Reclaim Phone Money, Ofcom Says

Customers of telecom firms have been told to retrieve allowance due to them when they switch contracts.

The regulator Ofcom says in the past two years about two million people have left at least 10m on their aged accounts.

Typically the allowance is for line let paid in advance, or promotional credits offering at the beginning of a contract.

Ofcom mentioned its recommendation practical to mobile and landline phone services, broadband connections, and pay TV.

The regulator mentioned all companies should automatically return all allowance owed, but until right away usually 3 had completed so.

It mentioned usually BT, Orange and the Post Office had had a process of automatically refunding all excellent allowance on their customers' accounts.

T-Mobile has right away concluded to do so and Vodafone is right away carrying out so for its send withdraw customers.

Meanwhile Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile have concluded to do so from 1 December for sums larger than 1, and O2 will right away automatically credit sums of more than 20.

But Ofcom mentioned Sky, Talk Talk and Three are still insisting on customers contacting them first.

The regulator criticised this stance, adage everybody in the attention should return customers with all the excellent credit they were owed, without customers having to inquire first.

"Consumers were revelation us that they found it tough to affirm new credit from their providers when they left their contracts," mentioned Ofcom's arch executive, Ed Richards.

"Taken together, people have been millions of pounds out of slot as a result.

"We hope that programmed return processes, clearer signposting by providers and the new consumer guide should help consumers affirm back allowance that is justly theirs," he added.