How to dispute a wrong broadband bill

Every UK broadband provider must follow Ofcom's General Conditions, the regulator's baseline rules for communications providers. Three billing rules are worth knowing:

• You only pay for what you got. Condition C3.2 says a provider must not charge you, or send a bill, unless every amount reflects, and doesn't exceed, the service it actually provided. The conditions also require it to keep records proving this for at least 12 months.
• You can ask for billing information free. On request, your provider must give you adequate, up-to-date billing information at no extra charge so you can check your charges (C3.7). It may charge a reasonable fee for a printed bill.
• Your contract summary is part of your contract. Before you sign, the provider must give you a free contract summary (C1.5). Its layout is fixed in law: the price section must show the recurring price including taxes, any activation and equipment prices and any time-limited discounts, and another section must set out fees for leaving early. The contract only takes effect once you've agreed to it after receiving the summary, and the summary then becomes part of the contract, which can't be changed unless you both expressly agree (C1.6 and C1.7). That makes it the yardstick for any bill. Our guide to reading a broadband contract summary shows what to look for.

Price rises have their own rules. For contracts started on or after 17 January 2025, any rise must be set out in pounds and pence when you sign up, and inflation-linked or percentage rises are banned in new contracts. If your terms don't allow an annual rise at all, Citizens Advice says the provider should give 30 days' notice and you can cancel within those 30 days without a fee. Our guide to mid-contract price rises covers older contracts too.

Citizens Advice suggests double-checking a bill before you dispute it, because there may be a good reason it's higher than normal. Put your bill (often available in your online account) next to your contract summary and work through this list.

1. Monthly price: does it match the recurring price in the summary's price section, which must include taxes?
2. Price rise: if it's gone up, do the amount and date match your contract?
3. Offers ending: the summary must list any time-limited discounts. For example, a deal might have had a lower price for the first few months, or a discounted add-on for part of the term.
4. One-off charges: set-up, equipment, delivery, engineer visits, late or failed-payment fees. Each should be something you agreed to or a fee in your terms.
5. Usage: calls outside your allowance, pay-per-view or TV purchases. The summary must show charges that apply once included allowances run out. Ofcom suggests checking nobody else in your household made them.
6. Billing period: some providers bill in advance, so one bill can show the month ahead as well as the month just gone.

One common misunderstanding: the "billing limit" you may have heard about is a mobile phone protection for contracts started, renewed or extended after 1 October 2018. It doesn't apply to home broadband.

Start informally, put it in writing if it isn't fixed quickly, and keep records from day one, because your paper trail is your evidence if the case goes further.

1. Contact your provider by phone, webchat or your online account, say which charge is wrong and why, and ask what it will do and by when.
2. Write it down. Citizens Advice says to include your name, address, contact number, account number, a copy of the bill and which charges are wrong. Ofcom suggests highlighting the disputed charges and saying why each is wrong. Say what you want: a corrected bill and a refund or credit.
3. Keep proof. Send letters by recorded delivery with proof of postage, save webchats, and note the date, time and outcome of every call.
4. Make it a formal complaint if the provider says no or doesn't reply. Citizens Advice and Ofcom both point you to the provider's own complaints procedure as the next step. Providers must handle complaints under an Ofcom-approved complaints code, and that code is what later gives you a route to independent review (see below).

Notice periods, billing dates and payment in advance overlap on final bills, and providers handle them differently, so check your own provider's help pages and terms.

Start with your notice period. Once your minimum term has ended and the contract has rolled on, General Condition C1.22 lets you leave on one month's notice, paying only the service charges for that month. Leave earlier and an early termination charge may apply, as set out in your contract. Our guide on how to cancel broadband covers this in full. Here's what three large providers' help pages say (checked 9 October 2026):

On any final bill, check the end date matches your notice or switch date, you're credited for anything paid in advance (or know when it'll be refunded), any early termination charge fits where you were in your contract, and you returned the router on time with proof of postage.

Don't rush to cancel your Direct Debit. TalkTalk asks you to keep it active for your final payment or a quicker refund, Sky asks you not to cancel it because further payments might still be due, and TalkTalk lists admin charges for rejected Direct Debits among the things that can be billed after a final bill.

If you moved using One Touch Switch (where your new provider arranges everything), your old provider must, where technically feasible, keep your service running on the same terms until the switch completes, and the old contract ends automatically on the working day it does (General Condition C7.7). Ofcom says your old provider must not charge for any notice period after the switching date, and C7.8 says you pay only charges up to the day the contract ends, plus any early termination charge.

That protection doesn't cover a switch you managed yourself, for example setting up a new service with an overlap. Then you had to cancel the old provider separately, and its own notice terms apply.

If you're still being charged:

1. Find your proof: the switching notice, cancellation email or reference number.
2. Contact your old provider, and your new one if you switched. Citizens Advice says to contact both and use their complaints procedures.
3. Ask for a full refund of wrong payments and for payments to stop.
4. If they continue, you can cancel the Direct Debit with your bank, but you still have to claim any refund from the company. Citizens Advice says to contact your bank if the provider refuses or keeps taking payments.

If you were switched without agreeing ("slamming"), the gaining provider must take reasonable steps not to switch a service without your express consent (C7.9), and must keep consent records for at least 12 months. Our guide to fixing a broadband switch that's gone wrong covers slamming and double billing.

The Direct Debit Guarantee covers every Direct Debit. According to Pay.UK, which runs the Direct Debit scheme, the Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept Direct Debit instructions. Under it, the company must tell you about changes to the amount, date or frequency, normally 10 working days in advance. If an error is made in a payment, by the company or your bank, you're entitled to a full and immediate refund from your bank or building society.

It has limits. It doesn't change your contract, so you still owe what you agreed to pay, and you must repay any refund you weren't entitled to. Cancelling the Direct Debit doesn't end what you owe either: Pay.UK says it simply stops payments, so if you still owe money or are still getting a service you need to pay another way.

• If a payment is taken after you've cancelled the Direct Debit itself, Pay.UK says to contact your bank straight away and claim a refund under the Guarantee.
• If you've ended the contract but the Direct Debit is still set up, Pay.UK doesn't say whether a later payment counts as an error, so ask your bank and keep pursuing the provider for a refund.
• Timing matters. Pay.UK advises cancelling at least a full day before a collection is due, as a payment already "in flight" may not be stoppable. Check how much notice your bank needs.

Sometimes the question is whether you should be paying at all. Citizens Advice's guidance for England says:

• If you're the only person named on the bill, the provider can chase you for the full amount even if others used the service.
• On a joint contract, both people are responsible, even if only one used the service.
• If a bill arrives in someone else's name, don't open it. Tell the provider you're not the account holder and post it back marked "return to sender - not at this address" (no stamp needed).

The ICO adds that if a contract is in your name, even if you took it out for someone else, any default appears on your credit file. If someone has moved out or the account needs to change hands, see our guide to changing the broadband account holder.

An unresolved dispute can reach a debt collector or your credit file. Neither ends the argument, but both need action.

Unresolved complaints can go to one of two free, Ofcom-approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes: CISAS or the Communications Ombudsman. Every provider must belong to one. You can apply six weeks after you first told your provider about the problem, or sooner with a written deadlock letter. Under Ofcom's approved complaints code, if your complaint is still unresolved six weeks after the provider first received it, the provider must send you an "ADR letter" straight away, so ask for one if it doesn't arrive. With CISAS an adjudicator decides, and you can accept or reject the final decision.

Our guide on how to complain about your broadband provider covers each step. If there was also a fault, missed appointment or late switch, check whether broadband automatic compensation was due.

For free advice, call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 about billing and contract disputes, or its debt helpline on 0800 240 4420 if a bill has become a debt. Ofcom also points to MoneyHelper and National Debtline for debt advice.

Many disputes start at sign-up. Next time, save the contract summary, note any price-rise amounts and dates, diary when an introductory price ends, and note any reward card claim deadline (see claiming broadband reward cards). The comparison on our cheap broadband deals and broadband and phone deals pages shows live prices for your postcode from our comparison partner, and our broadband providers hub has background on each provider. We don't switch you or handle bills; your contract is with the provider you choose.