Reclaiming mobile roaming and out-of-bundle charges
A holiday or a quick hop across a border can produce an eye-watering mobile bill if data, calls or texts fall outside your bundle. Since 1 October 2024, Ofcom rules require providers to protect customers from roaming bill shocks, including alerting you when you start roaming and giving you ways to control or cap spend. If your provider didn't do this, or you were charged for inadvertent roaming (for example, connecting to a foreign network while still in the UK or on a ferry), you have strong grounds to dispute the charges and seek a refund.
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Under Ofcom's General Conditions (the C3 roaming rules in force from 1 October 2024), mobile providers must send you a notification when you start roaming, including information on charges, any fair-use or time limits, and how to set a spending cap; they must also have measures to help you limit or reduce roaming spend, and to protect you from charges caused by inadvertent roaming. The rules require providers to make it possible for you to monitor, control and cap your roaming spend, but there is no single mandatory cap amount set by Ofcom, so check what spend controls your own provider offers. If your provider failed to send the required roaming alert, didn't offer the ability to cap spend, or charged you for inadvertent roaming you didn't choose, you can dispute those charges. If your complaint isn't resolved within 8 weeks, or you receive a deadlock letter, you can refer it free of charge to the telecoms Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme (the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS), which can order a refund.
Step by step
- 1Review your itemised bill and identify exactly which charges are roaming or out-of-bundle, the dates, locations and amounts. Note whether you received any roaming start alert by text when you arrived, and whether you were ever offered or set a spend cap.
- 2Contact your provider's complaints team. Explain that under Ofcom's roaming rules you should have been alerted when roaming started and offered a way to cap spend, and that the charges resulted from a failure to do so or from inadvertent roaming. Ask for the charges to be refunded.
- 3Put it in writing and keep records (screenshots of missing alerts, your location, ferry/border crossing times). Give the provider up to 8 weeks to resolve the complaint, and request a deadlock letter if they reject it.
- 4If unresolved after 8 weeks or after a deadlock letter, refer the dispute free of charge to your provider's ADR scheme, the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS, for an independent and binding decision, including any refund.
What they'll say, and your comeback
“You agreed to our roaming charges in your terms, so the charges stand.”
Comeback, Agreeing to a tariff doesn't remove your obligations under Ofcom's roaming rules. You were required to alert me when I started roaming and to give me a way to control or cap my spend. If you didn't, these charges resulted from that failure and should be refunded.
“We sent the roaming alerts, it's not our fault you didn't read them.”
Comeback, Please provide evidence of the exact alerts sent and when, including the roaming start notification with charge and spend-cap information. If you can't show the required notification was sent at the point I started roaming, the charges shouldn't stand.
“Inadvertent roaming is just how the networks work, we can't refund that.”
Comeback, Ofcom's rules specifically require you to have measures to protect customers from charges arising from inadvertent roaming, for example when a phone latches onto a foreign network near a border or at sea. Because I didn't deliberately roam, I'm asking for these charges to be removed.
FAQ
What counts as 'inadvertent roaming'?
It's when your phone connects to a foreign network without you intending to roam, for example near a land border, on a ferry or boat, or when a UK location picks up a stronger overseas signal. Ofcom's rules require providers to have measures protecting customers from these charges, so they're strong grounds for a refund.
I never set a spend cap, can I still claim?
Yes. The point is that your provider must make it possible to control and cap roaming spend and must alert you when roaming begins. If you weren't told you were roaming or weren't given a clear way to cap spend, the failure is the provider's, and you can dispute the resulting charges and escalate to the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS if needed.
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A self-serve tool, not a law firm. General information, not legal advice.