How to apply for a broadband social tariff

1. Check you are on a qualifying benefit. Universal Credit works everywhere. So do income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Pension Credit. The exact list varies by provider, so it is worth confirming yours holds up before you start. If you are not on a means-tested benefit, Community Fibre Essential in London has no benefit check at all.

2. Pick a tariff available at your address. Most of the national tariffs sit at £20.00 a month. The cheapest fixed line is £12.50, joint between Virgin Media Essential at 15 Mbps across the UK and Community Fibre Essential at 35 Mbps in London. BT Home Essentials runs from £15.00. Hyperoptic Fair Fibre starts around £13.00 but only reaches Hyperoptic-wired buildings, mostly flats. Sky Broadband Basics is open to existing Sky customers only. So the tariff you want and the tariff your postcode can actually take are not always the same thing.

3. Apply online or by phone. Most providers let you do the whole thing on their website in a few minutes. One provider needs a call instead, which we come to below.

You do not need much. No folder of paperwork, no benefit letter, no envelope. The provider does the checking. Your only job is to make sure your name is spelled the same way on the claim and the broadband account, because a typo is enough to get you a 'no.'

Have these to hand:

• Your National Insurance number. This is the key that lets the provider check your benefit with the DWP. It is on payslips, HMRC letters and benefit award letters.
• The exact name and type of your benefit. This matters more than it sounds. If you are on Jobseeker's Allowance or ESA, you need to know whether yours is the income-based version or the contribution-based one. Only income-based qualifies. Getting this wrong is the single most common reason an application is refused.
• Your address and the name on the benefit. The check works against the person who claims the benefit, so the application usually needs to be in that person's name.

If you are on Pension Credit, check whether you receive Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit. Guarantee Credit qualifies everywhere. Savings Credit on its own is the grey area, and Hyperoptic is the most likely to accept it, though it is worth a call to confirm before you rely on it.

Most providers verify your benefit automatically and you never touch a form. Two work differently, and it pays to know which before you start.

Vodafone is not a pure instant check. You register online for Vodafone Essentials, Vodafone runs an eligibility check and a credit check, then calls you back to finish things off. Apply when you can actually take that call, not at 11pm, because a missed one resets the whole thing. Vodafone is also one of only two national providers that accept Personal Independence Payment, so for some readers the extra step is the whole reason to choose it.

Hyperoptic splits its benefits into two routes. Most benefits go through the online application with the usual DWP check. But Attendance Allowance, Housing Benefit, Care Leavers' Support and PIP sit on a second list that you cannot do online. For those you phone Hyperoptic and send a photo of your benefit award letter as proof. If you are applying on one of those benefits, skip the website and call.

When the DWP check is automatic and your details match, approval can be near-instant or land within a few working days. Where there is a credit check or a manual proof step, as with Vodafone and Hyperoptic, it takes a little longer because a person is involved.

If the check comes back and your benefit cannot be confirmed, that is not the end of the road. It usually means a detail did not match or you are on a benefit type the provider does not accept. See the fixes in what to do if your provider rejected you, including how to ask a provider to re-run the check.

You do not have to wait for your current deal to end. Ofcom requires a provider that offers a social tariff to let you move to it at any time with no exit fee, even if you are mid-contract. It also cannot apply in-contract price rises to a social tariff once you are on one. The full rule is on the Ofcom social tariffs page.

One caveat. The no-fee rule covers moving to your own provider's social tariff. Moving to a different provider's tariff is not guaranteed fee-free, though providers are encouraged to waive exit fees so you can leave for one. If your provider has no social tariff of its own, that is the conversation to have.

For the benefit rules behind all this, see the social tariffs hub and the guides for Universal Credit, Pension Credit, JSA, ESA and Income Support and PIP.