A local court in the rural Cambridgeshire village of Haddenham has forced BT to pay back £190 in compensation after it left 76-year-old Robert Hammond, a BT shareholder, without a broadband or phone connection for over 35 days. Hammond had sought compensation of £1,000 but this was declined due to the connection being for domestic purposes only.


It's sometimes easy to forget that ISP contracts work both ways and broadband providers do have a duty to resolve serious problems. Thankfully the court is usually a last resort, although it can sometimes be faster than pursuing official channels.

Ofcom requires that all UK ISPs are members of an approved ADR (complaints handler) scheme (more details here), although sadly a complaint must have gone unresolved for 8 weeks before one of these can be pursued and resolutions can sometimes take months.

It's important to remember that phone services are more than just a connection and are often vital, especially if the emergency services are required. Luckily for BT such a situation did not arise.