Reading the latest data from Ofcom is sobering. Nearly a third of UK households (8 million) – double last year’s 15% – are having problems paying their phone, broadband and TV bills. And evidence is mounting that UK households are starting to fall behind.
The picture is toughest of all for those who depend on Universal Credit to make ends meet – some 1 million or so households in London alone.
It is therefore heartening to hear that uptake of broadband social tariffs has finally started to creep up, more than doubling in the last 6 months.
Heartening, that is, until we compare the number participating today, 136,000, to the total number of households who are eligible for such tariffs, 4.2 million. That means that among the poorest households fully 97% of those eligible are still paying far more than they ought to for their broadband.
Socal tariffs were originally envisaged by parliament as far back as 2003, and have now existed for more than 18 months. Major broadband providers, which together serve around three quarters of UK households, were pressed to create these discounted tariffs for those on qualifying benefits. Ofcom’s conservative estimate is that moving to one will save a typical eligible family around £150 per year.
My firmNous.co did some polling to understand why uptake is so low. We learned that among those eligible, fully 70% haven’t even heard of the scheme. Of the remainder, a large proportion hadn’t adopted because they didn’t understand the tariffs or didn’t know how to apply.
While no panacea – discounts are often only available on the more basic packages less suitable for heavy internet users – for millions of UK families, the scheme could save real money during a time of hardship. If only people know about them.
But having introduced social tariffs under pressure from government, with few exceptions major telecoms companies have since done little or nothing to encourage their adoption.
Given that broad nationwide uptake would deprive those businesses of an estimated £1bn of profitable revenues, it doesn’t take a cynic to imagine why those companies haven’t exactly shouted about it from the rooftops.
In a time of crisis, however, all businesses – especially profitable ones – must do what they can.
For our part, we built a free tool which for the first time allows people to confirm their eligibility and request a social tariff online.
Big business can do much more. The government and regulators could be more forceful in mandating better marketing of these tariffs, or even compelling suppliers to check eligibility and switch customers to whom the discounts apply.
There are no magic bullets. Poorer households will need much more help over the months ahead. A similar scheme to help households struggling with energy bills might help, for instance. But in the meantime, let’s all do what we can for those most in need.
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Nous.co is B-Corp pending business. It operates the social tariffs initiative on a strictly pro bono basis and seeks to make no money from this campaign
