Broadband social tariff: who actually qualifies

A broadband social tariff is the cheapest thing in this market that almost nobody claims. If someone in your household receives Universal Credit, Pension Credit or one of several other benefits, there is a fair chance you could be paying a good deal less than you pay now for exactly the same connection. Ofcom has been pointing this out for years. Fewer than one in ten of the households that qualify have taken one up, and the reason is not suspicion or paperwork. Most of them have never heard of them.

What is a broadband social tariff?

It is a discounted package a provider sells only to households receiving a qualifying benefit. Same network, same engineer, same box on the wall. The only things that change are the price and, usually, which speed tier you are allowed to buy.

It is not a grant, a voucher or a hardship fund, and there is no application to fill in beyond showing that you receive the benefit. That matters, because the word tariff makes people expect a form and a wait. It is an ordinary commercial product with an unusual entry requirement, and Ofcom keeps a list of the providers offering one.

Who qualifies for one?

Almost always Universal Credit, and usually Pension Credit. Past those two it is up to the provider. That is why no flat answer to this question exists, and why the useful move is to ask your own provider by name rather than read a general list and give up.

• Universal Credit. The one benefit every social tariff we have seen accepts.
• Pension Credit. Accepted by most, and the one that goes unclaimed most often, so it is worth checking whether an older household is entitled to it in the first place.
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, and Income Support. Widely but not universally accepted.
• Wider benefits at some providers only. Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Housing Benefit, Carer's Allowance and local council tax support all appear on some lists and not others.

Providers also differ on whether the person receiving the benefit has to be the account holder, so ask rather than assume if that is the situation in your house.

What it costs, and what you give up

The tariffs providers publish mostly start somewhere around £12 to £15 a month and stop well short of £25, against standard packages that generally sit higher. Do the sum against your own bill, not against an average. The saving is the gap between those two numbers, and nobody else's arithmetic tells you what yours is.

Two honest catches. The speed on offer is usually one of the slower tiers the provider sells rather than its fastest, so a household that genuinely needs the top tier may not be choosing between like and like. And social tariffs are concentrated among the large providers and the cable network. Most alternative networks do not publish one at all, though there are exceptions: B4RN, a community-owned rural network, sells a social tariff at £15 a month to households on council tax support.

Which leads to the point most guides on this subject skip. A social tariff is not automatically the cheapest thing available to you. The lowest standard price on a small network can come in under it, and the cheapest full fibre deals are usually found exactly there. Check both.

Can you switch to a social tariff mid-contract?

If your own provider sells one, yes, and it should not cost you anything to move. Ofcom's position is that you can move onto your provider's social tariff at any point in your contract, free of charge, and that the price should not then be pushed up mid-term.

If your provider does not sell one, the picture is worse and it is worth knowing that before you ring anybody. You are now asking to leave a contract early in order to go elsewhere, and no rule forces your provider to waive the exit charge for that. Some will let you go. Some will not. It is a request, not a right, which is a real gap in how this is supposed to work.

The exception is if a price rise has just landed. A rise your provider did not spell out before you signed opens a short window to leave without penalty, and broadband price rises covers when that applies and how long you have.

Why almost nobody who qualifies is on one

Ofcom's own reporting puts the total at roughly 530,000 broadband and mobile social tariffs across the whole country as of the middle of last year, against an eligible pool it estimates in the millions. That is take-up below one in ten. Awareness among eligible households sits at around three in ten, which is the number that actually explains the first one.

This is not really a story about households failing to shop around. It is a story about a product that is available and unadvertised. Citizens Advice has repeatedly pressed providers to promote social tariffs properly, and the count has crept up slowly rather than jumped. You will not usually find one sitting next to the headline deals on a provider's website, and nobody will offer it to you on a renewal call. You have to ask.

How to check, and what to have ready

Three steps, and the first two cost nothing but a phone call.

• Check whether your current provider offers one. Ofcom's list is the quickest way to find out, and if the answer is yes you can move onto it without an exit fee.
• Ask for it by name. Say social tariff. The generic question about a cheaper deal gets you routed to whatever retention offer is on the screen, which is a different and usually worse thing.
• Have the proof to hand. A recent award letter, a screenshot of your Universal Credit account, or your National Insurance number if the provider checks records directly.

Then do the comparison properly. Put your postcode through the availability checker to see which networks actually reach your address, and line the cheapest standard price on your street up against the social tariff you qualify for. One of those two is your answer, and it is not always the one with the label on it.

Frequently asked questions

Will taking a social tariff affect my benefits?

No. A social tariff is a discount from your broadband provider, not a payment from the state, so it is not income and it is not a benefit in its own right. All your provider does is check that you receive a qualifying one before it sells you the cheaper package.

Do I have to prove I get the benefit?

Yes, in some form. Providers ask for a recent award letter, a screenshot of your Universal Credit account, or your National Insurance number so they can check your details against benefit records rather than reading a letter. It is a one-off check at the point you sign up, not something you repeat every month.

What happens if I stop receiving the benefit?

The tariff normally ends with the benefit rather than the service being cut off, and you move to a standard price. How much notice you get, and what that standard price is, are set out in the terms rather than in any rule, so those are the two things worth reading before you sign.

Are social tariffs available on full fibre?

Some are and some are not, because availability follows the provider rather than the technology. A provider that sells full fibre to your address may still only offer its social tariff on a slower package, so check which product the discount actually applies to.

Is a social tariff always the cheapest option?

No, and it is worth checking rather than assuming. The cheapest standard package on a small network can undercut a social tariff outright, particularly at the lower speeds. Run your postcode through the checker and compare the two properly before you commit to either.