Every week, our Money blog team answers your financial problems or consumer disputes – you can email yours to [email protected].
Today’s problem is…
My sister would like to get broadband/WiFi where she lives. She is 69 and receives a state pension, but has no other form of income. She also gets housing benefit, soon to be transferred to universal credit – but is just over the amount to receive pension credit. She doesn’t have a landline, only an analogue mobile phone. She has a Gmail address. Is she eligible for a social tariff to enable her to receive cheaper broadband access? If not, are you aware of any companies that provide cheaper broadband deals? Any advice/help would be most useful.
Ann Bettles
Money blog editor Jimmy Rice tackles this one…
Thanks for your email, Ann – there are a few routes to get help for your sister.
As she’ll soon be on universal credit, she will be eligible for social tariffs with most broadband providers. They might be called “essential” or “basic” plans and they’re available to anyone on universal credit, pension credit, jobseeker’s allowance and a few other benefits.
I’ve had a look, and the cheapest available right now are for £12.50 a month with Virgin Media and Community Fibre.
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The 15Mbps fibre Virgin deal comes with free set-up and – this is significant – it would only tie her in for a rolling 30-day period.
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The Community Fibre deal also has free set-up and has a much better speed of 35 Mbit/s – ample for keeping in touch with family and friends, and streaming TV shows – but would tie your sister in for 12 months.
You can find a full list of the providers that have social tariffs via Ofcom here. It would just be a case of calling – though without current access to the internet, your sister may need your help to find contact numbers.
You mention your sister has an analogue phone. If at any point she were to get a smartphone, she might be able to access free data via the National Databank. Find out more details here.
Several phone providers also offer social tariffs – O2’s costs £10 a month and EE’s is available for £12 a month.
Both would provide an alternative route to internet access – though I appreciate your sister may not be in a position to afford either.
The other route worth investigating is a local digital inclusion hub.
The National Digital Inclusion Network, run by Good Things Foundation, is made up of 7,300 organisations across the UK that offer access to the internet for free to those who are digitally excluded.
Often these organisations also offer free digital skills sessions or even devices, so it’s well worth checking out.
Finally, in your email you told us your sister didn’t have a landline. It’s worth knowing that BT and KCOM provide cheaper voice-only landline tariffs to eligible households, so you could look into that.
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