ComReg has published its Decision relating to Missed and Delayed Service and Installation Appointments following a public consultation.
Switching and Porting appointments
The Decision means service providers must follow standards with regard to scheduling and fulfilling service and installation appointments during switching and porting.
ComReg’s standards include:
- Technician Appointments: A provider must offer a customer a range of times and dates to choose from before agreeing to an appointment. Once agreed, a confirmation will be sent to the customer of the appointment.
- Time Slots: Appointments must be arranged within a time interval of no more than 5 hours between 8am to 8pm. The technician must arrive within the agreed time slot. Two consecutive or adjacent appointments may be offered where complex installations require a longer period of time, however the technician must arrive within the first time slot.
- Missed Appointments: An appointment is missed if the technician has not attended the customer’s premises during the agreed time slot. An appointment is not missed where notice of cancellation is provided by no later than 3pm on the day before the appointment. An appointment may also not be missed where the technician was unable to enter the premises in certain circumstances.
- Delayed Appointments: An appointment is delayed when it is rearranged before the expiration of the initial agreed time slot for a later time that same day by agreement between a provider and a customer.
Switching and Porting Compensation Schemes
Providers will be required to publish their compensation scheme for Missed and Delayed Service and Installation Appointments. This scheme will outline the compensation process, payment methods, timelines for customer receipt, and compensation amounts. Providers must have a compensation scheme in place from 4 December 2025. This scheme is in addition to the compensation scheme already in place since October 2024 for delays in or abuses of switching and porting.
Once the compensation scheme is published, customers can claim compensation payment from their service provider, where an appointment does not follow the scheduling standards or for Missed or Delayed Appointments.
Compensation will be payable for Missed and Delayed Appointments related to telephone number porting and switching, as legally required. However, ComReg is also reviewing other appointments.
