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Unable to get reduced internet tariff in Colchester Essex.

I recently renewed my contract with Vodafone before realising I could get a social tariff.  I phoned and explained and they have lowered my broadband from around £24 to just over £12.  As I had signed up for a two year contract they said I could still keep that and nothing would change apart from the price and nothing has - very happy customer.

I tried to change to a social tarrif some years ago & BT were snooty & unhelpful & said I couldn't change mid-contract. Then I went to a budget provider & the speeds were 8-10MB (rural area). So I went back to BT for £35 month BB & calls. Due to my disability I am very frightened of answering the phone to people I don't know & very vulnerable to being scammed. I am terrified of unexpected calls from DWP when there's no one to help me. I have a BT phone blocker & caller display phone.

I asked Scottish Power about this last week in the store and was told to phone 191.  I also sent an email, which didn’t get answered.  There doesn’t seem to be any help or they pretend not to know about it. 

I'm with Bt social broadband and it's great. Was with plusnet they didn't do a social tarrif and I was paying double the price. By going to BT social tarrif, I pay 15.00 a month and 4.99 for phone add-ons that's a bargain..... 

Hi. I took it up two yrs ago more than halved the price I was paying  my speed stayed the same only no longer have landline had to changed to wifi calls can't use phone if no wifi but that's not a problem have mobile, you do not have to take wifi calls but you will lose you land line, I am with BT my cost is £20.00pm £10 to 15 without wifi calls I was paying £49.50pm so a £19.52 reduction per month

In most cases the speeds offered are much slower

Although I could avail of this offer of cheap broadband,  u have not done so as the offer does not meet the broadband speed necessary in my area.

I transferred to BT in May because their offer was much cheaper than my previous provider, £20 p.m. compared to £35, and the broadband speed was actually faster! I was angry that my previous provider had not let me know about social tariffs since they were introduced a year ago. I guess that lack of information is the main reason for people not switching. Really we need social tariffs for everything - utilities and mobile phones. 

I phoned BT last week after I read about this and was told that I did not have the right criteria for the social broadband, even though I have full disability (enhanced PIP) and have had for years now. They told me that enhanced PIP was NOT a qualification for the offer! 

I think the biggest reason for the low uptake is the fact that no-one knows about them and they are not advertised or even disclosed by the internet companies. Take virgin media for example - their social broadband is called 'universal credit broadband' (although it also covers other benefits). This isnt listed under their main tariffs on their main website and is over in a separate part of the website which I could only find from using a search engine. And further to this I recently called up to renew my non-social tariff with virgin media - and on the call I clearly explained I was disabled and on a low income with disability benefits - and the customer service agent never even mentioned the much cheaper social tariffs. They simply offered me the cheapest price they could on one of their normal plans.

Then after you’re first email on this a few weeks ago I called up virgin media again and specifically asked for details on their social tariffs and they instantly gave me all the details – they told me where to find the plan details online, the prices & speeds, and also that you can change onto a social tariff at any point during you’re contract with no extra fees. All that you have to do is fill in a form online and then if you’re accepted they will reduce you’re speed and reduce you’re bills. They are also 30 day rolling contracts so its easy to swap back to a higher speed tariff if you’re money situation changed in the future.

But this brings me onto my 2nd point as to why these social tariffs aren’t very well used – the speed is pretty low compared to other packages. You said in you’re initial email that speeds can be as high as 100mpbs with certain companies. But I don’t know which one. Virgin media is one of the fastest internet companies in the uk, and their 100mbps and 200mpbs packages aren’t that expensive. And although the social tariffs are cheaper the speed decrease means a lot of streaming and gaming services that many disabled people use to keep occupied wouldn’t work properly. For example the virgin social tariffs are 12mbps or 24mbps and the highest is only 56mpbs. If they offered a 100mpbs social tariff it would be perfect for me – but 56mpbs is too low for a lot of streaming services. For some people who just browse the internet and social media and things maybe those speeds would be just fine.

So just to conclude the 2 reasons I think the uptake in social tariffs is low is because for one they are quite hidden and not advertised or disclosed very well by the internet providers, and for 2 because the speeds are very low compared to the normal tariffs the companies offer. It might cost half the price but you get a quarter of the speed. Basically for the low speed you get these social tariffs are still too expensive. 

You have to have a credit check some people won’t pass this

I'm with Sky social tariff for £20 a month, the speed is slower than I had, with buffering sometimes but as I live alone it is just about ok.  They were very kind, easy to contact and offered me a free sim card for 6 months to go with the tariff. I am in Pension Credit.

I tried getting this with BT as I claim PIP. Unfortunately I didn't qualify as I'm on legacy benefits 😕 

I recently moved into my first home and was a first time broadband customer. I applied for the Vodafone £12 social tariff and was up and running within about a week. All has been working very well so far, not sure if it will go so smoothly when it's time to renew, we will see.

My previous contract with Sky was coming to an end; I remembered seeing something about the social tariff and contacted BT.  Thankfully I am on an eligible benefit and it was very easy to set up over the phone.

I think the main barrier is:

I haven't taken up social broadband because at the time I was in a contract with Talk Talk. I realised Talk Talk didn't have any social packages. 

Unfortunately BT doesn't offer Social Tariff to PIP claimants, yet their BB prices have risen at nearly double the inflation rate.