They exist to help ensure broadband connections are available to everyone, are available from a wide range of providers and cost as little as £12 per month, but far too many people still don't know they're available.
To help you switch, we’ve rounded up the eligibility criteria and steps you need to take to move to a social tariff with each of the major broadband providers.
BT has two social tariffs:
Home Essentials Unlimited Fibre Essential -Home Essentials Unlimited Fibre -BT offers its social tariffs to current and new customers. Eligible BT, EE and Plusnet broadband customers can also switch to BT social tariffs at any time without incurring an exit fee.
What's required:EE and Plusnet customers will need to contact the relevant call centre to get moved over.
Sky and Now each have one social tariff:
Broadband Basics -Sky’s tariff can only be taken up by current Sky customers - if you're with Sky and meet the eligibility criteria, you can move to its social tariff at any time (regardless of how long is left on your contract). Sky's subsidiary, Now, offers the same social tariff and anybody can switch to it (Now customers don't have to wait until their contract ends).
What's required: When your contract ends, Sky or Now will recheck your eligibility.
Virgin Media has two social tariffs:
Essential Broadband - Essential Broadband Plus -Virgin Media offers its social tariffs to new customers and current customers. If you're already a Virgin Media customer, you can take up one of its social tariffs at any time - you don't need to wait for your contract to end.
What's required:TalkTalk doesn’t currently offer a broadband social tariff. It may allow customers who are eligible for another provider’s social tariff to switch away without having to pay an exit fee but this seems to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
However, TalkTalk does separately partner with the Department for Work and Pensions to offer six months of free fibre broadband to certain jobseekers. Here, eligibility is determined by Jobcentre staff - speak to your Jobcentre Plus work coach to check whether you’re eligible.
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The eligibility criteria used differ depending on the provider. Some smaller providers limit their social tariff to Universal Credit recipients. However, others offer social tariffs to an even wider pool of recipients than the major providers - for example, Vodafone also accepts people who receive Reduced Earnings Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Disability Allowance while Hyperoptic also accepts Attendance Allowance and Care Leavers Support.
Not every provider is set up to do instant eligibility checks at this stage. If they're not, they will ask you to verify your eligibility by sharing a scan/screenshot/photograph of your proof of benefits letter or proof of a recent payment instead.
Over time, more providers will be able to offer instant checks thanks to a service from the Department of Work and Pensions. Hopefully providers that don’t offer social tariffs will also use the service to allow those eligible to switch away to another provider's social tariff without incurring an exit fee.
You don't always have to take up a social tariff with the provider you're currently with - most providers will allow new customers to take their social tariff (Sky is an exception, but its subsidiary, Now, offers the same tariff to new customers).
If you're out-of-contract, you have the power to switch at any time - that means you can weigh up all of the social tariffs available and go for the one that best suits you.
If you're in the middle of a fixed term contract, things are slightly more complicated. If you're with a provider that offers a social tariff, it will allow you to move to it without facing an exit-fee, but it may not allow you to exit to take up another provider's. Plus some providers (e.g. Shell Energy broadband and TalkTalk) don't offer a social tariff for sitting customers to move onto in the first place.
In both instances, it's worth a conversation with your provider. Some providers have told us they'll allow customers to switch away to take a social tariff with another provider, if they can prove they're eligible.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/how-to-switch-to-a-broadband-social-tariff-ahAdG4M1Rjx4