There are still ways for customers on certain benefits to access free broadband. And there are several ways without being on low-income benefits that you find internet that gets you certain freebies or cashback rewards. Read on to find out more.
If you or someone in your household is claiming benefits, make sure you are getting the cheaper broadband and phone packages you are entitled to. Millions are currently missing out on these. Matthew Upton, director of policy at Citizens Advice, says: “Social tariffs put money back into people’s pockets. But as it stands, a shocking 95% of eligible households are together missing out on a £200 saving each year. That’s £824 million of support going unclaimed.”
TalkTalk even offer a six-months free option for certain jobseekers. The scheme offers jobseekers a no-contract voucher for six months of totally free Fibre 35 broadband, uncapped.
At the end of the six-month period, customers can choose to roll onto a contract, or cancel the service with no additional costs or sign-up fees.
To apply, you first need to contact your local JobCentre Plus for a DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) referral code. This will be passed onto you if you are eligible and Jobcentre Plus staff will also pass on a dedicated TalkTalk phone number where you can then redeem your free broadband.
Community Fibre have an initiative with Jobcentre Plus which grant eligible Londoners to 12-months of free full fibre broadband. This is open to certain customers who are disabled or carers. However, it is also only available to certain postcodes, so you have to also be within one of eight listed London boroughs too.
To gain access to this free broadband, speak to your Work Coach at Jobcentre Plus and they will check your eligibility and put you in touch with the correct Community Fibre contact.
It’s not easy to get free broadband, but there are plenty of our provider partners that include attractive rewards as part of their packages. Here are our top brands for throwing in free gifts.
Virgin Media broadband does offer rewards as incentives, but these differ from the cashback reward cards its competitors tend to use. Instead they either run a form of sale, offering lower monthly bills than the standard price. Or, they offer cashback in the form of a bill credit. The money then gets simply taken off your bill.
BT’s prices may sometimes be higher, but it is one of the most generous with free gifts. Its deals often come with some kind of incentive reward, normally a pre-paid credit card with a value around £50-£100.
Sky’s prices may be on the higher side, but sometimes you can get lucky with your switch and get a cashback incentive reward (normally a pre-paid credit card with a value between £50-100) or a free gift when signing up. This will all depend on postcode and package.
If you’re already a Vodafone mobile customer and you take out a Vodafone broadband contract, or vice versa, you’ll become part of Vodafone Together and get access to some exclusive rewards. The incentives are actually pretty decent. You get up to £3 off your monthly broadband bill, a 30% discount on extra SIM cards, free virus protection for 12 months and exclusive VeryMe rewards. This is a loyalty programme that gives weekly treats, offers and discounts from lots of different big brands.
TalkTalk frequently offers sweeteners to entice new customers. These normally take the form of pre-paid reward cards between £50-100, gift vouchers or free gifts, that you can claim after signing up.
Sometimes Plusnet has offers that include an extra element such as cashback, a gift card or a Plusnet Reward Card. These are normally a pre-paid credit card between £50-100, or a third party gift voucher that you can claim for when signing up. These will be dependent on postcode and package.
Fibrus often throw-in an extra element such as cashback, a gift card or three-months free, as incentives. These are normally in the form of pre-paid credit cards between £50-100, or a third party gift voucher that you can claim for when signing up. All dependent on postcode and package.
If you don’t mind leaving home, cafes, hotels, restaurants, libraries and many other public places offer totally free Wi-Fi that you can connect to. There are plenty of apps that offer to ‘find places with free Wi-Fi near me’.
Just remember that public Wi-Fi isn’t always secure. When you connect to a website, information travels from your device to the website. This include sensitive data like the log in information for your financial, email or social media accounts. And many public Wi-Fi hotspots are unencrypted networks that transfer your data in plain text, therefore making it more vulnerable to being intercepted by any hackers or cyber criminals.
