Telecoms Customers Could Get Automatic Refunds for Poor Service

Broadband and landline customers who suffer poor service from their providers could get automatic refunds as part of new proposals.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom said customers should not have to go through a potentially lengthy claims process to get compensation if their service is too slow, not working, or was not fixed quickly enough.

The Mirror reports that consumers could also be eligible for a cash payment in cases where an engineer fails to turn up for a planned appointment.

Estimates suggest that around 2.6 million customers could receive a total of up to £185 million each year as a result of the new measures.

In response to Ofcom's plans, BT, Sky and Virgin Media have jointly put forward a draft proposal to introduce automatic compensation through a voluntary industry code of practice.

However, Ofcom said it does not "consider that this proposal sufficiently meets our concerns."

Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's consumer group director, said:

"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.

"So we're proposing new rules to force providers to pay money back to customers automatically."

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