Find out how to cancel your home broadband service and how much it will cost you if you cancel during your contract.

There are many reasons you might want to change your home broadband provider. For instance, you might be looking for faster download speeds elsewhere, you might be moving to another address or you might have found a better broadband deal from another provider.

In some cases, an early exit fee or early termination charge (ETC) will apply when you cancel your home broadband service in the UK. This will normally be the case if you had agreed to stay with your provider for a given amount of time (e.g. 12 months, 18 months or 24 months) and are now looking to cancel your service during the minimum commitment period.

In this article, we’ll explain the cancellation process for home broadband in the UK, how you can cancel your broadband service and how much you’ll need to pay when you cancel. We’ll also discuss a few alternatives to cancelling your broadband service such as improving your download speeds another way.

How To Cancel Your Broadband Service

The way you cancel your home broadband service differs depending on whether you’re moving to another provider or whether you’re cancelling for another reason such as moving to another address:

  • If you’re switching between two broadband providers that use the Openreach network, there’s no need to get in touch with your old provider. Simply order your broadband package from the new provider and they’ll arrange the cancellation of your old service for you. Both your old and new internet service providers (ISPs) will send you a letter in the post to confirm the switchover of your service.
  • If you’re switching between broadband providers that use different physical networks, you’ll need to get in touch with your old provider to cancel your service. This won’t happen automatically.
  • If you’re moving home or cancelling your service for any other reason, you’ll need to get in touch with your internet provider to cancel your broadband service.

Providers using the Openreach network include BT, EE, John Lewis, NOW Broadband, Plusnet, Shell Energy, Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone. If you’re changing between these providers, it isn’t necessary to contact your old broadband provider first.

Providers using a different physical network include Virgin Media (which uses a cable-based network) and ‘altnet’ full fibre broadband providers such as Hyperoptic and Community Fibre. You’ll need to contact your old provider if you’re moving between any of these networks or an Openreach-powered service.

If you’re inside the minimum term of your contract, an early exit fee may apply to your cancellation. Outside of the minimum term, there won’t be an early exit fee but there could be a 30-day notice period.

The following in-depth guides can take you through the process of how you cancel your home broadband service:

Overview of Early Exit Fees

The following table shows a list of broadband providers in the UK and how much you’ll currently need to pay as an early exit fee if your cancel your service during the minimum initial term:

Internet Service Provider Early Exit Fee
BT Broadband 82.5% of remaining monthly charges
EE Broadband Plan dependent (25-35% of remaining monthly charges)
Hyperoptic Up to £20 for broadband-only, £25 for broadband and phone
Now Broadband Plan dependent (£10.32 to £11.81 per remaining month)
Plusnet Plan dependent (£9.63 to £12.15 per remaining month)
Post Office Broadband Plan dependent (£6.19 to £20.37 per remaining month)
Shell Energy Broadband £15 cease charge, plus £6.50 to £18.50 per remaining month
Sky Plan dependent (£12.41 to £24.23 per remaining month)
TalkTalk Plan dependent (£8.50 to £10.50 per remaining month)
Virgin Media Plan dependent (£30.54 to £50.46 per remaining month)
Vodafone Broadband Up to 83.3% of remaining monthly charges

If you’re outside the minimum term of your contract, you won’t need to pay an early termination fee. However, you may still be charged for the 30 days notice that you give to end your contract.

In some cases, you might be able to cancel your broadband service without penalty. This is possible if you cancel your service within the initial 14-day cooling off period. It might also be possible if your broadband speed drops below a guaranteed minimum speed, or if your broadband provider raises your price by more than the amount stated when you signed up for the service.

Early Cancellation Charge: By Internet Service Provider

BT Broadband

Most of BT’s services including BT Broadband, BT Sport and BT TV have an initial contract length of either 12 months, 18 months or 24 months. If you’d like to cancel your service during this minimum term, you’ll need to pay an early termination charge (ETC) to cover the remaining months on your contract.

BT’s early termination charge is the total of the remaining monthly charges on your BT plan, less VAT and then a 1% discount. This works out as being 82.5% of your remaining monthly charges. The following example calculations are given in BT’s price guide:

  • Contracts prior to 2nd February 2020 – you have a monthly plan for £30 a month, with three months left. We multiply £30 by three, totalling £90, and take VAT off that figure, leaving it at £75. Finally, we take 1% off that figure, making your final Early Termination Charges £74.25.
  • Contracts started after 2nd February 2020 including a discount – you have a monthly plan for £45 a month, with six and a half months left. You also may a monthly recurring discount of £10. We multiply £35 (£45 -£10 discount) by six and a half, totalling £227.5 and take VAT off that figure, leaving it at £189.58. We take 1% off that figure, making your final Early Termination Charges £187.69.

If you cancel your service outside the minimum initial term, only a 30-day Notice Period Charge will apply to your cancellation.

If you have a BT Mobile SIM card attached to your BT account, different cancellation fees will apply for BT Mobile. For more information, see our guide on how to cancel a BT Mobile contract. Alternatively, you can continue using your BT Mobile SIM cards after cancelling your other services but you’ll lose the £5/month discount for BT Broadband customers.

You can cancel your BT service by calling them on 0800 783 1401.

Source: BT Website: Thinking of leaving BT?
Plan Information: BT Website

EE Broadband

If you’re cancelling your EE home broadband service during the minimum contracted term, an early cancellation fee will apply.

You’ll need to contact EE to get a quote for your early cancellation charge, but it’s typically around 25-35% of the remaining charges for your minimum term. This is because EE makes a reduction for VAT and any costs they save as a result of your cancellation (e.g. wholesale costs). They’ll then remove a further 4% as an early receipt discount:

How do we calculate Early Cancellation Charges?

  1. We add together all outstanding monthly (or other periodic) charges, excluding VAT. If you have a monthly recurring subscription discount we will take that into account
  2. We then reduce the charge to take account of any costs we save as a result of you leaving early, such as wholesale costs where applicable
  3. We then take off 4 per cent for early receipt
  4. Finally, we multiply this by the remainder of your minimum term to get the final cancellation charge

The following example calculations are given in EE’s home broadband price guide:

Example 1: you are on the Standard Broadband plan at £31 a month, with a £12 monthly discount, and cancel with 2 months left in your minimum term;
We remove VAT from your monthly charge of £19 (£31-£12) to get £15.83
Then we reduce the charge to take account of costs we save to get £7.09
We take 4% for early repayment to get £6.81
Finally we multiply this by the 2 months to get a cancellation charge of £13.62

Example 2: you are on the Fibre Broadband plan at £36 a month, with an £11 monthly discount, and cancel with 6 months left in your minimum term;
We remove VAT from your monthly charge of £25 (£36-£11) to get £20.83
Then we reduce the charge to take account of costs we save to get £6.58
We take 4% for early receipt to get £6.32
Finally we multiply this by the 6 months to get a cancellation charge of £37.92

If you have the old EE TV service, you’ll need to return your EE TV box within 30 days of cancelling your service (otherwise, a fee of £175 will be charged on your final bill).

If your EE mobile phone is in receipt of a mobile data boost, you’ll lose this when you cancel your EE home broadband service.

You can cancel your EE home broadband service by giving them a call on 0800 079 0544.

Source: EE Help article: How do I cancel my broadband, landline or TV plan?
Plan Information: EE Broadband Website

Hyperoptic

If you cancel your Hyperoptic service during the minimum commitment period (normally the first 12 months), you’ll need to pay a £20 service termination fee for a broadband-only service and a £25 service termination fee for the broadband and phone service.

Alternatively, if the remaining charges for your minimum commitment period are less than this, you’ll only be charged the remaining amount as your service termination fee.

Source: Hyperoptic Price Guide
Plan Information: Hyperoptic Website

Now Broadband

On Now Broadband, you’ll need to pay an early termination charge (ETC) if you cancel your service during the minimum 12-month term (unless you’re on the No Contact broadband option).

The early termination charge is based on the plan you’re on and the number of months remaining on your Now Broadband contract:

Now Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
Brilliant Broadband £10.32 per remaining month
Fab Fibre £10.33 per remaining month
Super Fibre £11.81 per remaining month

This is pro-rated based on the number of days remaining on your contract with the final early termination charge rounded up to the nearest 25p. To give an example, a customer with three months remaining on Brilliant Broadband would be charged £31 (£10.32 x 3 months = £30.96, which is then rounded up to give £31).

Source: Now TV Help: Early Termination Charges
Plan Information: Now Broadband

Plusnet

On Plusnet, the charge for ending your broadband or TV contract early will depend on when you started your contract.

For customers who signed up to Plusnet before the 10th December 2019, the early termination charge will be as follows:

Plusnet Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
Unlimited (ADSL) £11.85 per remaining month (Broadband Only)
£12.15 per remaining month (Broadband + Phone)
£3.66 per remaining month (Line Rental Saver customers)
Unlimited Fibre £9.46 per remaining month (Broadband Only)
£11.29 per remaining month (Broadband + Phone)
£2.80 per remaining month (Line Rental Saver customers)
Unlimited Fibre Extra £9.63 per remaining month (Broadband Only)
£11.61 per remaining month (Broadband + Phone)
£3.12 per remaining month (Line Rental Saver customers)
YouView TV £1.80 per remaining month

Customers who signed up to Plusnet after the 9th December 2019 will need to obtain a personalised quote for their cancellation cost from Plusnet. The cancellation cost will be based on your remaining monthly payments, less VAT, any costs saved by Plusnet (e.g. wholesale) and 1% for early receipt of your payment. We expect this is likely to come out at around 30-40% of your remaining monthly costs.

Source: Plusnet Website: Early Termination Charges
Plan Information: Plusnet Website

Post Office Broadband

If you cancel your Post Office broadband or home phone service during the minimum initial term, you’ll incur an early termination charge based on the number of months remaining on your contract:

Post Office Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
Post Office Home Phone £6.19 per remaining month (sign ups until the 31st January 2019)
No early termination charge (sign ups from the 1st February 2019)
Post Office Broadband Connect £11.53 per remaining month
Post Office Unlimited Broadband £11.53 per remaining month
Post Office Unlimited Fibre Broadband £20.15 per remaining month
Post Office Unlimited Fibre Broadband Plus £20.37 per remaining month
Post Office Broadband Basics £11.53 per remaining month

This charge is detailed within the Post Office broadband & home phone price guide.

Source: Post Office: Broadband & Home Phone Price Guide
Plan Information: Post Office Broadband & Phone

Shell Energy Broadband

If you’re a customer of Shell Energy Broadband, you’ll need to pay a £15 cease charge and an early termination charge for ending your broadband contract early:

Shell Energy Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
Fast Broadband £6.50 per remaining month plus £15 cease charge
Superfast Fibre £16.50 per remaining month plus £15 cease charge
Superfast Fibre Plus £18.50 per remaining month plus £15 cease charge

You’ll also need to return your router within 30 days of cancelling the service, or a fee of £35 will be charged on your final bill.

Source: Shell Energy Broadband: Terms and Conditions
Plan Information: Shell Energy Broadband Website

Sky

If you’d like to cancel your Sky Broadband or Sky TV contract before the end of the minimum term (usually 12 months or 18 months long), you’ll need to pay an early termination charge for this.

The following table shows the early termination charge for Sky Broadband contracts that include line rental within the price:

Sky Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
Sky Broadband Essential £13.91 per remaining month
Sky Fibre Unlimited Pro (where taken after 15 May 2019) £22.49 per remaining month
Sky Broadband Superfast £12.41 per remaining month
Sky Broadband Ultrafast 1 £24.23 per remaining month
Sky Broadband Boost £3.14 per remaining month

Any discounts you have on your plan will be taken into account when calculating the early termination charge. The final amount will then be rounded up to the nearest 25p. The following worked example is given on Sky’s website:

You have Sky Broadband Essential for £27.00 a month, and the Sky Broadband Boost Product for £5.00 per month with four months remaining on your contract and a £5.00 discount on Sky Broadband Essential.

For Sky Broadband Essential (£27.00) we’ll deduct VAT, business costs and accelerated receipt discount, leaving £13.91. We’ll then deduct the £5 discount for Sky Broadband Essential, giving a £8.91 monthly ETC rate, then multiply this by four (your remaining months) and round up to the nearest 25p, totalling £35.75.

For Sky Broadband Boost (£5.00) we‘ll deduct VAT, business costs and accelerated receipt discount, leaving £3.14. Again, we’ll multiply this by four (your remaining months) and round up to the nearest 25p, totalling £12.75.

Your total payable ETC would be £48.50.

If you’re also cancelling your Sky TV contract, the early termination charge will be calculated as follows:

TV Plan Early Termination Charge
Sky TV Package £16.36 per remaining month
Multiscreen (taken before 4 March 2020) £10.53 per remaining month
Multiscreen (taken after4 March 2020) £11.67 per remaining month
Sky Q Multiscreen £11.88 per remaining month
Sky Q Bundle £31.16 per remaining month
Sky Q Silver Bundle (Including Sky Q Bundle) £42.04 per remaining month
Sky Q Silver Bundle (If keeping another Sky TV package) £10.88 per remaining month

If you have a Sky Mobile handset or SIM card, your early termination charges will be different. See our guide on how to cancel your Sky Mobile contract.

Source: Sky: Charges for ending your Sky contract early
Plan Information: Sky Website

TalkTalk

On TalkTalk, it’s possible to cancel your broadband service during the minimum term of your contract by paying an early termination charge. This is based on the number of months remaining on your contract:

TalkTalk Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
Fast Broadband £9.00 per remaining month
Faster Fibre £8.50 per remaining month
Ultra Fibre Optic £10.50 per remaining month
Future Fibre £5.00 per remaining month

To cancel your service, you can call TalkTalk Customer Services on 0345 172 0046.

Source: TalkTalk Community – Cancel your TalkTalk service
Plan Information: TalkTalk Website

Virgin Media

If you’re a Virgin Media customer, you can cancel your contract subject to an initial 30-day notice period where you’ll pay full fees, followed by an early disconnection fee to take you to the end of your contract period. The early disconnection fee is as follows:

Virgin Media Broadband Plan Early Termination Charge
M50 Broadband £30.54 per remaining month
M100 Broadband £35.52 per remaining month
M100 Broadband with Oomph £32.20 per remaining month
M200 Broadband £40.50 per remaining month
M200 Broadband with Oomph £37.18 per remaining month
M350 Broadband £45.48 per remaining month
M500 Broadband £50.46 per remaining month
Gig1 Broadband £49.98 per remaining month

If you have other Virgin Media services such as home phone and TV, your early disconnection fees will be higher and will be listed on this page.

The Early Disconnection Fee is capped at a maximum of £240 across all of your Virgin Media services. You’ll need to return all of the kit provided to you by Virgin including your Virgin TV V6 box and your Hub 3 or Hub 4 home broadband router.

To cancel your Virgin Media services, you can contact Virgin Media on 0345 454 1111 or through a page on their website.

If you have a Virgin Mobile handset or SIM card, see our guide on how to cancel your Virgin Mobile service.

Source: Virgin Media Terms & Conditions: Early Disconnection Fees
Plan Information: Virgin Media Website

Vodafone Broadband

If you’re a Vodafone home broadband customer, you can cancel your contract during the minimum contract period by paying an early termination fee. This is typically 83.3% of all of the remaining payments on your contract (Vodafone offers a discount as they don’t charge VAT on the early termination fee).

The following worked examples are given in the Vodafone home phone and broadband price guide:

Example 1: If you are a Pay Monthly Customer on the 24 month Superfast 2 plan with a £3 Vodafone Together Discount and terminate your agreement with us with 6 months remaining in your Minimum Period, your Early Termination Fee would be £32.76 (£5.46 x 6 months left in contract).

Example 2: If you are on the 12 month standalone Gigafast 100 plan and terminate your agreement with us with 4 months remaining in your Minimum Period, your Early Termination Fee would be £108.44 (£27.11 x 4 months left in contract).

If you’re moving home to an address where Vodafone Broadband isn’t available, the early termination fee will be waived by Vodafone.

If you’re cancelling your Vodafone mobile contract, see our guide on how to cancel your Vodafone mobile contract instead.

Source: Vodafone Home Phone & Broadband Price Guide
Plan Information: Vodafone Broadband Website

Alternatives to Cancelling Early

In general, it’s normally best to try and avoid cancelling your broadband contract early as you’ll need to pay an early exit fee for a broadband service that you aren’t able to use.

In the following section, we’ll discuss a couple of alternatives to cancelling your home broadband service early, depending on the situation you’re in.

Improving Download Speeds

If you’re suffering from poor download speeds, it’s worth checking a couple of things before you can change your internet provider.

Firstly, it’s important to see if the poor download speeds are actually being caused by your internet connection or by your wi-fi connection.

The best way to check is by plugging a wired device into your home broadband router using an Ethernet cable. If the poor download speeds are happening only when you’re connected to wi-fi, consider getting a wi-fi repeater or a mesh wi-fi networking solution (e.g. BT Whole Home Wi-Fi or Google Wi-Fi). Your broadband provider may also offer a service that improves your home wi-fi connection (e.g. BT Complete Wi-Fi, Sky Broadband Boost or EE Smart Wi-Fi).

If the issue with poor download speeds is indeed from your broadband connection, your provider may offer you penalty-free cancellation if it doesn’t meet the minimum guaranteed download speed. In this case, you could consider moving to another provider but you may experience the exact same problem elsewhere if it’s still being delivered through the same Openreach phone line connection. If so, you should consider changing to a broadband provider that uses a different physical network such as Virgin Media (which uses a cable connection) or Three Broadband (which uses a 4G or 5G connection).

Moving Home

If you’re moving to another address, it might be possible to transfer your home broadband service to it. When you do this, you’ll be able to continue your current contract without paying any early exit fees (though some ISPs may require you to commit for another minimum term when you request a home move).

In many cases, the broadband service available at your new address will be different to what you’re able to get at your current address. For instance, you might be moving to a home where you’re unable to get a service from your current broadband provider. In this case, you’ll need to check with your ISP to see what their policies are. For instance, Virgin Media will require you to pay the early disconnection fee in full. Meanwhile, Vodafone will waive their early termination charge when you move to an address where it isn’t possible to get Vodafone Broadband.

Found A Better Deal

EE offers £50 early cancellation credit on their home broadband service.

If you’ve found a better broadband deal elsewhere, you’ll need to decide whether you’re still better off after paying the early exit fee from your old provider.

To minimise any early exit fees you might need to pay, check to see if your new provider will allow you to delay the start date. Alternatively, they might agree to credit you for some of the early exit fees. For instance, EE offers a £50 early cancellation credit for customers who receive an early termination charge from their old provider.

More Information

For more information on how to cancel your home broadband service, refer to your internet service provider’s website as linked to above.

You can also read our in-depth guides to home broadband in the UK, including our detailed reviews of all the major home broadband providers.

Your Comments 77 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 77 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • Andrew said:

    If you leave VM broadband you lose your @virginmedia.com email address too, right? That’s the biggest snag to the whole thing especially if you’re a long-term customer.

  • Sandie said:

    I am moving to a property that doesn’t allow satellite dishes. I didn’t know this when I renewed my contract in November. I would like to keep sky but I can’t really afford any extra costs. is there any way around this?

  • Ann Summers said:

    I own a pub and asked to swap the line back to my name when the tenants suddenly left, and I was suddenly a pub manager . Plusnet then mistakenly ( they admitted this) cut the line off for several weeks which had a significant effect on my business. The whole affair caused much stress and with no apology or helpful service I asked the ombudsman to step in as I wanted to leave Plusnet because I was so disatisfied, but they threatened to charge for two years cancellation. The ombudsman did not uphold my complaint, so I was stuck with Plusnet and a further two years contract.
    I am now selling the pub and so have ended my contract with them in two weeks time, and am being charged £238 penalty for this, as the new owners aren’t staying with Plusnet.
    And who can blame them!?

  • Ruth said:

    Hi, I live in a rural area and broadband speeds are dreadful. I was told in February my line supported Halo 3 with guaranteed minimum speed of 5mb – I went with it and the contract is 24 months.
    The speeds are worse than ever. I had an engineer out and he tested the line. It’s reading 1.5. Apparently the problem is that I’m so far away from the exchange cabinet.
    I’ve an engineer back out today and he says at best I’ll get 2.5 – 3mb.
    Am I able to cancel my contract, leave BT, getting a refund on my line rental saver (only paid last month) as I’m not getting the service I renewed my contract on???

    I never use my landline – only got it as at the time I needed a landline to get broadband.

  • Tony Edwards said:

    Anyone had better more understanding service from another provider? I moved to BT after atrocious lack of customer contact/service from Virgin,many reporting the same since covid began. Openreach installer advised location leads to a considerable variation in perfomance. So for BT have been good in service and even contact me after work done to make sure satisfactory. One thing for sure I will never use a broadband provider where there is no alternative provider option on the line. I have doubts about citylink given the unacceptable reinstatement of pavements and their lack of concern and failure to do anything about this,local council should be able to do the work and charge citylink for this; citylink no doubt have influence with those who run the system.

  • D67 said:

    The above cancellation fees are incorrect. If you cancel your Hyperoptic service, you’ll need to pay £20/£25 per REMAINING MONTH on your contract (i.e. if you have 23 months left, you’ll be charged £460/£575)

  • Dawn Shrives said:

    Hi there.
    I have a business package with BT for calls, phone line & broadband which was taken in April 2021 with a two year contract. However my business has not survived Covid & I have had to give up my studio. They are trying to charge me £457 exit fees which I understand is valid if I were to be changing provider but it’s simply because I’m closing my business premises. Unfortunately I do not have any other place I can transfer my services to as we’re tied in with other contracts.
    Is there anything I can do to reduce or avoid paying these extortionate fees.
    Thank you.

  • Gary nunn said:

    Keep up the good work Ken. You really are helping lots of people and the information you give is just not available anywhere else 👍

    • Tony Edwards replied:

      You were lucky,I cancelled in writing to their Swansea office only address I could find online, uncontactable any other way only to be told later,community help, that the office closed months before,I had payed up to date giving the required notice they then elected to pursue me for money I did not owe,the letters from a debt collection agency have now ceased

  • Stephanie Gough said:

    We just got a phone call from you guys about leaving BT and changing to talk talk, can I ask why the hell we are being charged over 600 pounds to leave the company? this is just blindside robbery, can someone please explain why this is so much?

  • CS said:

    We have sky superfast broadband, TV and phone package with a boost box. According to sky speed test we are getting 46mps, however, google, Ofcom and speedtest.net all say we are getting between 6mps download and 8 upload, up to 23mps on a good day. Ofcom say we are getting 6-35mps and speed test saying between 2- 30mps.
    Today (5/6/21) google say we are getting 6, speed test say 2-3, Ofcom 6, and unsurprisingly sky say 46mps which has never altered since we complained last time.
    Since we ordered the product even sky admitted we were not getting their guaranteed download speeds for quite a bit of the time, the suddenly we started getting 46mps (guarantee is 43, which Ofcom say is impossible as the maximum for our area is 35mps)
    On top of that, the system drops connection frequently, we cannot have someone playing an x-box in one room and me delivering a lecture on teams in another, which isn’t useful when you are a university lecturer!!!.
    Heaven help us if I’m interviewing in one room, my son is having a lecture in another, and someone else wants to play on the x-box, we seem to share an internet connection, as only one of us can access it at a time and it rotates randomly, which isn’t very good in the middle of an interview with prospective students.
    On top of that, sometimes we lose our telephone line, though we have internet connection.
    I thought our last provider was bad, but given we are going through at the minute with sky, there is absolutely no way we will carry on after this contract ends.
    Even complaining doesn’t get you anything but a bunch of tall tales.

  • Anton said:

    The best way to get through to Virgin media to cancel your contract is to call the missed payment team. Their number is 0800 052 0360 (freephone so wont cost you 30p a minute and they don’t keep you on hold for an hour). Tell them you are having difficulty paying and you want to cancel your contract. I has to make a one off payment for the final 30 days of my contract before being transferred to the cancellations team without being on hold for hours. Virgin media don’t want you to know this as it bypasses their 0345 number so they cant make money out for you by being on hold for ages.

    • Iain replied:

      Anton, you’re a legend!
      Cancelled VM within 5 mins! Woohoo!
      Admittedly they still managed to rip me off with an additional £7.50 payment – apparently the 30 day notice has to be 30 days on the nose (they wouldn’t accept it a few days early and due to their bad messaging service I was a day late getting through to appropriate person – probably would have been several days without your tip) so they are charging me an extra day (a final slap to the face) but good riddance to Virgin Media 🙂

      Note: I have screengrabs of chat so will make an official complaint about extra charge

  • Michael Biagi said:

    Dear Ken,

    I have a 24 month contract for Broadband, this started on the 25th January. This has never worked, despite texting messages (which I had to pay for) they replied asking for my phone number I replied advising that I did not have one, as I had received no correspondence nor bill from BT ever! On 17th February I managed to speak to 2 ladies, one in faults who confirmed that she could see that my BB was not working and never had been. She said that she would Credit me for the month of January and arranged an appointment for the 20th of February between 1pm and 5pm. The other lady confirmed that she would email me my bill and phone number. I waited all day no one came. I am still without Broad Band. And I have not received the email with my bill. This morning I called 0800 7831401 to cancel my account as I have had enough of this disservice. The number called told me that he could not cancel my account and put me through to faults, who said that I had a contract and could not accept my cancellation, I spoke with this lady for at least 30 mins, who acknowledged that she could see I was not ever operational despite having confirmation that all was confirmed on the 25th January to be OK. And that I had received a text to ask me to make an appointment for an engineer, I looked at my mail and sure enough, there was the email. When I said “you have just sent this to me after my complaining that I want to cancel my contrcat (Icould hear her typing)she didn’t answer and said, She was putting me through to a gentleman in the Loyalty dept, who said after a lengthy conversation he would call faults on my behalf, I was then put through to a gentleman in faults in Dublin, who said that he had been called by Loyalty dept, saying that I had changed my mind and did not want to cancel my contract! This was never said by me ever, and I still do want to cancel, more now than before after all of this performance today. The only contact I ever had from BT was 3 texts asking if I had arranged to pay by direct debit. I was on the telephone for over 50 mins, shunted from one person to another. How do I cancel my contract without incurring charges, I believe BT should have ensured that I was able to receive Broad Band before committing me to a contract that they have not respected. Please advise. Michael.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Michael,
      Thanks for your comment and sorry to hear about the problems you’re having on BT. I wish I could help you more with this, but my recommendation in this would be to make a formal complaint in writing to BT. Someone internally will need to look into this for you, and you have the option of taking it to the Ombudsman if they’re unable to solve it to your satisfaction.
      Ken

    • David Hatchett replied:

      Michael, maybe too late to help you now, but…

      Since BT totally failed to provide the commitment they had given you in the contract, it should have been an open and shut case to cancel the direct debit claim back all of the money you’d paid, by using the governments Money Claim On Line service. This is something I’ve used often, its quick and easy to use. You’d need a Government Gateway account, but again, quick, easy and free to set up.

      Dave

  • Vicki john said:

    Our small cafe business is having to close due to Covid restrictions. We still have 12months left on a 24 month contract. We currently pay £56 per month for our package. My understanding is that we would have to pay an early termination fee of 12 months x £56, ie £672 which we can I’ll afford. Are BT taking Covid into consideration in this situation?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Vicki,
      I’m very sorry to hear about what has happened to your business. With regards to your question about BT’s early cancellation fees, I’m not sure they have an official policy on this. It’s definitely worth getting in touch with them to talk about your situation and to see whether they’re able to do anything for you.
      Ken

      • Laurinda Mead replied:

        Hi Vicki,

        We were in the same position and BT did not want to know…we had to pay £667 last month which was a real kick in the teeth! Their customer service is awful! I explained the situation was they simply didn’t care! Good luck!

    • Dawn Shrives replied:

      Hi Vicki John
      I wonder, how did you get on with your cancellation fees? Only I’m in the same boat now sadly …

  • Cliff said:

    I’m moving soon. I have sky phone / broadband and tv all of which total £95/month plus £25/month for BT Sports.
    The £95 deal runs out April 2022.
    I will want Sky at new address but would want a new deal. To give me bargaining power, can I simply opt to say I’m moving and cancel existing deal with no penalty? Or would I have to pay cancellation fees ?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Cliff,
      Sadly, you’ll still need to pay an early exit fee for cancelling, even if you’re moving elsewhere 🙁 Your best bet is probably to transfer the service as that would side-step the cancellation fee.
      Ken

    • Sam replied:

      This happened to me I simply just called them and they managed to give me a new package and switched it over to my address they had someone come out to hook it all up

  • Sarah said:

    Hi Ken, great website, I’ve found it because living with interchangeable flatmates makes energy and internet contracts a tricky thing. They want to put my name on an existing contract but I don’t want to be stuck with an exit fee.

    Might you know if you can change the account holder & direct debit details on BT? If it incurs a fee doing so? Also do you have to return their BT modem when the term ends? Thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Sarah,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, I believe it should be possible to transfer an existing contract into your name though you’ll need to contact BT in order to do this. I’d recommend finding out exactly what is on that contract (e.g. the exact price, how long is left on it, etc before you transfer). And yes, when you cancel your BT Broadband service, you’ll need to return the BT Smart Hub router.
      Ken

  • N Rad said:

    Hi after the 14 day cool off period which ended on 5th Jan I started receiving spam calls on my landline. Is it possible to cancel without fees since it’s just been 8th Jan today?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi there,
      You’ll need to get in touch with your ISP about this. They might be able to change your landline number for you to avoid the spam calls.
      Ken

  • ciaran kelly said:

    Hi Ken,

    My TalkTalk broadband drops out all of the time for 10 seconds to 2 minutes at random intervals. I have called TalkTalk 4 times. The first 2 time they recommend purchasing a Wi-Fi booster to which i told them i am having this problem with wired device too. on the 3rd call they said they would send an engineer who i though he would be from Openreach but he was not. he was in the house for 5 minutes said everything was ok but he could not go and check the exchange. on the 4th call they said they could see the problem and it was now fixed. which it was not. in these circumstances would i be able to exit my TalkTalk contract penalty free?

    Cheers,
    Ciaran

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Ciaran,
      Thanks for your comment, and sorry to hear about the issues you’re having with TalkTalk Broadband. Unfortunately, there isn’t a very simple answer here – it’s something you’d need to argue with TalkTalk. My recommendation would be to put a formal complaint in writing to TalkTalk and to request a penalty-free cancellation based on the serve you’ve received. They might decide to grant one to you, or if not, you’d then need to escalate the complaint to the ombudsman.
      Fingers crossed that the problem will either be resolved or that they’ll allow you to cancel your service.
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Joana,
      Thanks for your comment. Are you still within the 14 day cooling off period with Virgin Media? If so, I’d recommend getting in touch with them ASAP to cancel your contract within the 14 day period.
      Ken

  • Robin said:

    I have 8 months left of an 18 month contract with Sky for broadband only. I live in a rural area with very poor broadband coverage. I was getting around 4mbps on a good day at the start but this has now fluctuates from 1 to 3mbps. The guaranteed speed in my contract is 0mbps! Is there likely a way to cancel without charge due to Sky not being able to provide an adequate service? I’m looking to switch to satellite Internet.
    Many thanks

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Robin,
      Sorry to hear about the problems you’ve been experiencing on Sky Broadband. Ordinarily, it’s unlikely they’ll offer a free cancellation but you should definitely make the argument to them that they’re not providing the services they described. The best thing to do would be to put in a formal complaint in writing with Sky, asking them to remedy the situation or to offer you a penalty-free cancellation. It’s possible they would then decide to grant this to you, if you’re able to make your case. As an aside, I’m not sure if you’ve considered 4G home broadband but that’s also a possible option if you have coverage in your area. At the moment, for Black Friday 2020, you can get unlimited 4G home broadband on Three for just £17/month (see here) – possibly one to consider as you can also use it alongside Sky Broadband. Normally, latency and speeds should be better than using a satellite-based service (providing you can get it where you live, of course).
      Ken

      • Ian replied:

        Sadly Sky does not work well with Three 4G cellular broadband. Despite 50+Mbs download and 30+Mbs upload in this location and all other streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon etc all working perfectly via Mbl, PC and Smart TV, the Sky box connects and then promptly rejects the connection to the Three 4G router. Two Sky engineers failed to solve the problem. This is my new next door neighbours having the issue. They’ve just moved here and the only workable broadband option here is Three 4G broadband which is superb. Anything via the phone line is useless as we’re very rural and so far from the cabinet Openreach have repeatedly failed to provide a working connection. You’d think this means we’re in the depths of Wales or somewhere but we’re actually in East Sussex! We ran both FTTC and Three 4G for a year or so and eventually cancelled the FTTC broadband as it simply never worked – even the telephone was unintelligible most of the time. Ever since then we’ve just used the Three 4G connection which has been fast and very reliable – it just doesn’t work with Sky!

  • June said:

    I had Virgin package installed on 12 October but the phone line never worked I have tried phoning many times with no answer I have made complaints by email and received only confirmation. The service is non existent therefore I would now like to cancel. My first direct debit is due in a couple of days can I cancel it?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi June,
      Thanks for your comment, and sorry to hear about the issues you’ve had with Virgin Media. I’d recommend making a formal complaint in writing to Virgin Media here through their website. That’s likely to be the best way of getting the issue resolved.
      I wouldn’t recommend cancelling your Direct Debit with them. If you do, they’ll still try to pursue you for the money and may add a record of the missed payment to your credit files.
      Ken

  • L said:

    I am with Talk Talk and am being moved by my housing association locally because of severe problems with my current flat that are causing serious health problems, so it is an emergency that they are moving me and are paying removals for me because of my financial poverty. I have a very basic broadband with TT. I have just learned they charge £60 for moving, which I simply can’t afford. Nor can I afford cancellation fees. I would have liked to keep TT and the same contract but I can’t with such charges and will have to do without any phone/internet at all with this cost.

    Is there anything I can do to avoid the £60 charge? I notice many companies don’t so why do TT charge this?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi L,
      I’m really sorry to hear about the problems with your flat and with TalkTalk. Unfortunately, I’m just a third-party blogger writing about them so I wouldn’t be able to respond on their behalf. I’d recommend getting in touch by giving them a call on 0345 172 0046 to see whether they’d be able to waive this for you.
      Ken

      • L replied:

        Hi Ken~

        Many thanks. I understand your position and will see what I can do directly with TalkTalk. I really don’t know how they can justify such a high cost, particularly when not all broadband companies charge as they do.

        Best Wishes,

        Leandra

  • Susan West said:

    Hi . I want to move from talk talk to Sky broadband and Bt or sky , my contract ends 29th jan 2021 .
    Can I do this now or should I wait a bit ?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Susan,
      Thanks for your comment. Yes, you can cancel your TalkTalk Broadband contract now if you like – although there will be around 2 months remaining on it. If you do so, you’ll be charged TalkTalk’s early exit fee (approximately £20 for cancelling two months early). You will, however, then be able to take advantage of the Black Friday broadband offers currently available so it may work out better to pay this charge.
      Ken

  • Valerie Bates said:

    Hi ken
    I’ve been with talktalk for approximately 15 years, but for the last year I’ve been on standard tariff, as I have had a lot of issues recently I have not checked on my account. A few days ago I took on anew contract 24months I also purchased a new router which I understood would improve my speed, so I could stream the odd film with my firestik. I’ve found no difference whatsoever. I tried to cancel this new contract as its less than a week since taking it on, only to be told it will cost me £216 cancellation fee. I’m not happy. I’m waiting for a manager to contact me, have you any suggestions for me I would appreciate any help.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Valerie,
      Thanks for your comment. I’d recommend getting in touch directly with TalkTalk to discuss this with them. As far as I know, there’s a 14-day cooling off period whenever you take a plan from them so they shouldn’t be charging you a cancellation fee for this.
      Ken

      • Valerie Bates replied:

        Hi ken, thanks for the reply. 20 days to cancell, but its like pulling teeth out trying to communicate with their staff, been waiting days now for a manager to phone me as promised by a Mrs pattel. I’ll keep trying.

    • Andra landon replied:

      Worst broadband company ever, almost impossible to speak with somebody who speaks proper english, getting frustrating to explain your issues just for them to hang up on you
      I trying to cancel my contract within the 14 days just to have the surprise that they didn’t actually closed the account when i first called, second time telling me i have to pay the penalty fee

  • Bob Sizer said:

    I’m at present with BT but signed up with talk talk a week ago, since then BT have reduced their package so I no longer wish to carry on with talk talk but when I ring them they fob me off that the computer is down, how do I progress with my cancellation ?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Bob,
      Thanks for your comment. As I understand it, you want to cancel your TalkTalk order before it is set up. If so, you’ll need to contact TalkTalk’s customer services team on 0345 172 0046 in order to do this. Unfortunately, I don’t know why they’re claiming the computer is ‘down’ but there shouldn’t be any reason why they aren’t able to do this for you.
      Ken

  • Gloria ellis said:

    I’ve been with talk talk for about 20 years or more . My husband passed away four years ago . I simply cannot afford my landline anymore . And my son can get me a cheaper broadband with voda phone will I get charged for cancelling please

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Gloria,
      Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Do you know whether you’re out-of-contract with TalkTalk? If so, there shouldn’t be any fee for cancelling your service and moving to Vodafone. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions here. However, if you’ve recently re-contracted onto a new deal with TalkTalk, it’s possible there might be a cancellation fee. If you need to find out what this cancellation fee is, you can contact TalkTalk Customer Services on 0345 172 0046.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • odin said:

    I signed up for a 12 month fixed broadband deal. I am leaving now and have 4 months left. How much do I need to pay or can I leave without any cancelation fee?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Odin,
      Thanks for your comment. Which provider are you with? The table here shows the early exit fees on each UK internet service provider. You should be able to use that information to calculate the early exit fees that will apply.
      Ken

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Odin,
          Thanks for the clarification! There’s more information here within Community Fibre’s terms and conditions, but their early cancellation fee is as follows:

          “Cancellation Fee” means the lower of £30 and the full amount of Charges you would have paid to us for the Services up to the end of the Minimum Period if the Services were not cancelled before the end of the Minimum Period plus any installation fee, less any costs we save, including the cost of no longer providing you with the Services.

          You can get a quote for the exact amount by contacting Community Fibre, but it’s probably best to assume you’ll be liable for the remaining 4 months charge.
          Hope this helps,
          Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi John,
      Thanks for your comment. You can cancel your Virgin Media broadband service without it affecting your Virgin Mobile contract.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Carola Ruth said:

    Hi We have been with Talk Talk for more than 6 years but as we are selling up and moving abroad in 10 days time I would like to cancel the contract as from 10th October
    please advise us what to do
    thank you very much

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Carola,
      Thanks for your comment. You’ll need to contact TalkTalk’s customer services team on 0345 172 0046 to cancel your broadband service. Typically, there shouldn’t be a termination fee if you’re already out of contract with them.
      Ken

  • david john richardson said:

    hi Ken, have been with plusnet since july of this year, i am 72 and find i have to cut back on my ouygoings,plusnet supply my internet and landline,can i cancel without paying cancelation fees

    • Ken replied:

      Hi David,
      Thanks for your comment. I’d recommend getting in touch with Plusnet’s customer services team on 0800 432 0080 to discuss your situation and to see what they’re able to do for you.
      Ken

  • Christopher Kearns said:

    I cancelled my subscription for TV and broadband connection more than a month ago online. I still had to pay for it today. I will not be paying any more money. I want to know when I can return my TV and broadband connection, which is already packed and ready to go.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Christopher,
      Thanks for your comment. Which provider did you cancel the service for, and did they give you a date on which the service was supposed to end? It sounds like your account might still be running, which makes me think they may not have processed the cancellation?
      Thanks,
      Ken

  • Janet Marshall said:

    We are supposed to have minimum speeds of 23mbps on TalkTalk. I have complained in June. They sent an engineer who did something and we had minimal improvement. Today at 4.30pm we had 19.8. Again I complained. From 8pm or thereabouts we cannot watch a film as we just get the “doughnut of doom” going round and round. Speed is less than 10mbps. We are a couple in our 60s. All we want to do us watch an occasional film in the evening via Amazon firestick. We are not gaming etc. Have complained again today. Told the line is “congested”
    I just want to leave. They now tell us the 23 maps is across all devices. So two phones and a laptop with no streaming or downloading happening counts? Let me say, we can watch a film ok in the morning but you can set your watch that by 8pm all we get is buffering. Please advise what we can do. Thank you.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Janet,
      Thanks for your comment. Is 23Mbps the minimum guaranteed download speed given to you by TalkTalk? If your speed is below this figure, it should be possible to cancel your contract without penalty. Saying that, it shouldn’t be necessary to have anything close to that figure to watch a movie – even 5Mbps is enough to watch a movie in high-definition quality. If the speed to your router is OK, but not to your device/Fire Stick, this might be due to a poor Wi-Fi signal in your home.
      Do check the placement of your router in case it’s a poor Wi-Fi signal that’s causing an issue. Ideally, it should be an open place and not inside a cupboard, located as centrally in your home as possible. If you’re still unable to get high enough speeds on your device, a mesh networking solution such as BT Whole Home Wi-Fi or Google Wi-Fi can be a worthwhile investment.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Vishal,
          I’m assuming you’re also on TalkTalk? You should contact their customer services team on 0345 172 0046 if you’d like to request a penalty-free cancellation.
          Ken

  • Lawrence Brennand said:

    My talk talk contract ends mid November for broadband and unlimited calls package. If I take extended holiday from January for four months could I suspend charges, or another way to not pay whilst away

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Lawrence,
      Thanks for your comment. As far as I know, it isn’t possible to ‘pause’ your broadband service with TalkTalk, or anything along those lines. This means you’ll unfortunately need to cancel your service and then resume once you’re back from holiday as a new customer.
      Ken

  • Paul C said:

    My Sky broadband contract ends on the 27th Sept 2020 and a new provider has offered me a change over date of the 2nd of September. Will I have to pay early terminations fees? I can’t find anything on the Sky website which explains how close to the end of your contract you can get without being charged. Am I switching too early or am I Ok to switch today 18th Aug 2020?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Paul,
      Thanks for your comment. You can cancel your Sky Broadband plan at any time, but you’ll be charged an early termination fee for the period between your cancellation and the 27th September. For instance, if you were to change over the 2nd September, you’d pay a pro-rated termination fee covering 25 days of usage. I’m not sure what plan you’re on but assuming it’s Superfast, this will be somewhere in the region of £10.34.
      Ken

  • Burble said:

    Couple of things to take note, ISP’s like TalkTalk are now charging for use of their email if leaving, and the charges are not cheap, although OfCom have made comments about fair charges nothing has happened, so it makes more sense than ever to use Google’s GMail or MS’s Live, or a email client with reasonable charges.
    Also AFAIK if moving to BT they will pay more than EE to pay off early termination charges.

Leave a Reply