Earlier this year Ofcom had the idea to make getting a refund for poor broadband service something that happens automatically, as currently calling up either BT or Sky and asking for some compensation for a refund can be a bit of a task. This week Ofcom announced that the major players in the UK have all agreed to be part of this new scheme – that includes BT, Sky, Virgin Media, Zen Internet and TalkTalk.

Terms

Stuff like this always will some terms and conditions and as it turns out, you can’t just get a refund or some compensation for if your broadband has been a bit slow for a few days at a time. The only times you’ll get some financial kick back is when your broadband has been fully down for two working days and not been revived, following this you’ll get £8 per day that the service remains down. If an engineer misses an appointment or the company cancels the appointment less than 24 hours before the scheduled time, you’re owed £25.

So far this new scheme sounds like it is optional and the current ISPs that have signed up have only agreed to it.

“Ofcom will closely monitor the industry scheme, and review it one year after being implemented to ensure it’s working for consumers. If not, we will step in.”

Ofcom, UK