social-tariffs
Compare at your address
Drop in your postcode for the live shortlist, speeds, prices, and which providers actually reach your line.
If you claim PIP and you've been turned down for a broadband social tariff, you have not done anything wrong. Most of the big providers simply don't accept PIP. Only two do: Vodafone and Hyperoptic. BT, Sky, Virgin Media and NOW all refuse it, and EE has no broadband social tariff at all. If you're in London there's a third route, Community Fibre, which checks no benefits at all. This page explains why PIP gets left off most lists, and exactly where a PIP claimant can still get a cheaper line.
The short version: PIP is not a means-tested benefit. You can receive it whatever your income. A high earner with a qualifying health condition can claim PIP, and so can someone with no other income at all.
Social tariffs were designed for low-income households. So most providers gate them on benefits that are themselves means-tested, the ones that already prove you're on a low income. Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit. PIP proves you have a disability. It does not prove you are poor. Most providers only built their door to open for proof of the second thing, so a benefit that proves the first gets left on the mat.
That's the logic, and it's worth knowing, because it tells you what to do next. If you receive PIP and nothing else, your options are narrower. If you receive PIP plus a means-tested benefit, you should apply on the means-tested one, and far more doors open. More on that below.
This is also the single most common reason a PIP claimant gets a rejection. They apply to BT or Sky, see PIP isn't on the list, and assume social tariffs aren't for them. They are. The trick is knowing which provider to ask.
Vodafone and Hyperoptic put PIP on the list anyway. They did not have to. That is worth saying, because most didn't. Here's how each works.
Vodafone Essentials is the straightforward one. PIP is named directly on Vodafone's eligibility list, alongside Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and a couple of disability benefits. The tariff is £20.00 a month for an average 73 Mbps, on a 12-month contract with no exit fee and no in-contract price rise. You register online, Vodafone runs an eligibility check and a credit check, then calls you back to finish it off. So it isn't quite the instant approval some providers offer, but PIP genuinely qualifies. You can read the detail on the Vodafone Essentials page.
Hyperoptic Fair Fibre also accepts PIP, with one wrinkle. Hyperoptic splits its benefits into two lists. List A is the online route with an automatic check against your records. PIP sits on List B, which means you can't apply for it online. You have to phone Hyperoptic and send a photo of your PIP award letter as proof. Slightly more effort, but it works. Fair Fibre starts from around £15.00 a month for 50 Mbps and runs up to faster tiers, all on monthly rolling terms with 30 days' notice and no exit fee. The catch is coverage: Hyperoptic only serves buildings it has wired itself, mostly flats and apartment blocks. Check your address on the Hyperoptic Fair Fibre page before you get your hopes up.
That's the national picture, and it's thin. Two providers. One online-ish, one phone-and-proof. Everyone else gates on means-tested benefits and quietly leaves PIP off the list.
There's one more option, and for some PIP claimants it's the best of the lot. Community Fibre runs its Essential tariff in London with no benefit check at all. It calls the tariff a "No-Criteria Social Tariff", which is exactly what it sounds like. You don't have to prove PIP, or any other benefit, to take it.
The price is £12.50 a month for 35 Mbps, which is the joint-cheapest fixed social tariff in the country. The only condition is your address. Community Fibre serves London only, and only buildings on its own network. If you're in one of them, this is the cleanest route a PIP-only claimant has, because there's no benefit to argue about. Check coverage on the Community Fibre Essential page.
PIP is rarely the only thing a household receives.
If you also claim a means-tested benefit, apply on that one instead of PIP, and almost every provider opens up. The qualifying means-tested benefits are Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit. Universal Credit is the master key here. Every benefit-gated provider accepts it, which means BT, Sky, Virgin Media, NOW, Vodafone and Hyperoptic all come into play.
So if you get PIP and Universal Credit, don't apply as a PIP claimant. Apply as a Universal Credit one. You'll have the full range of tariffs, the cheapest of which is Virgin Media's Essential Broadband at £12.50 a month, and most of the applications are paperwork-free because the provider checks your benefit with the Department for Work and Pensions using your National Insurance number.
Two cautions on the means-tested benefits, because they trip people up. First, with Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance, only the income-based or income-related versions count. Contribution-based and "new style" JSA and ESA do not qualify, and that's a common cause of rejection. Second, on Pension Credit, Guarantee Credit qualifies everywhere, while Savings Credit alone is the grey area, so call the provider to check before you rely on it.
The wider detail on each benefit lives on its own page. If you're on Universal Credit, the Universal Credit social tariff guide covers the full provider list and prices. If your other benefit is income-based JSA, income-related ESA or Income Support, the JSA, ESA and Income Support page explains which version qualifies. On Pension Credit, the Pension Credit page covers the Guarantee versus Savings split.
If you applied somewhere on PIP and got turned down, the rejection is almost certainly correct, not a mistake. The provider doesn't accept PIP, so the answer was always going to be no. That's frustrating, but it points you straight at the fix.
Don't waste time complaining about the decision itself. The free complaints schemes deal with how a provider handled your complaint, not a clean "you don't qualify" answer, so there's nothing for them to overturn here. Instead, do one of three things. Check whether you also hold a qualifying means-tested benefit and reapply on that. Try Vodafone or Hyperoptic, the two that do accept PIP. Or, if you're in London, take Community Fibre, which checks nothing. The what to do if you're rejected page walks through every rejection reason and the fix for each.
For the full picture across all benefits and providers, the social tariffs hub brings it together, and the regulator's own list of social tariffs is on the Ofcom site at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/saving-money/social-tariffs.
Yes, but your options are narrow. Only Vodafone and Hyperoptic accept PIP on their lists, and Hyperoptic only covers buildings it has wired. If you're in London, Community Fibre checks no benefits at all, so PIP-only claimants qualify there. Outside those, you'll need a means-tested benefit to qualify elsewhere.
Because PIP is not means-tested. You can receive it at any income level, so it doesn't prove a low income on its own. Those providers gate their social tariffs on means-tested benefits like Universal Credit, Income Support and Pension Credit, which do prove low income. Vodafone and Hyperoptic choose to include PIP anyway.
No. PIP is paid based on how a health condition or disability affects your daily life, not on your income or savings. That's the whole reason it sits outside most social-tariff lists, which are aimed squarely at low-income households.
Apply on Universal Credit. Every benefit-gated provider accepts Universal Credit, so you get the full range of tariffs from £12.50 a month, rather than the two providers that accept PIP. Most of those applications are paperwork-free, since the provider checks your benefit with the DWP automatically.
If you're in London, Community Fibre's Essential at £12.50 a month is the cheapest and needs no benefit check. Otherwise the PIP routes are Vodafone Essentials at £20.00 a month and Hyperoptic Fair Fibre from around £15.00 a month. If you also hold a means-tested benefit, Virgin Media Essential at £12.50 a month comes into reach.
Refused a broadband social tariff? The common reasons, the fix for each, a copy-paste complaint template, and the free appeal route if it comes to that.
