I got paid £243 by Sky this week after a delay getting my broadband installed - and you might be eligible for the money too, thanks to a new Ofcom scheme.

In 2024, Ofcom introduced new rules aimed at tackling delays installing broadband which has now been signed up to by 10 suppliers, including , , Plusnet, , and among others.

The Automatic Compensation scheme means that if your landline or broadband is not activated on the date you're given, you'll be paid an automatic £6.24 per day for every day the broadband isn't up and running. This happened to me just this month - and now I have an email promising me £243 from .

I signed up to Sky Broadband in February, cancelling my Virgin Media, which I've been with for five years. Virgin weren't interested in negotiating a better deal, all they could offer me was £38.50 per month (increasing to £41 in April), for 300mb broadband.

Sky, on the other hand, were willing to give me 350mb broadband, plus Sky Stream TV including Netflix and Atlantic (which is basically HBO).

The issue was that we didn't have a BT Openreach line going into the house, because Openreach had never connected us. We'd been using the only supplier we could get - Virgin Media - via cable.

No problem, Sky said. We can get you connected. Unfortunately, BT Openreach (which owns the network and is responsible for alterations and connections) missed the install date. Then they came to install it two weeks later and it didn't work. In fact, it took over a month from our install date before it started working and three trips from BT Openreach engineers.

After we finally got connected, Sky sent this email: "We're giving you £243.36 to say sorry.

"We're sorry your order was delayed. We have an Automatic Compensation scheme in place for situations like this, so we're giving you £243.36 for any inconvenience caused.

"If you have a Sky account, you'll see this credit on your next bill. You can view your bill by logging into My Sky using your Sky ID. If you don't have a Sky account, the compensation will be paid to your bank account/payment card, or via cheque, within 30 days."

Ofcom says about the scheme: "Providers that signed up to the scheme will provide compensation for delayed repairs following a loss of service, missed repairs or provision appointments, and delays to the start of a new service.

"If your service doesn't start on the agreed date, or if your engineer appointment is missed, your provider will pay compensation automatically - meaning you don't need to take any action to receive the compensation."

The compensation is not just for delayed installations though - it also applies to service interruptions.

Ofcom's scheme pays £9.98 per day for any service that stops working and is not 'fully fixed' after two working days.

It adds: "If your broadband or landline service stops working, you will simply have to report the fault to your provider. If the service is not fixed after two full working days, you would not need to ask for compensation or contact your provider again, as your provider has systems in place that mean you will start receiving compensation automatically if the repair takes too long.

"You will receive an initial £9.98 if the service is not fixed two full working days after you report it, and then £9.98 for each full day it is still not fixed after that."