When to leave 12 month sim only contract?

martyp

Hi all,

I'm on a 12 month sim only deal with EE that ends on the 10th April 2017. At the time the deal seemed great, £19.99 for unlimited mins and texts and 16GB data but they have said I never use more than 5GB data so thought I might as well get a cheaper deal. £12 for 5GB from Virgin or the £10 for 4GB from Plusnet maybe.
Thing is I don't know when I could or should switch to a different deal as unsure if the payment is taken for a month in advance? The plan goes up to £34.99 normally, probably about £2 more even with the price increase.
Would it be any time between 10th March and 10th April?
I've only had contracts with a phone before and intend to keep my number.
Please can someone advise so I can avoid paying loads more?

mije1983

It's exactly the same as a contract with a phone. Just call them to give your 30/31 days notice, 30/31 days before 10th April.

martyp

Perfect, cheers mije. Just hope that the deals I like now might be extended to that time.

mobilejunkie

No. Call on 11th March and ask for a PAC. Then exerices it towards the end of the 30 days. If you fail to exercise it the contract will continue (DON'T give notice to cance AND request a PAC or the cancellation notice is void). Beware; the deal you want may not still be available when you are ready to switch to a new contract.

unforeseen

Are you sure that the plan goes up to £34.99 at the end of the 12 months. They normally carry on at the same rate (+RPI increase) after the end of the minimum term.

Frozen_up_north

If there's a new deal you want, check when it ends and if it's on another network check the coverage with a PAYG SIM before committing to a contract. Virgin use the EE network so will have the same coverage.

Also check the new offer T&Cs very carefully with regard to out of bundle charges, spending caps, overseas roaming costs, etc. If you are happy with EE haggle with their retentions team once you have a competitive offer from another provider.

While their customer service reputation is awful, Vodafone have some offers ending 15th March for SIM only that could be a bargaining tool. They include very good EU roaming too, if that's important to you.

AndyPK

I thought you had to pay an extra 30days after notice with sim only deals?


Tell them where you are moving to and how much, and hopefully they will do you a deal.

[Deleted User]

If you're determined to leave EE (or they can't price match say the Plusnet 4GB deal) then you can still order a new deal from someone else now, you'll get a new number but once you've got your PAC you just use it to swap your number over to the new SIM. Plusnet use the EE network btw so you don't have to worry about unlocking your phone or coverage if your present SIM is fine.

boatman

I'd call for the PAC on the 15th March, and use it on the 11th April. The reason I would leave it till the 15th March not the 10th is to allow for any problems with the new company not getting the transfer done on the 12th April.

As far as giving 30 days notice, I don't think there is any harm is saying it when you phone for your PAC. You can at least say you did give 30 days notice, even though the PAC over rides it.

Marvqn1

unforeseen wrote: »

Are you sure that the plan goes up to £34.99 at the end of the 12 months. They normally carry on at the same rate (+RPI increase) after the end of the minimum term.

I thought RPI increase was only for plans that include a handset.

System

AndyPK wrote: »

I thought you had to pay an extra 30days after notice with sim only deals?

No, they are essentially 11 months plus notice period.

So call one month before (or shortly after) for the PAC armed with the deals that you want.

I would suggest going only for a rolling 30 day contract too, there isn't a good reason for a long term sim only contract lock in.