MSE News: Ofcom bans landline and broadband rollover contract tie-ins

Former_MSE_Helen

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Landline and broadband rollover contracts, which lock consumers into a new deal on expiry, are to be banned ..."

Read the full story:
Ofcom bans landline and broadband rollover contract tie-ins

Gordon_Hose

This is great news. BT very nearly caught me out with this one 2 years ago.

JimmyTheWig

To be fair, I'm "happy with the discounts offered by renewable contracts" with BT. No plans to switch, so happy with the lowest price long-term deal I can get.

kwikbreaks

To my mind this is long overdue. It's just a mechanism for ensuring a penalty payment when a customer finally gets to the end of their tether which with BT will probably happen after they screw around for weeks or months failing to fix a fault as happened with my own line.

xv_biker1

1 Question

When will this ban also apply to every other contract like car insurance???

Consumerist

xv_biker1 wrote: »

When will this ban also apply to every other contract like car insurance???

I don't think it does apply to motor insurance contracts, does it ?

Although automatic renewal is a feature of domestic insurance, they don't impose a penalty if you don't renew. If you don't want to renew then, in my experience, you only have to tell them and that's the end of it. Wouldn't it be a fraudulent transaction if they took your money after you had told them that you didn't want to renew ?

kwikbreaks

In fact it's the same with phone and broadband but people tend to bin stuff from BT as yet more junk mail and don't spot they are saying that your contract will be automatically extended for another year unless you tell them not to.

Traditionally car insurance terms have been 12 months and phone/broadband 30 days once the minimum term is up. BT have tried to make it a rolling 12 month contract in a rather underhand way imo and Ofcom have called a halt to it as it discourages competition.

If BT can't keep customers by offering a good product and service I don't see why they should be able to force a tie in by stealth.

Not that I'm bothered - I left BT entirely over a year ago.

antonia1

Consumerist wrote: »

I don't think it does apply to motor insurance contracts, does it ?

Although automatic renewal is a feature of domestic insurance, they don't impose a penalty if you don't renew. If you don't want to renew then, in my experience, you only have to tell them and that's the end of it. Wouldn't it be a fraudulent transaction if they took your money after you had told them that you didn't want to renew ?

Its more that they assume you want to renew unless you tell them. This happened to me with travel insurance recently, and my ex with his gym membership.

MillicentBystander

OFCOM - how do you expect BT to be able to pay their massive pension fund shortfall if you keep stopping them from carrying out these dodgy practices? Absolutely great news for consumers. Well done OFCOM. Any chance of having a word with OFGEM now?

pqrdef

So what are they saying here? When my current 12-month deal expires, they'll automatically switch me back to standard rates, and it'll be up to me to pick a new deal and ask for it? And of course it will come with a 12-month minimum term?

Or what am I missing?

DaveF327

:beer: :money: :beer:
Fantastic news! Long overdue, too. I love how BT used their spin of "customers were happy with the discounts offered by renewable contracts". Are they equally happy with the penalties for switching providers during these contracts they didn't even know they were in?

xv_biker1 wrote: »

1 Question

When will this ban also apply to every other contract like car insurance???

When the OFT grow some balls like OFCOM has, and bring about a change in contract law.