Citizens Advice Claim 1 Million UK Peeps Disconnected Broadband in Last Year UPDATE

A new survey of over 6,000 adults in the UK, which was conducted by consumer charity Citizen’s Advice, claims to have uncovered that “up to” 1 million broadband customers “disconnected” their broadband ISP connection over the past year because the cost-of-living crisis left them unable to afford it.

The survey itself included 1,215 respondents known to be in receipt of Universal Credit (state benefits). Overall, some 6% of people claiming Universal Credit said they had stopped spending on broadband altogether, which compares to just 1% of respondents not on Universal Credit.

However, what’s not clear is where these people went (e.g. did they fall back to mobile data, stay disconnected or borrow a neighbour’s service?), although we assume that they must have found some sort of solution because the aforementioned survey was “conducted online“. Sadly, the survey didn’t dig into this, and so we’re missing some vital context.

Out of those who either stopped spending or cut back on broadband in the past 12 months, such as by disconnecting the service or switching to a cheaper deal, some 12% of those said they also experienced at least one negative consequence as a result.

The harms experienced varied, but of that group some 42% found it difficult to manage their other bills, 27% found it difficult to keep in touch with friends and family, 26% found it difficult to look for work, 23% found it difficult to work from home and 14% found it difficult to manage my Universal Credit account.

Finally, the survey found that 7% of respondents said they were behind on their broadband bill, although some groups were more likely than others to be behind. Some 16% of respondents claiming Universal Credit said they were behind on their broadband bill, compared to 4% of respondents not on Universal Credit.

Dame Clare Moriarty, CEO of Citizens Advice, said:

“People are being priced out of internet access at a worrying rate. Social tariffs should be the industry’s safety net, but firms’ current approach to providing and promoting them clearly isn’t working. The people losing out as a result are the most likely to disconnect.

The internet is now an essential part of our lives – vital to managing bills, accessing benefits and staying in touch with loved ones.

As providers continue to drag their feet in making social tariffs a success, it’s clear that Ofcom needs to hold firms’ feet to the fire.”

Speaking of Ofcom, the regulator recently reported that the take-up of cheaper social broadband ISP and mobile tariffs for those on state benefits has increased to 220,000 households (up from 136,000 six months ago) – here. But that still represents just 5.1% of households on Universal Credit (4.3 million).

The regulator’s report also stated that more than half of eligible households (53%) continue to be unaware that such tariffs even exist, but that was another marked improvement from six months ago, when some 70% of eligible households were deemed to be unaware. Ofcom added that “broadband providers still aren’t being upfront with millions of customers about how to find and sign up to these packages“.

However, there is another side to pushing for higher take-up. At present, the low take-up of such tariffs means that they aren’t a huge drag on an ISP’s bottom line, although that could change as adoption rises. For example, BT – an operator that attracts the lion’s share of social tariff users – has warned that such tariffs may eventually become “unsustainable” without more support (here). The risk is that other customers could end up facing more aggressive price hikes to subsidies those on cheaper plans.

Once again, it’s worth remembering that the price we all pay for broadband is largely dwarfed by the colossal hikes in energy (e.g. gas and electricity), petrol, food and other bills. If people are struggling to afford even a fairly basic internet or mobile plan, which doesn’t typically form a large chunk of household bills, then they’ve probably got much more serious concerns in those other areas.

Finally, a quick reminder – we know social tariffs can be divisive for some, but that is not an excuse to abuse the comment system in order to post offensive remarks toward those who take state benefits. Such posts are against our rules and will be removed.

UPDATE 9:17am

We’ve had a comment from Virgin Media (VMO2).

A VMO2 spokesperson said:

“We continue to raise awareness of our social tariffs and over the last year we have cut the price of our social package – Essential Broadband; expanded our eligibility criteria; and made it faster and easier to sign up. We’ve given more than a million customers information about our social plans and last year saw a 424% increase in uptake.

Having founded the National Databank with Good Things Foundation and committed 61m GB of free mobile data for those in need, we’re ensuring that no one is left without connectivity.

With too many people still struggling to afford essential broadband, we’re urging the Government to cut VAT on social tariffs and are committed to passing this on to customers in full.”