Contract when moving to a new home & unable to set up broadband

[Brt1919]

Hi, my tenant set up a contract with BT in April 2020. However, they unexpectedly had to move to another area recently & are currently renting a room in a hotel. I asked on Twitter & BT suggested he call their loyalty helpline to see if  they could help with this & possibly put a hold on it.

In the meantime, the new tenant was trying to move her Vodafone contract to the property but they were fairly hopeless so she contacted BT to take over the existing one as that seems a much more sensible idea all round. However BT have apparently told the previous tenant that he will still have to pay the contract upto next April as a fixed sum upon ending the contract. He is unable to pay that so has said no when BT sent a text to confirm he’s happy to switch to the new tenant.

I can understand some sort of penalty in this case for the admin involved but it does seem quite unfair when he is unable to set up BB at the new property & BT are still keeping the broadband contract at the property, it would be different if it was not staying with BT & they would lose out on the contract that was signed

thanks for any comments/help

[licquorice]

The tenant will either have to continue paying for the service at the property until they get another property or pay the cancellation charges. The cancellation charges are not just an admin fee, they are reimbursing BT for the discounted price of the contract that has been broken. If the tenant doesn't have a new address, a home move is not possible.

The new tenant can't take over the existing contract as it is not possible to transfer contracts.

[Brt1919]

Thank you. I’m not entirely sure why BT messaged the previous tenant to ask about transferring it. If he won’t agree to it, she has to be allowed to take it on as he no longer lives there. I’ll suggest the new tenant contacts BT again about it. Thanks 

[NigelB72]

@Brt1919 they message the previous tenant to ensure that an error hasn't been made in the transfer request or it isn't an erroneous transfer.. ie. A slam by a rival supplier

[-Richie-]

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@Brt1919wrote:

He is unable to pay that so has said no when BT sent a text to confirm he’s happy to switch to the new tenant.

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If the takeover goes ahead the previous account holder will of ended the agreement before the minimum term ends and they would be liable for early termination charges, it's a tricky situation.

The only way round if the previous tenant blocks the takeover is to have a 2nd line installed, there might be charges for the 2nd line installation though but it does mean the new connection will go ahead