Office of Communications

Ofcom is the UK regulator for communications, covering broadband, mobile, landline, television, radio and the postal service. It sets the rules that providers must follow, publishes complaint data and can fine companies that break those rules. It does not investigate individual customer disputes. If you want a decision on your own case, the approved ombudsman scheme is the route; Ofcom is the body that watches the market as a whole.

What Ofcom does

• Licenses and regulates broadband, mobile and landline providers.
• Runs the automatic compensation scheme for delayed repairs, missed appointments and late installations.
• Publishes quarterly complaints data so customers can compare providers.
• Enforces rules on contract information, switching, billing and end-of-contract notices.
• Investigates breaches and can impose financial penalties.
• Oversees the One Touch Switch process for moving broadband between networks.

What Ofcom cannot do

Ofcom does not award compensation to an individual, does not rule on whether a specific bill is correct and does not order a company to apologise to you. It also does not handle complaints about the content of most websites or social media. Those are matters for the provider, the relevant ombudsman or another regulator.

When to contact Ofcom

Contact Ofcom when the issue is systemic or regulatory rather than personal. Examples include a provider ignoring the automatic compensation rules, misleading contract information, a failure to send an end-of-contract notice, or a switching process that repeatedly breaks. Ofcom also wants to hear about accessibility failures and problems that affect a whole area or customer group.

For an individual dispute, first complain to the provider and allow eight weeks, or ask for a deadlock letter. Then take the case to the Communications Ombudsman or Ombudsman Services: Communications, depending on which scheme your provider belongs to. The provider's complaints page will name the scheme.

Automatic compensation

The automatic compensation scheme is the clearest example of Ofcom's rules having a direct effect on households. If a repair is delayed, an engineer misses an appointment or an installation is late, the provider should pay a set amount without you having to claim. The payments are small but automatic, and they are separate from any refund or goodwill offered for the inconvenience.

Keep evidence of the promised date, the missed visit and any call reference. If the payment does not appear, raise it with the provider first, then use the ombudsman. Read broadband auto compensation in the UK for the full process.

Ofcom's role is to make the rules work across the market. Your role is to document what happened to you, so the provider and the ombudsman can apply those rules to your case.