Help and support

COVID-19 FAQs

Can I still speak to someone over the phone to help with my enquiry?

Our phone lines are still open, but as we have less people available to take your calls, it may take a while for you to get through to us. Please support our reduced team by only calling in the most urgent circumstances, like if you have a connectivity problem, or are having difficulties paying your bill.

Check our opening hours

For non-urgent issues, please take a look at our help pages, sign in to My O2 or if you’re a business customer, try My O2 Business.

Due to our teams behind the scenes also being impacted, resolving your problem may take longer than usual, such as activating your SIM or moving you onto our network. We’re working around the clock to complete these requests and can’t thank you enough for your patience during this difficult time.

We’ve followed the government’s guidance and have closed our stores, and our Live Chat is currently unavailable.

I’m having problems paying my bill – what can I do?

For customers on Refresh or Custom Plans and those with O2 Insure products, in accordance with FCA regulations, we have implemented a Covid-19 emergency payment option designed to help those customers who are experiencing immediate financial difficulty, please

• Only contact us with a payment request if you need immediate and temporary financial assistance
• Don’t cancel or reduce your payments until you’ve contacted us
• If you can afford to make some repayments, even if it is a smaller amount then do so

What this means for you

• You may be able to make no or small payments for up to 3 months
• This won’t affect your credit file for the period of the emergency payment freeze
• At the end of the deferral period you will either need to pay the full outstanding deferred balance or make sure you contact us to set up an instalment plan

Who can apply?

• You have an O2 Refresh or Custom Plan agreement, or have an O2 Insure product
• Your ability to make your repayments has been temporarily affected by Covid-19, for example you’ve lost your job or you’re having to work less hours
• You will be able to make a request up to 14th July

Contacting us
  
Please only contact us if you’re worried about an immediate impact on your financial situation caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. We ask that you only call us if it’s urgent, so we can help those most at need.

 

At O2, we’re doing everything we can to keep you connected and are prioritising those that need us the most.

Our Payment Management Team are available to talk to you on an individual basis should you need us.

If you need financial advice, you can visit these websites without using your data:

citizensadvice.org.uk	Citizens Advice Financial advice
moneyadviceservice.org.uk	Financial advice
stepchange.org	Financial advice

What support services are free to access on O2?

Calls to the NHS 111 help line have always been free. And now you can also visit the NHS website without using your data, along with a number of other important websites that many people will rely on for support during this time.

	Website	Category
1.	citizensadvice.org.uk	Citizens Advice Financial advice
2.	moneyadviceservice.org.uk	Financial advice
3.	stepchange.org	Financial advice
4.	samaritans.org	Emotional support
5.	mind.org.uk	Mental health/ emotional support
6.	rethink.org	Mental health/ emotional support
7.	anxietyuk.org.uk	Mental health/ emotional support
8.	youngminds.org.uk	Mental health/ young people
9.	mindout.org.uk	Mental health/ LGBTQ
10.	ageuk.org.uk	Older people
11.	thesilverline.org.uk	Older people
12.	themix.org.uk	Young people
13.	childline.co.uk	Children
14.	alzheimers.org.uk	Health - Alzheimer’s
15.	macmillan.org.uk	Health -  cancer support
16.	asthma.org.uk	Health - asthma
17.	bhf.org.uk	Health - heart
18.	diabetes.org.uk	Health - diabetes
19.	scope.org.uk	Disabled people - general
20.	rnib.org.uk	Disabled people - sight
21.	actiononhearingloss.org.uk	Disabled people – hearing
22.	cruse.org.uk	Bereavement

Why can’t I contact you via Live Chat?

We’ve now reopened Live Chat, but with fewer agents and reduced hours (8am - 8pm). You’ll only be able to use Live Chat when an agent is available.

For queries, please take a look at our help pages, sign in to My O2 or if you’re a business customer, try My O2 Business.

I don’t know how My O2 works – how can I get help?

Check out our handy How-to guide to get started.

Business customer? Take a look at our My O2 Business guide.

How is the delivery/return or repair of my device or accessory affected?

Thankfully, many parts of our business are still running as usual. So most deliveries, returns and repairs will still happen in the normal timeframe. If this changes, we’ll let you know.

We’ve also temporarily extended the return period from 14 days to 28 days to make things easier, both for customers who want to cancel their order completely, and for those who want to change their device under our change of mind policy. 

Read our returns policy

I’m using up my data allowance faster than usual – what can I do?

Take a look at this advice from Ofcom that you may find useful.

I’m experiencing Network issues – what do I do?

Over the last few days, we've increased our capacity even further to deal with additional demand and network spikes so you can stay connected.

Use our network status checker to keep tabs on any faults or maintenance in your area or raise an issue yourself.

You can also download the My Network app to keep an eye on your coverage. When using the app, you can:

• check the status of our network and be kept up to date on any faults in your area
• test your network speeds
• report any issues with your service

I’m worried about getting fraudulent texts – what do I do?

We’ll never email, text or call you and ask for a one-time code, password, or other security information you’ve set up on your My O2 account.

Here are some signs that an email, message or call might not be genuine:

• it contains spelling mistakes
• there’s a generic ‘dear customer’ header
• it asks you to provide sensitive personal or financial information, passwords, or to make transactions by following a link in the message
• there are suspect links or there’s a name in the header with extra letters, numbers or substitutions. For example, a phishing scam trying to imitate O2 might replace the letter ‘O’ with the number zero.
• it asks you to call a certain number you don’t recognise. In this case, call your bank on a number that you trust, like the one on the back of your card to check the message is authentic

Receiving a suspicious email, text or voice call won’t harm you in any way. It’s only dangerous if you interact with it. Remember:

• don’t click on links unless you’re 100% sure they’re genuine
• take a moment to stop and think. Trust your instincts. If it looks suspicious or too good to be true, there’s probably a catch.
• don’t give away any of your personal details

To report a suspicious email, text or website:

• if you think you’ve received a fraudulent text, please forward the message, including the phone number or company name, to 7726. This won’t cost you anything and it means we can investigate the sender.
• for emails claiming to be from O2, create a new email with ‘Phishing’ as the subject. Attach the suspicious email and send it to phishing@o2.com

You can find out more about unwanted calls and texts on our help pages.