120,000 TalkTalk customers lose automatic outage payouts in Rise Fibre sale
About 120,000 customers are affected. Rise Fibre has not joined the Ofcom scheme that pays out automatically for a long outage.
TalkTalk is selling about 120,000 broadband customers to Rise Fibre, a smaller provider, according to MoneySavingExpert. Reports describe the sale as part of TalkTalk’s efforts to raise money against heavy debts. TalkTalk sent notifications to the affected customers on Monday 3 August 2026.
What stays the same at first
MoneySavingExpert reports that little changes at first. The broadband speed, the existing Wi-Fi router and the monthly price stay the same to begin with. The Direct Debit transfers automatically with the account.
Customers stay on their existing TalkTalk contracts. They keep the same early termination charges if they are still in the minimum term.
The move is automatic and customers do not need to do anything now. Rise Fibre says the move “will happen automatically”, and that everyone moved across will have their broadband supported.
TalkTalk handles billing and customer service for now. These move to Rise Fibre in the near future.
The protection that does not move
The change that matters most is one that does not move with the account: automatic compensation for outages. TalkTalk is signed up to Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme. Rise Fibre is not on Ofcom’s list of signed-up providers.
The scheme is voluntary and launched in April 2019. Under it, a signed-up provider pays a set amount automatically when:
- the service stops working and is not fixed within 2 working days
- a new service does not start on the day it was promised
- an engineer misses an appointment
Once Rise Fibre runs the service, a customer is no longer paid automatically for a long outage. They have to ask for money back, and no set rate applies.
Leaving early
The contract carries over unchanged, so the usual rules on leaving apply. Customers who are still in their minimum term have to pay an early termination charge to leave early. Customers who are out of contract can leave at any time at no cost.
If Rise Fibre later changes the terms
Ofcom’s rules give customers the right to leave without penalty if Rise Fibre later changes the contract to their disadvantage. Rise Fibre must give at least a month’s notice of such a change. There is no right to leave if the change:
- only benefits the customer, for example a faster speed
- is purely administrative and has no negative effect, for example a new company address or bank details
- is imposed by law, for example a change in the VAT rate
What people can do now
Someone moving to Rise Fibre can:
- check whether they are still in their minimum term, which the welcome email or online account shows
- compare deals if they are out of contract, as they can leave at no cost
- keep paying the bill as normal, so the Direct Debit stays in place
- complain to the provider first if a problem can’t be fixed, then use our complaints tool if that does not work