Storm or flood damaged your broadband? What to do

Openreach asks people to report damaged or exposed cables, loose or dangling cables on poles, leaning or fallen poles, damaged or open green street cabinets and loose or missing manhole covers. If any of it poses an immediate danger, it says to stay at a safe distance and call 0800 023 2023 straight away. BT's help pages give the same number (option 1).

Staying at a safe distance means not touching or moving a fallen cable, however harmless it looks, and keeping children and pets back.

After a flood, GOV.UK's guidance for England (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own) says to check with the emergency services that your home is safe to go back into, and not to turn the electricity back on yourself: your utilities company or a qualified engineer should confirm it's safe first. Electrical Safety First adds that you should:

• switch off at the consumer unit (fuse box) only if it's safe to do so;
• avoid using any mains-powered appliance until a registered electrician says it's safe;
• have all electrical equipment affected by the flood professionally checked and tested before you use it again;
• keep away from exposed wiring, which may still be live.

That covers your router and Wi-Fi boosters too. Don't plug in a router that has sat in flood water to "see if it still works"; report it to your provider instead.

• What you can see: a pole down, a cable hanging, a scorched socket, water where the router sits.
• Whether it's a total loss: if it's safe, check whether a device plugged into the router by cable fails as well as Wi-Fi. Virgin Media's compensation terms, for example, count only a loss of internet over a wired connection; Wi-Fi alone doesn't count.
• Whether anyone at home is vulnerable. Openreach says to tell your provider if you or a family member is vulnerable, as repairs may then be prioritised where possible.
• When someone can be in for an engineer. Take the first slot offered if you can. Ofcom says asking for a later engineer appointment is one of the things that can stop compensation being paid for the extra days.

Note the fault reference, date, time and who you spoke to, and if it's safe, photograph any damage for a disputed charge or insurance claim.

On a copper or part-fibre line, the main phone socket has a test socket inside it. TalkTalk explains that the test socket connects directly to the external line, bypassing your internal wiring. If your router works when plugged into the test socket, the problem is inside your home; if it still doesn't, the fault is likely outside. Only try this if the socket is dry and undamaged. Full fibre doesn't use the phone socket, so this check doesn't apply.

If your line works but crackles, or broadband gets worse whenever it rains, see our guide to a noisy phone line.

Network damage is the network's to fix: once your provider reports it, Openreach sends a team. In the terms we read, engineer charges are tied to faults inside your home, your own kit, or no fault being found:

• TalkTalk's help pages warn that an Openreach visit isn't always free: the charge depends on the type of fault, up to £75 (checked October 2026) when the engineer finds nothing wrong or traces the problem to something in your property or garden.
• Sky's terms say you pay reasonable call-out, replacement equipment and/or labour charges if the fault is on your in-home wiring and wasn't caused by Sky, is caused by your own equipment, or the engineer finds no fault.

Storms can blur the line: for example, if a tree in your own garden brings down the cable to your house, you won't know in advance which side the engineer will put the fault on. Before agreeing to a visit, ask your provider whether a charge could apply, how much, and what the engineer would have to find, and note who told you.

Many providers lend you the router rather than sell it. Here's what three providers' terms and help pages say about loaned kit:

• Sky says the router and boosters are loaned equipment that remain Sky's property. It repairs or replaces faulty loaned kit free unless you're responsible, which its terms say includes accidental or deliberate damage, misuse or neglect; engineer servicing charges may then apply.
• BT's terms (clause 23) say loaned equipment belongs to BT, and if it's damaged other than through fair wear and tear, you'll have to pay to fix or replace it.
• Virgin Media says it owns the hubs, TV boxes and Wi-Fi pods it supplies and swaps faulty kit at no extra cost.

Both Sky and BT recommend insuring loaned equipment against loss, theft or damage for its full replacement value. None of the terms we read mention lightning, power surges or flooding when they deal with damage to the kit itself, and we haven't found a provider that publishes a policy on storm-damaged routers. So don't assume either way. Report it, describe what happened honestly, and ask whether a replacement will be free or charged before you agree to it.

For your wider rights when kit stops working, including kit you bought yourself, see our guide to your rights with faulty broadband equipment.

Kit you own and the wiring inside your home are yours to repair or replace. Whether home insurance covers storm, lightning or flood damage to them depends on your policy. After a flood, GOV.UK's guidance for England is to contact your insurer to start a claim, photograph the damage and the flood water line before you clear up, and ask the insurer what you can throw away.

If you rent, the same guidance says your landlord is responsible for repairs after flood damage, so tell your landlord about damaged sockets or wiring as well as telling your provider.

Each contract we read limits the provider's responsibility for events beyond its control, but keeps the compensation code's payments in place:

• BT's terms (clause 15) list lightning, flood, severe weather and fire among events beyond its reasonable control, but say there are exceptions set out in the compensation code. You can compare BT's current packages on our BT broadband deals page.
• Sky's terms say it isn't liable for delay or failure caused by events outside its reasonable control, including severe weather, but that this doesn't affect your rights under the Automatic Compensation Code.
• Virgin Media's compensation terms say credit still applies when the issue was caused by an event outside its or your control, unless other limits apply.

Of the exclusions Ofcom lists, two are most likely to matter after a storm: the loss is caused by equipment or activity within your home (storm or flood damage to your own wiring or sockets isn't the provider's network failing), or you prevented the fault being fixed, for example by asking for a later engineer appointment than the one offered. A third covers breaking your contract terms.

The industry code also excludes rare national emergencies where the government has made emergency regulations under Part 2 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the provider couldn't reasonably have avoided the problem; Virgin Media's terms say the same. That needs formal emergency regulations, so a severe or widespread storm isn't enough on its own.

If your provider says an exclusion applies, Ofcom expects it to give reasons, and you shouldn't be charged for a service you aren't receiving. Ask for the reasons in writing. For costs beyond the fixed payments, see our guide on claiming for losses when broadband fails.