Millions of people in the UK were due compensation as a result of issues with their broadband.

New research has found that more than 3.9 million households across the country suffered with broadband issues in the last year.

Eligible broadband users who experienced delays to their service or missed appointments should have received money back through the Ofcom automatic compensation scheme.

However, Go.Compare found that 91% of adults did not know what the Ofcom broadband automatic compensation scheme is, including customers whose providers are signed up to it.

The reported delays and missed appointments mean providers should have paid out over £114.9 million to customers in the last 12 months.

More than 3.5 million households in the UK suffered broadband delays, with 1.4 million experiencing a late start of a new service and 2.1 million waiting for a repair following a loss of service.

Plus, 1.2 million households should have been compensated a total of £57 million in the last year due to missed appointments. Around 5% of eligible broadband users reported to the insurance comparison site that they had experienced this issue.

Around 85% of broadband users are with providers who have joined the Ofcom automatic compensation scheme, including BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky and Virgin Media.

The scheme offers £9.76 per day to users who are waiting for a repair, £6.10 for each calendar day a new service is late starting, and £30.49 per missed engineer appointment.

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Matt Sanders, broadband expert at Go.Compare, said: “The Ofcom automatic compensation scheme is great for users as it promises money back for any problems without having to claim for it yourself.

“When comparing broadband providers, it’s a good idea to check which ones are signed up to the scheme before committing.

“For some customers, issues and delays can drag on, with users waiting weeks or even months for repairs or the start of a new service.

“So, in these cases especially, we’re urging everyone to check that they have been fairly compensated for any issues with their service.

“You should have been automatically compensated, usually via a credit to your account within 30 days of the problem occurring.

“If this hasn’t happened, you should raise this with your broadband provider, and as a last resort, you can use the Ofcom-approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service.”