Universal Credit claimants eligible for broadband bill discount

Martin Lewis reveals possible broadband savings for millions

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Various deals are available to those who receive benefit payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). For example, people on Universal Credit can make a sizable saving by applying for a broadband social tariff. This deal could save a household £180 annually if they are eligible, according to consumer experts.

What is a social tariff?

This is a deal offering individuals a discount on their broadband and mobile phone costs if they claim Universal Credit and other benefits.

Social tariffs are awarded to recipients in the same way as normal packages but at a lower price tag.

Both the Government and the media regulator Ofcom have been pushing for broadband providers and mobile phone companies to offer these concessions more to their most vulnerable customers.

According to the Government, households on social tariffs could save more than £180 thanks to deals being as low as £15 per month.

READ MORE: Pension triple lock ‘needs reform’ for ‘means-tested’ payments

Which broadband providers offer deals for Universal Credit claimants?

Multiple broadband providers provide social tariffs to their customers to help with the rise in the cost of living.

Notably, broadband companies have deals available to claimants who get payments outside of Universal Credit.

Here is a full list of the providers and the social tariffs they currently advertise to their customers:

  • Air Broadband Air Support – £20 a month, various benefits (in and out of work)
  • BT Home Essentials – £15 a month, various benefits (in and out of work)
  • BT Home Essentials 2 – £20 a month, various benefits (in and out of work)
  • Community Fibre Essential – £12.50 a month, open to all
  • Country Connect Social Tariff – £15 a month, various benefits (in and out of work)
  • EE Basics – £12 a month, various benefits (in and out of work)
  • NOW Broadband Basics – £20 a month, Universal Credit or Pension Credit
  • Sky Broadband Basics – £20 a month, Universal Credit or Pension Credit
  • Virgin Media Essential Broadband – £12.50 a month, Universal Credit
  • Virgin Media Essential Broadband Plus – £20 a month, Universal Credit
  • Vodafone Essentials Broadband – £12 per month, various benefits (in and out of work).

It should be noted that social tariffs will not be automatically applied to a household’s broadband bill.

Claimants will not have to be concerned about paying any more than what they agreed at the start of the contract.

Households can also switch onto a social tariff at any given time and leave the tariff before the contract comes to an end.

Recipients of Universal Credit will need to prove to their provider that they are in fact in receipt of support from the DWP.

Experts are highlighting that this is crucial for low income families receiving financial assistance through social tariffs.

Harry Dougall, the founder of Sagacity, broke down the difficulty that comes from trying to get benefit claimants onto these deals.

He explained: “While there is broad agreement from people working in the industry that more needs to be done to ensure help gets to those that need it, many believe the onus should be on the customer to ask for help.

“But from our experience with identifying financially vulnerable customers, people are not always forthcoming in asking for help when it’s needed.

“This could mean millions are falling through the gaps. Taking a proactive approach to ensure that people know what support is available, using data to identify people that might need more help, will make all the difference.”

The consumer noted that broadband providers can still do more to promote their offerings to households which are in need.

Mr Dougall added: “Yet to do this, organisations need to be able to join the dots across multiple datasets, both internally and externally.

“So a big step will be for telecoms providers to wrangle their data and apply an analytics layer which allows them to look for trends and spot anomalies that will help them to proactively support the vulnerable.”

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