Complain to your phone or broadband provider

The short version

• Tell your provider you're making a formal complaint, and keep a record of every contact.
• Your provider must let you complain by phone, by post and by email or online, even if it also uses a chatbot.
• If your complaint isn't sorted out after 6 weeks, you can take it to a free, independent complaints scheme.
• If your provider writes to say it can't do any more, you don't have to wait 6 weeks.
• If a landline or broadband repair or installation is late, you might get compensation without asking.

What the law says

Ofcom's rules say that your provider must have a complaints code that's easy to find on its website. It must let you complain by phone, by post, and by email or an online form, and it must deal with your complaint promptly.

If you complained on or after 8 April 2026 and your complaint isn't sorted out after 6 weeks, you can take it to an independent complaints scheme. Ofcom cut the wait from 8 weeks to 6 for complaints made from that date. Your provider must write to you at that point to tell you about the scheme.

The schemes are free. There are 2, the Communications Ombudsman and CISAS, and your provider must belong to one of them. If you're a home customer, your bill should say which.

These rules cover home customers, and small businesses and not-for-profit organisations with up to 10 staff.

If you're stuck with a chatbot

Ask the chatbot to put you through to a person. If that doesn't work, use the phone number, postal address or email address in your provider's complaints code.

In September 2026, Ofcom said it would be concerned if chatbots became a barrier to the support providers have to offer.

If a repair or installation is late

Some landline and broadband providers have signed up to Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme. If you're a home customer with one of them, you should get money back without asking if:

• your service isn't fixed 2 full working days after you reported the fault
• an engineer misses an appointment or cancels with less than 24 hours' notice
• a new service doesn't start on the date promised

You won't get it if the problem was caused by you or by equipment in your home. The payment usually appears as a credit on your bill within 30 days.

What you can do

1. Find your provider's complaints code on its website.
2. Contact your provider and say you're making a formal complaint. Note the date, who you spoke to and what they said, and keep copies of emails and chat transcripts.
3. If you're not happy with the answer, tell your provider within 28 days.
4. If it's still not sorted out after 6 weeks, or your provider writes to say it can't do any more, take your complaint to its complaints scheme. Do this within 12 months of that letter.
5. You can also tell Ofcom about the problem. It can't sort out your complaint, but it uses reports to decide which companies to look into.

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service if you're not sure what to do next. In Scotland, get consumer help from Advice Direct Scotland. In Northern Ireland, contact Consumerline.