When your broadband dies, the water goes off or the power fails, there are fixed amounts you are legally owed. Some are paid automatically. Many are quietly missed. Here is what each failure is worth in 2026 — and whether you have to ask.
Two reasons. First, people assume compensation means arguing — but broadband and water payments are meant to arrive on their own, so nobody checks whether they did. Second, the money often comes from a company you have never dealt with: power cut payments come from the network operator that owns the cables, not the supplier who bills you. People ring the wrong company and give up.
Worth ten minutes: look at your last three broadband and water bills for a credit. If a qualifying failure happened and nothing appeared, you have grounds to ask.
From 1 April 2026 the Ofcom rates are £10.34 a day for a total loss of service not fixed within two full working days, £32.31 for a missed engineer appointment, and £6.46 a day when a new service starts late.
No. If your provider is in Ofcom's scheme it should be credited to your bill automatically, normally within 30 days. If it was not, complain — plenty of qualifying failures are missed.
Your distribution network operator — the company that owns the cables — not the supplier you pay. Dial 105 free to find out who that is in your area.
If the company has not paid automatically you can claim within three months of the incident. If they then fail to pay within 20 working days you are owed a further £40.
Almost never. Most operators require a claim, usually within 28 days, which is why so much goes unclaimed. Keep your ticket or booking reference.
A short, specific letter quoting the scheme and the amount gets results far faster than a phone call.