HOUSE movers face a wait of up to two weeks before getting their broadband working.

The delay is frequently much longer than that promised by internet providers, according to research by charity Citizens Advice.

Many movers report waiting for engineers to attend on multiple occasions, only to be left with a slow or intermittent connection.

“People paying to have their broadband set up all too often face big setbacks,” said Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice.

“Moving house can be a difficult and stressful experience and delays in getting the internet can make this worse, if providers fail to keep to promised dates or engineering visits don’t materialise.”

Citizens Advice is calling for the telecoms regulator Ofcom to put in place the mandatory scheme for automatically compensating people affected by delayed internet set-ups.

More than a third of people who move house are said to experience long delays.

The advisory charity found 15 per cent of house movers with a broadband connection found it was slow or unreliable when initiated, while 11 per cent reported that engineers had to make multiple visits.