Media365
After a two year investigation to decide whether or not UK broadband and phone provider BT had failed to provide customers with essential contract information, regulator Ofcom has confirmed that BT has now handed customers £18 million, meaning you could have money waiting for you in your account today.
Ofcom had previously found that BT, which owns and distributes internet services under the EE and Plusnet brands, had failed to provide EE and Plusnet customers with “important contract documents”.
BT “broke our consumer protection rules designed to ensure telecoms customers get clear, comparable information about the services they are considering buying”, according to Ofcom.
This meant BT had not complied with Ofcom’s compliance rules. A year ago, Ofcom ordered BT to pay a fine of £2.8 million and also “refund customers who did not receive the contract documents and were then charged for leaving their contract before the end of their contract period”.
BT also had to donate the remaining amount it was unable to refund to charity, were it unable to track down affected customers who were no longer with the firm.
“As a result of this enforcement action, BT has now refunded or credited £18 million back to customers and donated £440,000 across 17 charities where refunds or credits were not possible,” Ofcom said today in a statement.
This means if you have been a BT, EE or Plusnet customer you may have received a refund or bill credit to your bank or online account recently.
If you were affected, you may have already been contacted by BT.
“Following engagement with Ofcom, BT contacted the majority of affected customers, explaining that it had not provided them with the information to which they were entitled, and giving them the opportunity to request the information and/or cancel their contract without charge,” Ofcom said.
“However, before these communications were sent, some customers affected by the breach left BT before the end of their contract and may have been charged an early exit fee. Our rules are clear that if the required contract summary and contract information is not given, the contract is not binding on customers. As a result, an early exit fee should not have been payable by these customers.”
BT has been required to change its sales processes to ensure the correct information is given to any new customers who take up contracts with it or any of its subsidiarie
