BT Home essentials

[me123]

Hi! I rang the BT freephone number up on my landline for the no-income home essentials package, part-fibre broadband. I was accepted and ask for my landline to be included, this was on the 12/02/26, when i looked at my contract sent by email, there was no mention of phone or inclusive minutes, so I rang straight back, and another person answered, so I queried it, and the person said it doesn't look like it has been added, i was due to receive my hub box on the 19/02/26, he cancelled the contract and said he will ring me on the 20/02/26 to start a new contract and will have to wait a further week for the hub box, this all seems strange why couldn't he sort it out there and then?

[me123]

Just to confirm, it was £16 a month

One of the emails sent was 

Thanks for ordering broadband.

Broadband only

You've ordered broadband without a home phone, which means you won't be able to make or receive any calls, including calls to the emergency services. Your package Home essential fibre essential

[iniltous]

A quirk/drawback/safeguard of the ordering system used by providers like BT that use Openreach is that only one order can exist at a time , so even if an order is cancelled, until that cancelled order has worked its way through the system, another order can’t be raised , hence the delay before your  replacement order is raised….

It’s possible that if your order did show the correct price (£16) which is 36Mb broadband and telephony with 700 mins (the BT Essentials no income plan ) that the order description was incorrect rather that the wrong product ordered  , as the other BT Home Essentials plans are £21 or £24 depending on the fibre speed they include PAYG telephony, so it’s possible the order would have supplied the correct product even if the description suggested broadband only .

Its irrelevant now if the order has been cancelled, but did the email contract confirmation you received show £16 and state BT Home Essentials, No income plan , so that’s no income at all from paid work, even if it were only a few hours per week , perhaps you qualify for BT Essentials but not the £16 ‘no income’  one so the plan was changed .

[imjolly]

social tariff

This is the current home essential packages

[me123]

Thanks for the reply. yes, the email did show the £16, but it was the 3rd email that was incorrect showing broadband only, no phone,  the woman on the phone said this will be the price, and I asked Do I just plug my landline phone in the box, and she said yes, but the contract emails she sent didn't match what was discussed on the phone. I asked for the no-income plan, as this is true at the current time, and i gave them my national insurance number. The emails were in my inbox as soon as I hung up, and rang them straight back after reading them.

[iniltous]

As stated , it’s all a little academic now if the original order has been cancelled , once BT  raise a the new order and send you the confirmation email you will be able to see if it’s the ‘no income’ social tariff option or one of the other Essentials tariffs for those with some income from work  , but still in receipt of a qualifying benefit.

TBH  I’ve no idea if BT can immediately check if the applicant qualifies while they are discussing the application or if everything is provisional and liable to change once the DWP confirm eligibility.

[me123]

According to the internet

BT work with the Department for Work and Pensions to make applying easy. With just your name, date of birth and National Insurance number, they can run an instant check to determine if you're eligible, so there are no more lengthy paper forms to fill out.

When I rang back, I was speaking to another person. He seemed to think there was an issue with it, so he cancelled it, but didn't go into details apart from saying he was glad I noticed it as soon as I did othererwise it would have caused more of a problem, so if he rings on the 20th i will be able to sort it out.

[Michael_D · Accepted solution]

I'm sure they will be able to get it sorted once the original order has cleared @me123. 

They would be able to do the checks you've mentioned above to make sure you are eligible, but if you mention that it is for the Home Essentials Plan when you do speak to them again, that will make sure they are looking at the right plan for you.

Michael

[me123]

Thank you. I have been with BT for many years, paying about £119 every three months for a call package without broadband. The issue with these companies is that they never inform you about potentially cheaper options; you have to discover them on your own. Otherwise, you could end up paying much more than necessary.

[garybs29]

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@me123wrote:

Thank you. I have been with BT for many years, paying about £119 every three months for a call package without broadband. The issue with these companies is that they never inform you about potentially cheaper options; you have to discover them on your own. Otherwise, you could end up paying much more than necessary.

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It's up to the DWP to tell you about home essentials