How businesses are helping to deliver the Armed Forces Covenant
September 26, 2017
Many businesses offer support to the Armed Forces community. Here’s a useful summary of the businesses helping the Armed Forces community with mortgages, motor insurance, broadband, media packages and mobile phone contracts. Please note this information will be subject to change as new business sign to the Armed Forces Covenant and pledges evolve. Always check here Corporate Covenant Pledges for the latest information.
Mortgages
Since December 2016 members of the Armed Forces redeployed within the UK and abroad have been able to rent out their primary residence without facing higher costs or having to change their mortgage if their lender has signed up to this scheme. Previously, members of the Armed Forces who rented out their homes during deployment could have been required to change their residential mortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage, often incurring new charges. Under this new arrangement they will no longer have to.
Banks and building societies that have signed up to the scheme are listed below:
1. Bath
2. Buckinghamshire
3. Cambridge
4. Chorley
5. Coventry
6. Cumberland
7. Darlington
8. Ecology
9. Families
10. Hanley Economic
11. Holmesdale
12. Ipswich
13. Leeds
14. Loughborough
15. Mansfield
16. Melton Mowbray
17. Monmouthshire
18. Nationwide
19. Newbury
20. Newcastle
21. Nottingham
22. Penrith
23. Principality
24. Scottish
25. Skipton
26. Tipton & Coseley
27. West Brom
28. Yorkshire
1. Allied Irish Bank
2. Aldermore
3. Bank Of Ireland
4. Barclays
5. Charter Court Financial Services
6. Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank Group
7. Danske Bank
8. Hampden &Co
9. HSBC
10. Lloyds Banking Group (including Lloyds bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland)
11. OneSavings Bank
12. RBS (including Natwest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank)
13. Reliance Bank
14. Sainsbury’s Bank
15. Santander UK
16. The co-operative Bank
17. TSB Bank
18. Virgin Money
Motor insurance
Since 2016, 86% of Britain’s insurance market, including many of the largest providers, committed to ensuring Armed Forces personnel posted overseas can keep their motor insurance no claims bonus for up to three years, and not pay cancellation fees.
Several providers extend this offer to their families too but it is important to check any exclusions with insurance providers: a full list of those who have signed up to the motor insurance offer, and what specifically they offer, can be found on the ABI Armed Forces Motor insurance website.
Broadband and media packages
The vast majority of the UK’s largest broadband and media providers have committed to waiving cancellation fees for Armed Forces personnel, when posted aboard or to another part of the UK. The following have all committed to this pledge (re-validated March 2022):
- BT (inc. EE)
- Sky
- Plusnet
- Talk Talk
- Virgin Media
By committing this pledge as part of their Covenant commitment this waiver should be applied to families of serving personnel as well as the serving individual. Remember to cite this, and the pledge to the Covenant, if you are being challenged by call centre staff.
Mobile phone contracts
Since 2015 most of the large mobile phone contract providers have also committed to removing disadvantage to the armed forces community by allowing suspension of UK mobile phone contracts until they return to the UK.
Companies who have signed up to this pledge include (re-validated March 2022):
- Vodafone: committed to enable armed forces families to suspend mobile contracts for three years
- Three: committed to suspend contracts of spouses joining their partners abroad for 12 months, and if deployed for more than 12 months a discount will be applied to any termination charges
- EE: committed to enable armed forces families to suspend contracts for 12 months
- O2: committed to develop proposals that build on existing arrangements to ensure that service personnel and their families are not penalised when living abroad