vulnerable customer policy
Version 3.1 - published July 2025
At toob we are committed to delivering a fast, stable, responsive, and inclusive broadband service that helps our customers make the most of the digital world.
We recognise that from time to time anyone can experience circumstances, whether long-term or temporary, that make them vulnerable. These may be factors related to your age, health, disability or personal circumstances such as bereavement or job loss, or perhaps you or someone you represent would benefit from a little extra support.
If you are happy to share, and if you give us consent to do so, our friendly customer services team can create a record of any specific access or customer service needs when dealing with your account. This could be notifying our engineers that you might take longer to answer the door, asking us to provide a written summary of calls with you, or a request for important documents to be provided in an alternative format such as large print or braille.
We will only use the information provided to help us meet your needs and will deal with anything you tell us in accordance with our privacy policy (toob.co.uk/legal).
At toob we fully support the 999 BSL Emergency Video Relay Service. For more information and to download the App, visit www.999bsl.co.uk.
If you need someone to act on your behalf, let us know as soon as possible so we can record this on your account. This person may have the status of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), Deputyship or Benefits Appointee or they will be someone you nominate for third party bill management.
The table below summarises what your nominated representative can do when they have LPA or are your chosen third-party bill manager.
| speak to us about your account | receive copies of your bills | pay your bills | close or make changes to your account | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| third-party bill manager | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lasting Power of Attorney Deputyship Benefits Appointee |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
source: Ofcom
If you are appointing someone to act as a third-party bill manager, please call us with that person present so that we can verify your account details and speak to the third party and take their relevant information.
We reserve the right to decline or further investigate requests for third parties to manage your account if we are in any doubt of the authenticity of the documentation or information provided to meet our legal obligations such as anti money laundering and fraud prevention.
If you are representing the account holder as a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), then you can register this with us by using your activation key.
Any LPA registered on or after 17 July 2020 will have an activation key; you can find this in the letter you received telling you the LPA has been registered. Simply contact our friendly customer services team with your activation key, and if validated, we’ll record you as an LPA for the account holder.
If your LPA was registered between 1 January 2016 and 16 July 2020 then you can request an ‘activation key’ via the gov.uk website.
If your LPA was registered before 1 January 2016, then you’ll need to send a copy to us by post of the relevant legal documents, stamped by the OPG/OCP on every page or signed on every page by the donor and a solicitor. It is important that you only send a copy of the document(s) as these will not be returned to you. For more details on Lasting Power of Attorney please visit https://www.gov.uk/lasting-power-attorney-duties.
If you’ve been granted Deputyship or act as a Benefits Appointee, then you can also deal with an account on behalf of the account holder. To notify us of your appointment, please send a copy of the relevant legal documents to us by post. It is important that you only send a copy of the document(s) as these will not be returned to you.
In the case of a bereavement, and a request to retain the service, we will ask the deceased customer’s next of kin to set up a new account in their own name. We usually ask to see a copy of the deceased person’s death certificate to complete the closure of their account and/or set-up a new one.
We understand that sometimes you might need to have copies of important documents such as terms and conditions, contract notifications, or policies in an alternative format. We can supply these to you in Braille, large text, or voice recording at your request. If you need these at any time, please contact us.
You might also like to speak to external organisations that can provide specialist support and advice.
Age UK – helping everyone make the most of later life and providing advice and support for older people who need it most
0800 678 1602 (8am-7pm 365 days a year)
www.ageuk.org.uk
Citizens Advice – confidential advice for everyone whatever you are facing
www.citizensadvice.org.uk (find your nearest advice centre and ways to contact here)
Mind – for better mental health
0300 102 1234
www.mind.org.uk
Money Helper – free and impartial money advice from UK Government
www.moneyhelper.org.uk
The Samaritans – a confidential service that can talk to you about anything you’re going through
116 123 – call at any time from any phone for free
www.samaritans.org
999 BSL Emergency Video Relay Service for Deaf People – a service we fully support
at toob. For more information and to download the App, visit www.999bsl.co.uk.
You can find the best ways to contact us by visiting our contact page.
Alternatively, you can write to us at Customer Services, 4000 Lakeside North Harbour, Portsmouth PO6 3EN. Please remember, it can sometimes take a bit longer to reach us by post and for our reply to get back to you.