Internet service providers could soon
be forced to pay out around £185 million a year in compensation for slow repairs and
missed appointments.
Under new proposals by telecoms
watchdog Ofcom, landline and broadband customers would automatically receive
money back from their provider without having to ask or go through a claims
process.
Ofcom have said that customers could
receive up to £185 million in compensation each year if their landline or broadband is
not fixed quickly enough, is not working on the day it had been promised, or an
engineer does not arrive at a scheduled appointment time.
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, whenever repairs or installations
don't happen on time, or when people wait in for an engineer who doesn't turn
up. This would mean customers are properly compensated, while providers will
want to work harder to improve their service."
The amount of the compensation will be
set by Ofcom and will reflect "the degree of harm suffered by the
consumers".
Ofcom analysis suggests there are
about 6 million cases of consumers losing their landline or broadband service every
year, while engineers fail to turn up for around 250,000 appointments annually.
In addition, around 1.3 million people are affected each year by delays in their
landline and broadband installations, with one in eight installations being
delayed.
Currently, compensation payments are
given on an ad-hoc basis, with Ofcom saying only a minority of those suffering
problems receive compensation. Financial compensation is paid in only 1.1
million cases, despite there being 7.2 million instances each year where
landline or broadband customers suffer delays or missed appointments.
Research from business internet
service provider Beaming found that British businesses lost £7 billion to internet
outages in 2016, with over three quarters of businesses experiencing at
least one connectivity failure.
The proposal would also benefit
smaller businesses, According to Ofcom. "Our research found that 49% of SMEs were uncertain of their rights when providers fell short.”
Matt Hancock, the Minister for Digital
and Culture said: “Too many people are suffering from poor customer service
when things go wrong with their broadband and phone lines. These changes will help make sure people are not cut
off from friends, family and work for days on end, and are properly compensated
if problems aren’t fixed quickly enough.”
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