Affordability
Social tariffs, without a price list
A social tariff is a broadband product for people who meet a provider’s eligibility rules, usually linked to certain benefits. It is not a promotional discount. This page explains how to approach one. It deliberately prints no prices.
Reviewed 5 November 2026 · 6 min read · Independent · Not a price list
What it is
Several UK broadband providers sell a cheaper tariff for customers who can show they are on qualifying benefits. The product name, the speed, the eligibility list, and the price are the provider’s. They change. Some tariffs are exempt from the ordinary in-contract rise. Some are not. The provider’s current page is the source, not a comparison article from last spring.
You usually buy a social tariff from the provider directly, not as a coupon on a commercial offer. One Touch Switch can still be the way the line moves if you are changing provider, but the eligibility check is theirs. We do not collect benefit letters, screenshots of awards, or National Insurance numbers. Do not send them to us.
A household that does not meet the rules is in the ordinary market. Pretending otherwise wastes the application and can delay a switch you actually need.
Who to ask
Ask a provider who can serve the premises. A social tariff on a network that does not reach the door is not a product you can buy. Check the address first, then the tariff. In Hull and East Yorkshire that may be a different incumbent from the rest of the country. In a block on a single building network, the national names may have nothing to sell.
If the first provider says no, ask what they mean: not eligible, or not available at the address, or not something they sell at all. Those are different facts. A second provider is worth asking only if they can install.
We will not maintain a price table. A wrong price on a page about affordability is a worse error than a gap. Charities and the provider’s own help page move faster than a commercial editorial calendar, and they are the right place for the current figure.
What a social tariff is not
It is not a reason to ignore an exit fee on your current commercial contract. Ask whether leaving that contract to take a social tariff waives the fee. Get the answer in writing. An unknown fee is not zero, even when the reason for leaving is money.
It is not automatically the same speed as the advert next to it. Read the speed you would actually get, and whether it is enough for the household. A cheaper line that cannot carry a work call is not a saving if you then rely on mobile data.
It is not judged by this website. We do not score providers on how generous the tariff is. We do not take a referral fee for placing you on one. If a page ever implies that we do, that page is wrong.
Switching onto or off one
Moving from a commercial deal to a social tariff at the same provider can be a change of product, not a One Touch Switch. Ask them which process they will use, and whether the minimum term restarts.
Moving from one provider’s social tariff to another’s is a switch plus a new eligibility check. Do not cancel the working social tariff until the new provider has confirmed you qualify and can install. A gap is expensive in exactly the households these tariffs are for.
If your circumstances change and you no longer qualify, ask what product you will be moved to and at what price path, including any stated rise. Do not wait for the bill to be the first document.
Questions
- Why will you not print the prices?
- They change, they depend on eligibility, and a stale figure on an affordability page does harm. Ask the provider who can serve your address.
- Does every provider sell one?
- No. Some do, some do not, and some sell one only on certain products. Silence on our page is not proof either way.
- Can I send you proof of benefits?
- No. We do not take eligibility documents. The provider does that check, if they offer a tariff.
- Will One Touch Switch find me the social tariff?
- No. The process moves a broadband service. It does not assess benefits and it does not choose a social product for you.
- Does a social tariff remove my exit fee?
- Not by itself. Ask the provider you would leave. Get any waiver in writing.
- Is a cheap intro deal a social tariff?
- No. A social tariff has an eligibility test. A commercial discount does not.