Last month, the embattled provider announced the sweetener deal for all of its customers – not just those whose personal or banking details were accessed. Today it unveiled more details of what you can get (though there are still a few things it hasn't yet clarified) and started offering the upgrades.
If you're a TalkTalk customer, even if you joined after the hack, you've until 31 December to claim your upgrade – you can do so by calling 0800 230 0403 or via live chat today, or via your online account from Wednesday 9 December. Here's what you can choose from:
1) TV channels – open to existing TV customers only
Only those who currently have TalkTalk TV can opt for this one for free. You can choose from one of the following TV boost packages – films, kids, entertainment or Sky Sports which will be free for three months.
This upgrade would normally cost between £5/month and £30/month depending on the channels.
2) A 12mth mobile Sim – open to all customers
Any current TalkTalk customer can choose this option – a 12-month mobile Sim. It's very much a value option though, with a monthly allowance of 100 minutes, 250 texts and 200MB of 3G data.
If you go close to your allowance, it'll send you a text message. If you go over, you'll be charged out-of-bundle fees, which are 40p/minute to call landlines and mobiles, 15p per text message and 15p per MB of data. TalkTalk Mobile piggybacks on the Vodafone network.
Normally this Sim costs £5/month.
3) Unlimited UK landline and mobile calls – open to broadband and home phone customers
For those who already have a TalkTalk landline and broadband, TalkTalk's offering calls to mobiles and 01, 02 and 03 numbers (excludes 084/087/09 as well as 118 numbers) free for 12 months.
While it's 'unlimited', TalkTalk does operate a 'fair use policy' of 1,800 minutes per month (30 hours). Calls are free for the first 60 minutes only, so if you pick this option, make sure you hang-up and redial within the first 60 minutes or you'll be charged the standard rate of 11.5p/minute for landlines and mobiles. Some non-inclusive calls may be subject to a connection charge of 17p too.
This calls package normally costs £7.50/month.
4) A broadband and Wi-fi health check – open to broadband customers
If you already have TalkTalk broadband, you can arrange for an engineer to visit your property to check your broadband and Wi-fi and improve its performance for free. The engineers operate between Monday and Friday 7am-8pm and on Saturday's between 7am-6pm.
If the engineer discovers an issue, they'll attempt to fix it there and then. However TalkTalk says that if there's a problem with the line, it'll need to refer the issue to BT Openreach. We asked whether the engineers would attempt to up-sell to customers and TalkTalk's confirmed they won't.
The broadband and Wi-fi check usually costs £65 for a visit.
Will I be automatically charged for the upgrades after the free period ends?
TalkTalk says there's no ongoing charge associated with any of the upgrade options above. So when the free TV, mobile Sim or calls package ends, it'll be automatically removed from your account and you won't be charged going forward.
What if I don't want an upgrade, can I cancel my contract instead?
We asked TalkTalk what would happen if customers did not want to upgrade and asked to cancel their contracts instead. As it's told us before, it says only those who can prove that they'd lost out financially as a result of the hack would be able to leave penalty-free. See the Four million TalkTalk customers to get free upgrade and the TalkTalk website hack MSE news stories for more information.