Terms and Conditions > Code of Practice

Code of Practice

1 About Wessex Internet and this Code of Practice

1.1 Wessex Internet Limited (‘Wessex Internet’, ‘WIL’, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’) is a communications provider that provides various internet connectivity and telephone Services to residential and business customers in England.

1.2 This Code of Practice provides information about how we, Wessex Internet, provide our Services, and where you can find further information about our procedures and policies, as well as how we support our customers.

1.3 Wessex Internet is regulated by the Office of Communications (“Ofcom”), and we adhere to all of the relevant obligations that apply to us, as required by Ofcom from time to time. This includes rules regarding our sales and complaints processes, as set out in this Code.

1.4 References to our “Website” mean our web presence at www.wessexinternet.com/, including any associated website, web page, or sub-page of that site.

1.5 The definitions set out in the Terms and Conditions (found at: https://www.wessexinternet.com/terms-and-conditions/) shall apply to this Code of Practice.

1.6 References to information or notices being “written” or in “writing” includes those sent by email.

1.7 This Code of Practice is available on our Website and also available in PDF form upon request. For customers with additional accessibility requirements, we can also provide it in alternative formats (please see section 15 of this Code for more details).

2 How to contact us

2.1 You can contact us using via any of the options set out below:

a) Phone: Customer Support: 0333 240 7997. Our lines are open Monday to Saturday 08:00 - 21:00 (excluding public holidays) or Sunday / Bank Holidays 10:00 - 16:00.

b) Email: info@wessexinternet.com

c) Website: www.wessexinternet.com

d) Postal address: Customer Support Department, Wessex Internet, The Old Laundry, Ranston, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 8PU.

3 Our services and how to place an order

3.1 We provide full fibre and fixed wireless broadband internet access, WiFi signal boosting and Telephone Services. More detail on our Services and Charges can be found on our website. Alternatively, you may wish to call our Customer Support team to find out more.

3.2 You can order our services via our website, in person, or over the phone using the details in section 2 above.

4 Terms and Conditions

4.1 Our standard Terms and Conditions for the various services we provide can be found on our website at https://www.wessexinternet.com/terms-and-conditions/.

4.2 Before you agree to enter into a Contract with us, we will provide you with documents outlining the key terms of the Contract that you will be signing up to and a summary of the Contract. These documents will be provided to you in writing by email and you will need to read and confirm that you are happy to enter into the Contract.

5 Minimum Contract Period and Cancellation of Services

5.1 Where you are a Consumer, you have the right to cancel your Order within 14 days from the date of service activation. You will not be required to pay an Early Termination Fee if you cancel within this period. To cancel an order, you can either contact Customer Support via telephone or notify us in writing by email or post. We reserve the right to charge you for the full cost of the Service you have received up to the termination of the service provision, including any installation costs you have agreed to.

5.2 We sell services which have a Minimum Service Period of either 12 or 18 months.

5.3 If you decide to end your Contract with us before the end of the Minimum Service Period, you will have to pay an Early Termination Fee. The Early Termination Fee is calculated on the basis of the amount that you would have paid, if you had kept the Services for the remainder of the Minimum Service Period less VAT, and any sums we will save because we are no longer providing you with the service.

5.4 Where Wessex Internet has notified you of a change which would be detrimental to you (and the change is not required by law or regulation) and you have decided that you no longer wish to continue with the Contract, no Early Termination Fee will be payable, provided that you notify us within one month of being informed of the proposed change, as outlined in the notice we will send to you.

5.5 Once the Minimum Service period has expired, you will move onto a monthly rolling Contract. From that point onwards, you can end your Contract at any time by giving us at least 30 days’ written notice by telephoning Customer Support or by email or post using the appropriate contact details listed above. If you give us notice that you wish to end your Contract then you should make arrangements to switch to an alternative service provider before the end of the one month notice period you give us. You do not need to wait until the end of your notice period to switch to another service provider (but you will be responsible for all Charges associated with your Services up until the end of the notice period).

5.6 At the end of your 30-day notice period, your right to use the relevant Services will end. If you do not take steps to secure equivalent services from an alternative communications provider, you will be left without a broadband connection and phone service after this time.

5.7 Where your Contract has been terminated and we hold money on account for any Services paid for in advance, we will refund the money held on account, less all outstanding charges you owe us. You should receive any outstanding sums within 30 (thirty) days of termination.

6 Price Lists

6.1 The charges that may apply to your Service are available on our Price List on the website, or by requesting a copy of from Customer Support.

7 Billing

7.1 Your bills will be sent to you via email. Should you wish to receive a paper-based bill you will need to contact Customer Support to request this. There will be a charge for this service, unless you have accessibility issues, in which case we provide this service free of charge.

7.2 We will bill you monthly in advance for your Broadband Service and monthly in arrears for your Telephone Service.

8 Support

8.1 For account related queries, or if you have a technical query or need to report a loss of Service, please contact Customer Support. Our contact details are set out in section 2 above. If you have a complaint, please see section 10 below for details.

9 Moving Premises

9.1 If you move house to a property that is not served by Wessex Internet, it will not be possible to migrate the Broadband Service or Telephone Service to your new home. Where your move takes place during your Minimum Service Period you will not be required to pay the Early Termination Fee.

9.2 It might be possible to switch from our fibre service to our wireless service, or vice versa, but different charges would then apply. To check whether Wessex Internet can supply services to your new property, and what charges will apply, please contact our Customer Support team ahead of your move.

10 Complaints

10.1 We are committed to providing the best service we can to our customers. However, in the event that we get things wrong, please let us know. We take all Complaints very seriously and we will always try to fix anything you are dissatisfied with as quickly as possible. Your feedback gives us a chance to make things right and the opportunity to improve how things are done.

10.2 In the event that you wish to make a Complaint, you can contact us via phone, email and post. Our complaints procedure, including all the relevant contact details, can be found at Complaints Policy.

11 Emergency calls

11.1 Access to the emergency numbers 999 and 112 will be free of charge through our Telephone Service. When you make calls to the emergency numbers, we will send information about your location to the emergency services to help them locate you.

11.2 Your Telephone Service is linked to your broadband connection, this means that in the event that your there is a broadband outage (for example, due to a power cut), you will be unable to make calls to the emergency numbers. It is advisable to have an alternative means of contacting emergency services in this situation, for example a mobile telephone.

11.3 We can provide you with a battery back-up unit if you request this, which will have a minimum battery duration of an hour. This will enable you to continue to make calls to the emergency numbers in the event of a power outage. Please note that this service is free of charge for our vulnerable customers who indicate a need for battery back up. Further information about this service can be found on our website here.

12 Number porting

12.1 When you take a new Telephone Service with us or you switch your Telephone Services to us, you may request us to port your telephone number from another communications provider and we will try to do this where it is technically feasible. However, this may not always be possible (for example, if you have already cancelled your existing service). Where it is not possible to port your number in, we may have to provide you with a new number. For more information, please call Customer Support.

12.2 Customers should note that there may be a porting fee of £10 payable when you port a number to or from Wessex Internet. For more information, please see our Price List or call Customer Support.

12.3 You may request that we port your telephone number to another communications provider and this process is led by the communications provider you are transferring to. We must have in place with the other communications provider a porting agreement and the necessary technical measures before we can port your number. For more information about the process and the relevant timescales, please call Customer Support.

13 Directory Entries

13.1 If you would like your details to be included in a national directory and/or directory enquiry service, please call or write to us (please see our website for contact details). There may be a reasonable charge for this service. Your details will only be included in a national directory if you give us your consent.

14 Nuisance calls

14.1 Nuisance calls can include the following: unwanted marketing calls (for example, live sales calls, recorded calls, silent or abandoned calls), spam and malicious communications. We refer to these as “nuisance calls”.

14.2 We take the problem of nuisance calls very seriously. We tackle it by working closely with the police and others in the communications industry.

14.3 If you have been a victim of nuisance calls, please call Customer Support to report the incident and we can provide you with advice on how to deal with it. We have limited capability to block numbers, but we can, if necessary, provide you with a new telephone number.

15 Services for people who are disabled or vulnerable

15.1 We are committed to ensuring that all our customers receive the best possible service. We offer additional services on request for vulnerable customers who, due to their personal circumstances, may be susceptible to harm or detriment.

15.2 For more information about the assistance we can provide, please consult our Vulnerable Customer Policy.

16 Data protection

16.1 We comply fully with our obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 in relation to managing your personal data and marketing preferences. Please see our Privacy Policy which sets out how we can use any information you provide to us.

16.2 Compliance with data protection issues is regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

17 Premium Rate Services (“PRS”)

17.1 PRS are numbers which are charged at a higher rate than our standard tariff. Higher call charges apply to these numbers because in addition to paying for the call, you will also be paying for the service provided. This could include many services such as a subscription, a game, casting your vote for a tv talent show and/ or entering a competition.

17.2 These numbers will appear on your bill in a separate section. They are regulated by the Phone paid Services Authority (“PSA”). Should you have any issues with a PRS you will need to contact the PSA. Further details about the PSA are provided below.

How PRS works

17.3 As detailed above, calls to PRS numbers are typically more expensive than calls to other telephone numbers. Most PRS numbers operate on the basis of a revenue-sharing arrangement. This means that the bulk of the revenue from calls to such services goes to the PRS providers who are responsible for the content, product or services provided or who act as resellers or ‘aggregators’ on behalf of a number of such providers. The PRS providers are responsible for complying with most of the obligations imposed by the PSA code of practice mentioned above.

17.4 The rest of the revenue is shared by:

  • the network where the consumer dials the number – also known as consumer’s ‘originating’ telephone company (for instance our wholesale partner, which receives a small fee for origination of the phone call); and

  • the network which connects the customers call with the PRS service provider – also known as the ‘terminating’ telephony company. The terminating telephony company contracts with the PRS provider to terminate these calls in this way.

17.5 You will find up-to-date information about the tariffs for calling PRS numbers from our network on our Website, and on the website of the PRS you wish to use.

How to bar access to PRS numbers

17.6 We offer the facility to bar calls to PRS numbers, which will stop any dialling on your line to all UK-based 0900-0909 premium numbers. If you want to place a bar on your line or need to check whether you already have an active bar in place, please call our Customer Support team.

The Phone paid Services Authority (PSA)

17.7 PSA is the industry-funded regulatory body for all premium-rate charged telecommunications services. It regulates PRS through the PSA code of practice (the latest edition can be found on their website). PSA’s main role is to prevent harm to consumers.

17.8 PSA investigates complaints about the promotion and operation of services that involve the use of a telephone connection via a premium-rate number. This includes services available through various mediums such as voice (telephone), fax, Internet, mobile phone SMS and interactive TV.

17.9 PSA regulates the following services and promotions:

  • numbers beginning with 090 or 091
  • directory enquiry (DQ) services operating on numbers beginning with 118
  • reverse-billed SMS (you are charged for receiving messages) containing content operating on shortcodes.

17.10 PSA can fine companies and bar access to services if its code of practice is breached. PSA can also bar the individual(s) behind a company from running any other PRS under any company name on any telephone network for a defined period.

17.11 PSA can deal with less complex problems by issuing formal reprimands or requiring companies to seek prior approval before offering a service.

17.12 Their service is free to consumers and is fully independent.

How to complain to the PSA

17.13 If you have used a premium rate service and are unhappy with any aspect of the service you received, you can submit a complaint to the PSA. Before you make your complaint to the PSA. We recommend that you visit their online number-checking facility for instant information about the number in question. After that, please use one of the following methods:

17.14 The PSA may order a PRS service provider to pay you a refund if they have completed an investigation and the outcome requires this. If it can be shown that your phone has been used without your permission to call certain types of premium-rate service (e.g. live and recorded chat and live tarot services), the PSA may also be able to help you get compensation from the PRS provider.

17.15 The PSA will also be able to help you identify the service provider who provides the service behind the PRS number on your phone bill. Please visit its website at: www.psauthority.org.uk.

18 Number Translation Services (“NTS”) and PRS Charges

18.1 Calls to NTS and PRS numbers include numbers starting with 084,087, 09, 118, 0845 and 0870. The price for calls to these numbers is made up of two separate charges the Access Charge and the Service Charge.

18.2 You will note that we are unable to comment on the Service Charges payable for contacting a PRS provider as it will vary from provider to provider. We have, however, set out the Access Charges that arise from originating the call on our Network, which are detailed in our Price List.

18.3 Our published Charges for calls to number-translation services will include variations by time of day, for example, whether the call is made during the day, evening or weekend.

18.4 We will also make it clear whether any special offers, discount schemes or call bundles include calls to number-translation services.

19 Internet diallers

19.1 If you use the Internet, it is possible for software to be placed on your computer without you knowing ¬using the same methods as for computer viruses. This type of software (known as Internet or rogue diallers) can then make calls to PRS and NTS numbers without your knowledge. The PSA has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.psauthority.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. For other ways to contact PSA, see the Useful Contacts section below. We can also help by barring calls to 09 or any other numbers.

20 The Telephone Preference Service (“TPS”)

20.1 If you don’t want to receive sales and marketing calls you have not requested, you can add your details to a list run by the TPS. If your number is on the list, it is unlawful for a company to call you for marketing purposes. Please see the Useful Contacts section below for contact details.

Useful contacts

The Ombudsman Services: Communications

Post: P.O Box 730, Warrington, WA4 6WU

Phone: 0330 440 1614

Email: enquiry@ombudsman-services.org

The Phone-paid Services Authority

Post: 40 Bank Street, London, E14 5NR

Phone: 0300 30 300 20

Website: https://psauthority.org.uk/

The Telephone Preference Service

Address: DMA House 70 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SS

Phone: 0345 070 0707

Email: tps@dma.org.uk

Website: www.tpsonline.org.uk

Wessex Internet’s Company information

Our registered office is at Ranston, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 8PU (Company number: 06258070 and VAT number: GB26494965).