Lost or damaged your router or TV box? Who pays

Ownership decides who carries the loss. Most big providers lend their equipment rather than sell it:

• BT says its loaned equipment, such as the broadband hub, belongs to BT at all times; your order confirmation shows what you were lent.
• EE uses the same wording in its home broadband terms: loaned equipment, such as the hub, belongs to EE at all times.
• Sky treats the router and any boosters as Loaned Equipment you keep in your home and under your control.
• Virgin Media says its equipment, which its terms say may include the hub, set-top box, cables and ducts, remains its property at all times.
• NOW Broadband lends its Sky Hub at no cost, and it must be returned when the subscription ends.
• TalkTalk (terms updated 5 October 2026) owns kit supplied after 5 October 2024 unless you paid for it; for kit supplied on or before 4 October 2024, the router, mesh device, set-top box or digital voice adapter sent with a new service is yours. One catch: if TalkTalk replaces your router or set-top box free of charge outside the warranty period (usually 12 months), the replacement belongs to TalkTalk unless it agrees otherwise.
• Plusnet's returns help page says its routers are provided on loan.
• Vodafone is the main exception for new customers: unless it expressly says otherwise, you own the equipment 14 days after your service activation date.

Then there's kit no broadband provider owns. On Openreach full fibre, the white box where the fibre comes in, called the ONT (optical network terminal), belongs to Openreach. Openreach says it belongs to Openreach, not your provider and not you, and that removing or tampering with it could interrupt your connection and could even result in a call-out charge to reinstall it. BT's terms also list 'BT-owned equipment' in your home, which includes the phone line and socket, the Openreach router for certain fibre services and extra cabling not supplied with the hub. EE's terms have the same rule for 'EE-owned equipment'. If the fibre lead running into that box is the part that's damaged, see what to do if you damage the fibre cable in your home.

Losing kit or having it stolen isn't a fault, so the free-repair promises in provider terms don't help. Here's what each provider's terms say about it.

We couldn't open Plusnet's current terms, so we can't say what they set out for lost or damaged kit; ask Plusnet before you agree to anything. The Sky, BT and EE rows above come from broadband terms. TV boxes are covered in their own section below.

Dropped, knocked off a shelf, chewed by a pet, soaked by a spilt drink: provider terms generally treat these as your responsibility, not theirs.

• BT: if loaned equipment is damaged other than through fair wear and tear, you have to pay to fix or replace it. The same rule applies to BT-owned equipment in your home, such as the socket or the Openreach router.
• EE: its terms use the same wording as BT's. If loaned kit is damaged other than through fair wear and tear, you'll have to pay to fix or replace it, and the same goes for EE-owned equipment such as the socket.
• Sky: it repairs or replaces faulty Loaned Equipment at no cost unless you're responsible for the fault. Its terms list what counts: misuse or neglect, accidental or deliberate damage, not following Sky's reasonable instructions, equipment of your own that Sky didn't supply, tampering or taking it apart without consent. Where you're responsible, engineer servicing charges may apply.
• Virgin Media: its terms ask you not to tamper with, misuse, neglect or damage the kit and to take proper care to prevent loss or theft, and they make you responsible for loss or damage however it happens unless it's Virgin Media's fault. Its help page on charges lists a charge to activate replacement equipment such as a new WiFi Hub or WiFi Pods. The same page says engineer installation visits are free for homes new to Virgin Media, but you may be charged if its equipment has been damaged, misused or tampered with.
• TalkTalk: you must look after its equipment, not tamper with it and keep the original packaging; if you damage it or the packaging is lost, you may need to pay for it.
• Vodafone: contact it immediately about damage; repairs and replacements are handled under its Returns Policy. That policy says damage isn't covered by the manufacturer's warranty, and if kit is damaged rather than faulty, Vodafone will tell you what a repair or replacement may cost, if there's a charge. Get that figure before you agree to anything.

Example (hypothetical): a Sky customer's toddler pulls the router off a shelf and the casing cracks, and it stops working. Under Sky's terms that's accidental damage the customer is responsible for, so the free repair for faults doesn't apply and engineer servicing charges may. Describing it to Sky as a fault that 'just happened' wouldn't be accurate.

TV kit mostly follows the same pattern as routers, but the rules can sit in a different document from your broadband terms, so check the right one.

• Sky Stream puck: Sky's streaming TV contract booklet says a puck provided by Sky is loaned equipment that stays Sky's property, and you must tell Sky immediately if it's lost, stolen, damaged or faulty. The loan terms match Sky's broadband ones: lost or stolen means paying the non-return charge before Sky replaces it, faults caused by misuse, neglect or accidental or deliberate damage are yours, and Sky recommends insuring the puck for its full replacement value.
• Sky satellite box: Sky's satellite TV contract booklet (the April 2024 version linked from its terms page) gives the Sky box and minidish a 12-month warranty against faults. It doesn't cover misuse, accidental or deliberate damage, or cosmetic damage that doesn't affect how the kit works.
• BT and EE TV boxes: BT's equipment returns help page says all equipment is provided on loan and lists BT and EE TV boxes among the kit that carries a non-return charge. We didn't check BT's or EE's separate TV terms, so ask which clause applies before you pay for a lost or damaged box.
• Virgin Media: one set of terms covers TV, broadband and phone, and its definition of equipment includes the set-top box, so the 'regardless of how it happens' rule applies to a TV box too.
• TalkTalk: the ownership dates in its terms cover set-top boxes as well as routers, so a box sent with a new service on or before 4 October 2024 may be yours.

If you watch TV through a box from one company and get broadband from another, the two sets of terms apply separately: our guide to TV and broadband from different providers explains how that works.

The same broken router can be a free swap or a charge depending on what caused it, so it pays to be clear and honest about which of these it is:

• A genuine fault (it failed in normal use): Sky's terms promise a free repair or replacement, and your consumer rights on faulty equipment apply.
• Fair wear and tear (ordinary ageing from normal use): BT's charge for damaged loaned kit expressly excludes it, and Virgin Media's return rules allow for it.
• Accidental or careless damage: usually yours to pay for under the terms above. Sky names accidental damage among the faults you're responsible for, BT and EE charge for damage other than fair wear and tear, and Hyperoptic and 4th Utility allow for a charge where kit is damaged in your care or possession.
• Weather damage, such as a lightning strike or flood, is a different situation again, covered in our guide on storm and flood damage to broadband.

If you honestly don't know why something stopped working, say that. Guessing 'I must have knocked it' can turn a fault into a charge.

Possibly, but don't assume it. Several providers' terms nudge you towards insurance. BT and EE each say they recommend you insure loaned kit for its full replacement value against loss, theft or damage, Sky says the same in both its broadband terms and its Sky Stream terms, and Virgin Media's terms go further and list insuring its kit among your responsibilities.

Here's how the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the insurance industry's trade body, describes contents insurance in general (read from archived copies of its pages, as its live site blocks automated access):

• Contents insurance pays to repair or replace your possessions if they're damaged, destroyed or stolen, and the ABI includes television and computing equipment in its examples.
• Most policies cover events such as fire, flood, storms, burst pipes and theft.
• Most won't cover general wear and tear, or mechanical or electrical breakdown. Home insurance isn't a maintenance contract.
• Accidental damage, such as knocking over the TV, is an optional extension most insurers offer rather than standard cover. Cover away from home is another optional extra.
• Policies usually have a single item limit, and more expensive items above it may need an extra premium.
• If you rent, buildings insurance is your landlord's job, but contents insurance for your own things is yours.

1. Tell your provider quickly. Sky and Vodafone say 'immediately' (Sky's Stream terms say so for a puck that's lost, stolen, damaged or faulty); Virgin Media says as soon as you can.
2. If it was stolen, report it to the police. The ABI says insurers often want a police report as proof of a theft. Note the crime reference number.
3. Don't throw damaged kit away. Your provider may want it back, and the ABI says your insurer may want to inspect damaged items. If you must get rid of anything, photograph it first.
4. Gather your paperwork: the order confirmation showing what you were lent, photos, the date it happened and any receipts.
5. Ask for the charge in writing before you agree to a replacement (questions below).
6. Contact your insurer promptly if you think you're covered, and document everything that was lost or damaged.
7. Plug in and activate the replacement as instructed, and keep anything the provider asks you to send back.

Charges for lost or damaged kit can be challenged, and the terms themselves give you something to work with. Virgin Media's, for example, say its charge won't be more than the price guide sets for that equipment, and Sky's set its charge at the value of the equipment.

1. Complain to the provider first, quoting the clause and price-guide line you think applies, and explain what happened (a fault, fair wear and tear, or damage you didn't cause).
2. If it isn't resolved, you can take it to alternative dispute resolution (ADR), a free independent scheme: the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS, whichever your provider belongs to. For complaints first raised on or after 8 April 2026, you can go after six weeks, or straight away if the provider sends a deadlock letter saying it won't do more. Complaints raised before then keep the eight-week wait.

Our guide on how to complain about your broadband provider walks through the process, and if you think a clause itself is unreasonable, see unfair broadband contract terms.

A missing or broken router doesn't stop you leaving, but it can follow you: kit you were lent normally has to go back when the service ends, and the non-return charges described above can then apply. Our guide on how to cancel broadband covers returning equipment when you leave, and our guides to cancelling BT broadband (including EE and Plusnet kit) and cancelling Sky broadband walk through those providers' returns.

If you're choosing a new deal, it's worth reading the equipment section of the terms and the price guide before you sign, as well as the headline price: as this guide shows, the rules on ownership and damage differ from provider to provider. You can compare broadband deals at your postcode, look at Sky broadband deals or Virgin Media broadband deals, or browse all the broadband providers we cover. Our comparison shows deals through a partner; we don't switch you ourselves, and the new provider's own terms are what count.