Moving abroad - Early termination fees

[nalaKoukou]

Hello,

I am selling my house and moving oversees in the next few months. If I have a 48 month BT broadband contract, can I cancel it mid-term? If so, what are the early termination fees in this case?

I could not find any information online about when you can terminate your contract early without exit fees.

Thank you!

[Katie_J]

Good morning @nalaKoukou. 

Thanks for coming here. 

Early termination differs from one contract to another and also takes into account the term period remaining. 

You can see your contract end dates within your account online. 

For an exact figure please give us a call. 

I hope everything goes well with your move!

Katie

[iniltous]

There are no consumer 48 month broadband contracts, you ask when you can quit without exit fees , when you have completed your minimum term is the answer, as far as how much will the early termination fees be , you haven’t provided anywhere nearly enough information, and what has been provided can’t be accurate, but it’s less than the total amount your would pay if continuing within the terms of the contract to the end of the minimum term , you will need to ask exactly how much less , no one here can tell you the figure.

[nalaKoukou]

Hi Katie,

Thank you for the reply. I am considering getting a contact but I don't have access to the full contract before checking out. I can only see a contract summary.

I find it hard to commit to a 48 month contract without knowing the exit fees when I eventually move.

Best,

Nala

[nalaKoukou]

Thank you Iniltous,

I am not sure what you mean. Most broadband deals are 48 month long. For example the Full Fibre 300, which I want to get, is a 48 month contract.

Is the minimum term different than the contract length? 

If you want more information then assume I have the Full Fibre 300 above, and I move abroad in 6 months. How much will I have to pay to terminate it? Could I pass it on to the next owner? Thank you for your help.

Best,

Nala

[iniltous]

Don’t know where you get that most broadband contracts are 48 months , they aren’t, 24 months is the normal (12 months available also but a little more expensive) ….to be clear , this is landline style broadband you are referring to and not mobile broadband…have a look on the website the only options are 12 and 24 months ….in fact (a quick google ) confirms that 24 months is the longest residential minimum term allowed by Ofcom .

If you are intent to move overseas in the next few months why would you want a long contract anyway (minimum term is a more accurate way to express the time you need to keep the service as after the minimum term expires, the contract doesn’t end , it becomes a30 day notice to quit contract ) 

[Kimberlin]

@nalaKoukou  All you can do is call up BT and tell them your circumstances about moving abroad permanently. In 2021, I moved home in the UK and my BT Group ISP waived early termination fees because they couldn’t offer me their service at the new build home I was moving into. A different set of circumstances granted, but you can only ask. It can be done, it just depends on whether BT are customer focused enough to accept that you moving, isn’t categorised as someone who just no longer wants their service.

[nalaKoukou]

Thank you everyone for you help.

It seems I will have to call BT to ensure that when they are unable to move the service they waive early termination fees. This is what I was trying to understand. In what circumstances you can terminate without paying early exit fees.

Also apologies for the confusion. I meant 24-month contract this entire time. My brain just kept writing "48" for some reason. It took a while to realise...

The 12-month options are unfortunately too pricy. Also the speeds in my area were upgraded so I can potentially get better speeds with less than what I am currently paying, but I have to get a contract for this...

Anyways, thank you all again!

Nala

[gg30340]

See the following links

https://www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/manage-account/thinking-of-leaving-bt

https://www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/payments--bills-and-charges/i-don-t-understand-my-bill/w...

The fee will apply when you move abroad.

The termination fee is waived in the UK if you are a BT Broadband customer and you use the BT Home Move system and for what ever reason BT can not supply BT broadband the termination fee would be waived.

Obviously moving abroad you would not be able to use the BT Home Move system.

If you are already in a contract with BT and it is about to expire just don't renew it. You will go onto a 30 day contract which would mean you lose any discounts that you may have but you can cancel with 30 days notice without any fees.

[chrisjp]

If you are moving abroad in the next few months, you definitely do NOT want to enter into any long term contract - 12 or 24 months. If your current contract is about to expire, do nothing and it'll go onto month to month billing.
This will be a little more per month that you'd pay with a 24 month contract, but your total spend for just a few months will be much less than the early termination fee you'll almost certainly be hit with under a 24 month contract that you terminate after just a few months.