The BBC has reported that only one in twenty claimants who are eligible for social tariff broadband have actually signed up, with 4.3 million potentially eligible people apparently missing out. We’d like to hear about your experience if you’ve signed up for social tariff broadband or what made you decide against it.

Claimants on a range of benefits are eligible for social tariff broadband deals.

All the major suppliers offer a cheaper deal if you are on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Income Support.

Some also extend their offer to PIP claimants.

Prices range from £10 to £20 a month with speeds from 15 to 100 Mbits, depending on the supplier.

The Ofcom website has a full list of suppliers and prices, with links to their individual terms and conditions.

Citizens Advice estimates that one million people have cancelled their broadband in the last year because of the cost of living, with UC claimants 12 times more likely to have done so than non-claimants.

Yet social tariff deals are not proving popular and Citizens Advice wants Ofcom to "hold firms' feet to the fire" to improve their take-up.

But is it just lack of awareness of these schemes that is holding people back? Or is it that mobile phones are a necessity while home broadband is an unaffordable luxury for many claimants, no matter how cheap the deal?

Please let us know your opinion of the scheme in the comments section.

You can read the full story on the BBC website.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I live in the sticks, there are limited providers. I was with BT who wanted to increase my cost to £38.99 pm. I swapped to Home Essential Fibre 2 which is74Mbps, guaranteed 34Mbps and £20pm. There is no discernable diffence for me apart from the bill. Other broadband tariffs have had big uplifts in price because of inflation. The Social Tariffs haven’t changed. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    For me it’s because I’m locked into a contract which was only renewed shortly before I discovered there was a lower rate for people on benefits. It’s something I would look in further to and consider nearing the end of my term. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @Jahmima Hi Jahmima call them as you can do this anytime within contract as they should ask about disabilities go on call them ask for customer services do not be put off by first person who answers the phone
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @Jahmima Are you sure you are "locked" into your contract. Do ask them to change you to a social offering.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @Jahmima I'd seriously consider making a complaint to your provider and pointing out that they should do the decent thing and put your contract onto the social tariff. They can only say no, and there is a 50% chance they will say yes. Good luck!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    We swapped to the BT social tariff last year. We had to move away from BT broadband as it is less than useless where we live and didn't improve after they'd dug up half the garden. However, we had to go for the broadband and phone package as they don't offer any just phone packages. So basically BT are getting money for nothing, plus they don't make it easy to swap and they are not forthcoming about the tariff unless you push.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I’m on a contract with ‘3’ for my internet, I’d have to pay the remaining months to leave early and they don’t offer social contracts 
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      · 1 years ago
      @David If you can get a decent signal & speed on 3 then it maybe worth keeping an eye on smarty (as it probably cheap to stay than to leave early) a virtual mobile phone network that I believe is actually owned by 3 and uses the same network https://smarty.co.uk/social-tariff 



      An issue I can see though is its limited to 
      Then regular deals can sometimes be just as good as this especially if you get cashback and see if you can haggle with three at the end of your contract. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I’m not eligible. Just because I’m still claiming tax credits and haven’t been moved to Universal Credit, I’m receiving PIP but I still get told I can’t have the social tariff. It’s blatant discrimination against those who are still on the tax credits system. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I understand some people want to sign up for social tariffs but are held back by contracts with existing companies they can't afford to leave.... Not sure they are eligible for no fees on exit... I went from EE to bt easily because they were linked & my old contract ended. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    It's that difficult to do. I have been trying for 2 days. And still not getting anywhere......
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @June I wonder who with.
      BT is done online.
      Keep going, you'll get there.....
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I moved to BT once FTTP become available, I get 72MB speed for £20. Ironically I'm paying more than I did with Virgin for 200mb at £17.50 from outbound retentions deals. I moved for the stability, I only need speed when downloading UHD content and that's not often 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I have a brother and sister on benefits but I have bt broadband I pay bill it's in my name but won't let me have it cheaper because I pay bill yet I did tell them 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    il tell you why most people do not use social tarrifs as its basically like dial up slow and only useful for reading emails, you cant play games or watch videos and most websites now have fancy graphics with inbuilt videos making website take ages to load. i pay £25 a month for internet and thats at speeds of 68mbps which = about 6-7 MB downlaod speed, Mbps is what companys use to advertise speed as it looks better, MBps is megabits per second, 60 68 of those = 6-7 megabytes per second downlaod speed, social tarrif isnt worth it better off paying an extra 13 quid a month and being able to do what you liek online, not everyone pays 50 quid or more for internet.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I wouldn't use a social tariff for my broadband  because i would never have a service with any of those big ISP's  Due to customer service and lack of it along with  poor tech support should you face issues at any point, Add in their WEB blocking and censoring which may or may not affect your web browsing   even things like  accessing  RT news And this can only get worse If i pay for internet access  then i expect to have access to the whole internet I'm an adult and  am responsible for my own actions
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @tommy All you need to do is get in touch with them and tell them to take you off of restricted,  (censoring) . 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    Too slow for me, I cannot cope with waiting an hour for adobe to do each update...
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    The speeds offered on the social tariffs are just too slow unfortunately 😥
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    The speeds are too low for modern use to be honest. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I changed 6 months ago, it’s a no brainer. Speeds are perfectly acceptable for streaming films and tv. Can’t understand why anybody would want to pay full price, it was so easy to change over, no fees or loss of service. Same with the water bill, that’s been halved by applying for their social fund. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I changed to a social tarriff in January, I was still in contract with EE but there was no penalty as I moved to BT essentials and the 2 companies have merged apparently. I pay £20 per month for the same speed broadband as I had previously, there is a cheaper option of £15 per month too. I have not had to pay the normal April increase on this tariff and not noticed any drop in quality of service. It is reviewed after a year. if your circumstances remain the same you then go on to a rolling contract. So for me its been a good move though appreciate its quite a basic package.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    It doesn't include enough services such as films. It is a very basic service
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @Carole You could buy outright a Roku or other "stick" with no ongoing costs.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    Sorry I've just looked again they are not nearly as low as i thought i saw a few months ago, apologies.....

    that cancels my possible reason i guess.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    Just a thought, 

    perhaps the social tariffs speeds are lowish, ( im am no gamer ) but looked out of curiosity,   thinking that's rather low.   

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