by Ofcom.
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The proposed scale of charges would be:
£10 for each calendar day that the service is not repaired
£30 for any time that an engineer fails to turn up for a scheduled appointment, or that it is cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice
£6 for each calendar day of delay at the start of a new service, including the missed start date.
“When a customer’s landline or broadband goes wrong, that is frustrating enough, without having to fight tooth and nail to get fair compensation from the provider,” said Ofcom’s consumer group director, Lindsey Fussell.
She said the proposals “would mean customers are properly compensated, while providers will want to work harder to improve their service”.
