Broadband deals with free gifts, reward cards and cashback: UK guide

Not in an absolute sense. The gift is funded by the provider from the margin on the deal itself, so the underlying deal may have a higher monthly price than an equivalent gift-free deal. The gift is only a genuine saving if the total contract cost minus the real value of the gift still beats the cheapest gift-free deal at the same speed and term. Always do the subtraction.

Pre-paid reward cards, typically £50 to £150 in value. The BT Reward Card and Sky Reward Card have been the two highest-profile examples for several years. These are Mastercard or Visa pre-paid cards loaded with a fixed amount, so they can be spent almost anywhere. They do expire, and they require a separate claim after your broadband goes live.

The provider emails you a claim link, typically two to four weeks after your broadband goes live. You log in, confirm your postal address, and the card is posted to you. The claim window is usually 2 to 3 months. If you miss it, the gift is forfeit. Put the claim date in your calendar on the day you order.

For most people, yes, because cashback is pure cash paid to your bank account. You can use it for anything, and there is no expiry risk. The trade-off is timing: cashback is usually paid 60 to 120 days after go-live, whereas a reward card lands in about 30 to 45 days after claim. Cashback is almost always a comparison-site perk rather than a direct provider offer.

Sometimes, where the comparison site's terms and the provider's promotion permit stacking. On the deals that do permit it, this can be the best route of all: a BT Reward Card direct from the provider plus a £50 cashback from the comparison site on the same deal. Check the comparison site's specific terms for each deal.

Rarely. Altnet full fibre providers like Community Fibre, Hyperoptic, YouFibre, Gigaclear, Brsk and Toob typically compete on headline monthly price and zero setup fees rather than promotional gifts. At coverage addresses, the altnet monthly price is often lower than a gift-adjusted big-brand deal, making the gift-vs-no-gift question moot.

Almost never, because the monthly price is already heavily discounted. Social tariffs from BT, Sky, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Now Broadband typically start at £12 to £20 a month with no setup and no gift. For eligible benefit claimants, the social tariff saves far more across a year than any gift-led promotion could. See Ofcom's current list (Ofcom, n.d.).

Your statutory right to cancel within the cooling-off period (14 days from the contract starting) is not removed by accepting a gift. However, if you cancel, the gift is usually returned to the provider, and any cashback claim is voided. Under Ofcom rules since 17 January 2025, any in-contract price rise must still be stated in pounds and pence at sign-up regardless of any gift (Ofcom, 2024a). If you exit later via One Touch Switch (Ofcom, 2024b), the gift you have already claimed is yours to keep.