{"id":184799,"date":"2025-06-14T22:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T22:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/184799\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T22:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T22:07:11","slug":"state-pensioners-urged-to-make-broadband-check-that-could-cut-bill-by-hundreds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/184799\/","title":{"rendered":"State Pensioners urged to make broadband check that could cut bill by hundreds"},"content":{"rendered":"

People who receive State Pension from the DWP and are on a low income may be able to access broadband and mobile services for a reduced price\"AnPensioners could reduce their broadband bill(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

State Pension claimants are being urged to make a broadband check that could end up saving them hundreds of pounds a year. Social tariffs are offered to those on Government benefits and can help older people reduce their bills.<\/p>\n

Households on Pension Credit, a DWP benefit paid to State Pensioners <\/a>on low income, are eligible to apply for broadband provider social tariffs. Virgin Media O2 customers can sign up for the Essential broadband package which costs \u00a312.50 a month.<\/p>\n

Dana Haidan, VMO2\u2019s chief sustainability officer, said: \u201cWith today\u2019s research revealing pensioners feel increasingly isolated due to the rising cost of living, Virgin Media O2 is proud to offer a range of comprehensive measures to help people on low incomes to get online and stay in touch with loved ones. Anyone who is receiving Pension Credit or a range of additional benefits are able to access our cut-price tariffs that offering broadband and mobile services starting from as little as \u00a310.<\/p>\n

“We want to raise the profile of our broad range of support for people experiencing financial difficulties, helping to combat loneliness and keep the nation connected.” Meanwhile, O2 has a \u00a310 per month O2 Essential Plan which is available for both new and existing customers who receive a range of benefit payments, and comes with 10GB of mobile data, plus unlimited calls and texts, reports BirminghamLive.<\/a><\/p>\n

Virgin Media says: “We\u2019ll ask for some details like your name, postcode and date of birth. We\u2019ll use this information, with your permission, to check with the Department for Work and Pensions<\/a> that you\u2019re eligible for our Essential Services.” It further states: “If you\u2019re eligible, we will get you up and running on your chosen broadband or mobile tariff with \u00a30 set up cost.”<\/p>\n

More information about social tariffs and how you can get cheaper broadband and phone packages is available on the Ofcom website here<\/a>. It says: “Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits. Some providers call them \u2018essential\u2019 or \u2018basic\u2019 broadband.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re delivered in the same way as normal packages, just at a lower price. Amid rising living costs, Ofcom is encouraging companies to offer social tariffs to help customers on low incomes.”<\/p>\n

Ofcom explains that a social tariff is cheaper than a regular package. Current prices range from \u00a310 to \u00a323.<\/p>\n

It adds: “Most tariffs offer superfast broadband at speeds over 30 Mbit\/s \u2013 fast enough for you to keep in touch with friends and family, stream HD films or shop online. You’ll pay next-to-nothing to get set up.<\/p>\n

“If you do have to pay any setup costs, these should only be small. Your provider should tell you before you sign up.<\/p>\n

“It could cost nothing to switch. If your provider offers a social tariff, you can switch to it at any time, free of charge.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People who receive State Pension from the DWP and are on a low income may be able to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,1267,474,617,2499,1786,16,15,961],"class_list":{"0":"post-184799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-dwp","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-pensions","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-state-pension","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-your-money"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114683998627980357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}