Compare Social Tariff Broadband Deals

Who is eligible for a social tariff?

Social tariffs are discounted broadband deals for households claiming certain benefits. Prices typically sit between £10 and £25 a month, and the discount is not a short-term promotion that rolls off after a few months. You are likely to qualify if you receive:

• Universal Credit, accepted by virtually every provider that offers a social tariff, with some plans aimed specifically at claimants with no earnings.
• Pension Credit, widely accepted by the major providers.
• Legacy benefits, including Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
• Other support, with some providers also accepting Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Housing Benefit or care leavers’ support.

Three rules are worth knowing before you apply. The person receiving the qualifying benefit must be the account holder named on the contract. Providers usually verify your status electronically with the Department for Work and Pensions when you apply. And you can usually move to or leave a social tariff without paying exit fees. Most social tariffs have flat pricing; where a provider has scheduled a price change, we show it clearly on the deal.

The full list of available tariffs is published on Ofcom’s social tariffs page, and Which? has a helpful provider-by-provider guide to eligibility and how to apply.

Millions of eligible households are missing out

Social tariffs might be the best kept secret in UK broadband. Ofcom research published in April 2023 estimated that around 4.3 million UK households qualified for one, yet only about 220,000, roughly 5%, had actually signed up. More than half of eligible households did not know these deals existed at all.

The money at stake is real. Ofcom put the average saving at around £200 a year compared with a standard deal, and around 85% of eligible customers can now move to a social tariff with their existing provider without paying a penny to switch. Take-up quadrupled in the year after January 2022 as more providers launched tariffs, but the overwhelming majority of qualifying households are still paying full price.

Part of the problem is that providers do not always make these deals easy to find. Ofcom found that only a small minority of eligible customers heard about social tariffs from their own provider, and has pushed the industry to promote them properly. That is why we surface them here: the deals above are live social tariffs, and clicking one will ask for your postcode so you can see exactly what is available at your address.