What if I can't afford my bill right now?

Tell us before it becomes a problem. We can forgive up to three months of service outright — not defer it — for customers in financial hardship, and we will not disconnect you while we are working something out.

Losing your internet when money is tight makes everything else harder — job applications, benefits paperwork, a kid's homework, an appointment you could have taken from home. We are a Boston company and the people on our network are our neighbors, not account numbers in another state. If you are struggling, we would rather find a way through it with you.

We can forgive up to three months of service. It is considered case by case and has to be approved, and how much depends on your situation — but it is a real thing, not a line on a page.

It is forgiven, not deferred. This is the part worth being clear about, because most hardship programmes are not this. A forgiven month is gone. It does not reappear on a later bill, there is no balance quietly building up behind you, and nobody hands you a catch-up payment in three months when things are no better. The whole charge goes — the internet, the $10/mo router rental if you have one, and the $25 late fee.

Or pay what you can. Forgiveness is not all or nothing. If you can manage something but not the full bill, say that instead — a reduced bill for a stretch is often the more useful arrangement, and it is available.

This is the part that matters, and it is the part people get wrong. We cannot apply hardship to an account we do not know is struggling. If nothing is said, the ordinary process simply runs: a failed payment is retried three times over ten days, and then service is suspended. See How do I pay my Boston Broadband bill? for that sequence.

A phone call stops that from happening.

  1. Call (617) 693-9434, Mon–Fri 8am–6pm ET, or email [email protected].
  2. Say you are having trouble paying. You do not owe us a detailed explanation.
  3. We will talk through what would actually help — forgiveness, a different plan, or more time.

There is no form, no proof of income, nothing to upload and no hoop to get through. If you tell us you are struggling, we believe you.

We will be straight with you about the other side of that, because it is the honest reason we ask you to only take it if you need it: we are a small local company, and we could not carry three months for every customer at once. This is not a discount to go and get — it is a safety net. But it is there for anyone who genuinely needs it, and asking honestly is the whole qualification.

If it is already too late, call anyway. An account that has been suspended can still be talked about, and we would rather hear from you late than not at all.

Moving to a cheaper plan is also an option. There is no contract and no penalty for changing tiers, so if a smaller plan is what makes this work, see How do I change my internet plan?.

There is no hard limit on asking again. If you end up here twice, we are not going to hold the first time against you. Every request is looked at on its own — which is the same reason approval is part of it, in both directions.

And you will not be treated differently for having asked. No flag on your account that follows you around, no slower support, no quiet nudge toward a smaller plan, no difference in how anyone here speaks to you. You are a neighbor who had a hard stretch, which is most people at some point.

If that didn’t work

Call (617) 693-9434 and ask to talk about hardship specifically. If the person who answers cannot approve it, they know who can.

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Talk to us

Call (617) 693-9434, Monday to Friday 8am–6pm ET, or email [email protected]. We answer within 24 hours, and usually within an hour.

Boston Broadband is a service-area business serving Boston, Brookline and Cambridge, Massachusetts. There is no counter to walk up to — phone, email and your account at myaccount.bostonbroadband.com are the ways in.