When broadband or landline fails, record the outage, report it promptly and check both contractual remedies and Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme.
Service failures can engage contract rights, Consumer Rights Act service standards and, for participating residential fixed broadband/landline providers, Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme. The scheme covers specified events rather than every inconvenience.
As of April 2026, the scheme amounts include £10.34 per calendar day for qualifying delayed repair after loss of service, £32.31 for a qualifying missed appointment and £6.46 per day for delayed activation, subject to the scheme rules and exclusions.
Key points
- Report the fault because compensation clocks can depend on reporting.
- Record complete loss of service separately from slow/intermittent performance.
- Keep confirmed engineer appointment windows.
- If speed is the issue, collect repeatable measurements and check any minimum guaranteed speed commitment.
Automatic compensation
For a complete loss of qualifying fixed service, compensation generally becomes due if the service is not fully fixed after two full working days following the report, then accrues under the scheme. Missed appointments and delayed start dates have their own triggers.
Speed and quality problems
A connection that works but is significantly below promised/minimum standards requires different evidence. Use wired tests where practical, record dates/times and eliminate obvious local Wi-Fi causes before alleging a network fault.
Consequential loss
Automatic compensation does not necessarily answer every contractual loss claim, but consequential losses can be legally more difficult and fact-specific. Keep evidence of actual loss and causation rather than assuming any outage creates unlimited damages.
In practice
- Open a fault ticket immediately and save its reference.
- Keep screenshots/status messages and router logs if useful.
- Do not accept closure of a fault ticket while the service remains defective without recording your objection.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Report the fault and save the reference.
- Record the nature and duration of failure.
- Track engineer appointments and restoration time.
- Check automatic compensation eligibility.
- Complain if credits/compensation are missing or faults recur.
- Use ADR after deadlock or six weeks if unresolved.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Wi-Fi coverage inside the home is not always the same as broadband line failure.
- Automatic compensation covers participating providers/products and defined events.
- Do not rely on memory for outage duration; keep a dated log.
Evidence worth keeping
Do not let multiple fault tickets erase the chronology.
Useful wording.
“The service failure began on [date/time], was first reported under reference [x], and remained unresolved until [date/time]/remains unresolved. Please assess automatic compensation, refund any charges for service not supplied where applicable, and explain the permanent fix rather than closing this as a new isolated ticket.”
If the complaint remains unresolved, use the provider’s formal complaint route and ADR after deadlock or six weeks.
For slow broadband, compare performance with the contractual benchmark.
If your provider is covered by Ofcom’s residential broadband speeds code, the minimum guaranteed download speed supplied at sign-up can matter. Follow the provider’s troubleshooting process and preserve tests. The code includes a right to exit without penalty where qualifying speed problems remain unresolved after the specified process.
Wi-Fi performance inside the home can differ from the line speed delivered to the router, so use the testing method requested by the provider and, where possible, wired/router-level evidence.
Check automatic compensation before negotiating a goodwill payment.
Many major residential broadband and landline providers participate in Ofcom’s Automatic Compensation Scheme. From the July 2026 rates, qualifying delayed repairs can attract £10.34 for each relevant calendar day, missed appointments £32.31, and delayed starts £6.46 per relevant calendar day, subject to the scheme rules and exclusions. The scheme is automatic: a customer should not have to barter for the standard payment.
Automatic compensation is not the same thing as every possible contractual or consumer-law remedy. A serious failure can still require separate analysis of charges, cancellation rights or additional loss.
Classify the failure before choosing the remedy.
A complete loss of broadband, intermittent faults, slow speeds, missed installations and poor mobile coverage are different problems with different evidence. Start with fault reports, dates, diagnostics and promised repair/activation dates. Do not rely only on repeated statements that the service was “bad”.
| Failure | Useful evidence |
|---|---|
| Total broadband/landline loss | Fault reference, report time, restoration time, engineer notes. |
| Delayed installation/start | Confirmed activation date and actual live date. |
| Missed engineer appointment | Appointment confirmation and notice of any cancellation. |
| Slow broadband | Router-connected speed tests, minimum guaranteed speed, provider diagnostics. |
| Intermittent service | Dated fault log, router logs where available, repeated support tickets. |
When the fault is not a simple outage
Provisioning and configuration failures can look like customer-equipment problems
A service can be technically “live” while still being incorrectly provisioned. Examples include an ONT or line profile that has not been aligned correctly, an add-on that was not actually applied, incorrect authentication, a routing or addressing problem, or a back-end configuration that does not match the package sold. These disputes are harder than a total outage because first-line support may see a connected service and assume the fault sits inside the home.
Do not let the complaint collapse into repeated reboot instructions. Record what works, what does not, what changed immediately before the fault and what the provider says its systems show. If an engineer later identifies a provisioning or back-end issue, ask for that diagnosis in writing and require the complaint response to reconcile it with any earlier explanation.
Useful distinction
A public dynamic IP address can support ordinary port forwarding. A static IP is not inherently required. But CGNAT, provider architecture, router restrictions or an incorrectly provisioned IP service can prevent inbound connections. Ask the provider to identify the actual network configuration rather than accepting “you need a static IP” as a universal explanation.
When support gives one diagnosis and the engineer finds another
Contradictory technical explanations matter because they affect both the remedy and the credibility of the complaint investigation. Build a simple table: date, person/team, diagnosis, proposed fix and later outcome. If the provider first says the service is working as designed but an engineer later repairs a provider-side configuration fault, ask the provider to identify which explanation it now relies on and why the earlier diagnosis was given.
An engineer repair does not automatically resolve the whole complaint. There may still be questions about avoidable downtime, support access, missed commitments, additional charges incurred to obtain a workaround, or compensation.
Automatic compensation is a scheme payment, not a universal ceiling on redress
Ofcom's Automatic Compensation Scheme has defined triggers and participating providers. It is valuable precisely because the qualifying payment should be automatic. But it does not convert every other complaint into the same calculation, and it should not be treated as a universal legal cap on refunds, contractual remedies or discretionary redress.
As of the rates published by Ofcom in July 2026, qualifying delayed repair attracts £10.34 per relevant calendar day, a qualifying missed appointment £32.31, and delayed activation £6.46 per relevant calendar day. The scheme normally pays by bill credit unless another form is agreed. Check the live Ofcom page because rates and scheme membership can change.
Support access can become part of the loss of service story
If the only realistic route to diagnosis is technical support, long unanswered queues and promised callbacks that never happen can materially extend the fault. Keep call logs showing attempted contact, queue duration, callback promises and whether those promises were honoured. Do not inflate the point: a missed callback is not automatically a separate statutory breach. It is evidence of how the provider handled a reported fault and whether avoidable delay was added to the underlying failure.
Where the provider blames unusual demand, a merger, migration or internal system pressure, preserve that explanation. It may help explain the event, but it does not by itself answer whether the consumer received the service, support and remedy they were entitled to.
Complete loss, intermittent service and slow performance need different evidence
| Failure | Evidence | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Complete loss | Fault report, router/ONT state, restoration date | May engage automatic compensation for participating providers. |
| Intermittent drops | Timestamped disconnect log and provider diagnostics | A daily average speed can hide repeated outages. |
| Slow speed | Wired tests, contractual speed information, time-of-day pattern | Distinguishes network performance from Wi-Fi coverage. |
| Feature/configuration failure | Addressing/profile/engineer evidence | May be provisioning rather than general “broadband speed”. |
If the fault is fixed, the complaint may still need an outcome
Restoration answers the technical problem. It does not automatically answer incorrect billing, automatic compensation, unnecessary add-ons, prolonged support failure or a request for a root-cause explanation. Close each issue explicitly rather than letting “service restored” close the whole case by implication.
Check automatic compensation separately
A qualifying total loss of fixed broadband or landline service can trigger the Ofcom Automatic Compensation Scheme for participating providers. Use the dedicated automatic compensation guide to calculate the relevant event and preserve the dates.
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Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.