McArthur challenges BT over compensation for subsea cable fault

Orkney’s MSP, Liam McArthur, has today written to BT to voice concerns about the approach taken to financial compensation for customers impacted by the outage caused by the subsea cable fault that disrupted services to customers in the north isles for weeks earlier this year.  

Mr McArthur has received reports of constituents being denied rebates for the relevant billing period on the basis that they did not report a loss of broadband at the time.  

The fault lasted between 16 March - 17 April and caused widespread outages across several of the north isles, which was recognised by BT and other suppliers at the time.

Mr McArthur is encouraging any constituents who have been denied compensation or who are facing difficulties with their supplier on this matter to get in touch.  

Commenting, Mr McArthur said:  

“I am deeply concerned to learn that BT appear to have taken an approach that requires customers to have made contact to report a loss of broadband in order to be eligible for compensation.  

“The extent of the outages and the impact across the isles was widely acknowledged at the time, and it is therefore unacceptable for recognition of any billing or compensation claims to be dependent upon individual reports from individual customers.

"I have written to BT today urging them to revise this approach and avoid compounding the problems caused by the original cable fault by making customers jump through hoops to get the compensation they deserve. I would also encourage other service providers to be proactive in compensating affected customers.

“Any constituents who have faced difficulties with their supplier should get in touch with my office. Meantime, I also plan to open discussions with BT, Scottish Ministers and others about how greater resilience is built into a network upon which our island communities increasingly depend.”