Broadband contract threat

bobbleoff59

My ISP has been taken over and as I'm now out of contract they are insisting I sign a new 24 month contract or they will disconnect me.

Can they do this?

Browntoa

Yes , but if that's their stance u would migrate to another ISP

BodyOfBones

Get onto a comparison site and find the best deal and stick 1 finger up to them. That is what I would do!

eddddy

You need to read the contract terms that you agreed to - they will almost certainly explain that the ISP has the right to terminate your contract, what notice they must give etc.

(i.e. They can't insist that you sign a new contract, but they can terminate your current one.)

iniltous

bobbleoff59 wrote: »

My ISP has been taken over and as I'm now out of contract they are insisting I sign a new 24 month contract or they will disconnect me.

Can they do this?

When ISP's are taken over, normally you are given the option of leaving penalty free, after all you didn't sign up with the company that is taking over , but , if you don't exercise your right to leave within a short period of time , your previous T&C's , with the company that will soon cease to exist, will be replaced by the takeover company's T&C's, and by not moving you are deemed to be happy with those new T&C's...so if you are not happy, you need to change provider quickly, they won't make exceptions and allow you to continue with terms set by the old company , they will simply impose the new ones

eddddy

iniltous wrote: »

When ISP's are taken over, normally you are given the option of leaving penalty free, after all you didn't sign up with the company that is taking over , but , if you don't exercise your right to leave within a short period of time , your previous T&C's , with the company that will soon cease to exist, will be replaced by the takeover company's T&C's, and by not moving you are deemed to be happy with those new T&C's...so if you are not happy, you need to change provider quickly, they won't make exceptions and allow you to continue with terms set by the old company , they will simply impose the new ones

Do you have any kind of link that confirms what you say?

Assuming the ISP has been taken over, and not gone bankrupt - why would they be exempt from UK contract law?

iniltous

eddddy wrote: »

Do you have any kind of link that confirms what you say?

Assuming the ISP has been taken over, and not gone bankrupt - why would they be exempt from UK contract law?

Not sure why this is controversial , if the company is taken over and effectively replaced by the new company, you can leave the 'new' company , this has happened many times, be it company law or terms imposed by Ofcom to any CP that wants to operate in the UK, TT and Sky have both at times taken over other ISP's client base and divested some of their own client base to other ISP's , in each case , if the new company's terms were unacceptable you left, if you didn't leave within the notice period, then the new company ,( if they have advised you of the fact,) would impose their own terms, maybe not immediately but eventually, they don't need to continue to offer the same terms as the company they replaced

JJ_Egan

As the OP is out of contract it means no penalty .

eddddy

iniltous wrote: »

Not sure why this is controversial , if the company is taken over and effectively replaced by the new company, you can leave the 'new' company , this has happened many times, be it company law or terms imposed by Ofcom to any CP that wants to operate in the UK, TT and Sky have both at times taken over other ISP's client base and divested some of their own client base to other ISP's , in each case , if the new company's terms were unacceptable you left, if you didn't leave within the notice period, then the new company ,( if they have advised you of the fact,) would impose their own terms, maybe not immediately but eventually, they don't need to continue to offer the same terms as the company they replaced

I think you're muddling a lot of different things here.

If the OP has entered into a contract with 'ISP 1', and they are taken over by 'ISP 2' - 'ISP 2' cannot change the terms of the contract.

Unless both parties agree otherwise.

(It would be ridiculous if a 'company A' could get out of all its contractual obligations by selling itself to 'company B'.)


In the OP's case, I suspect that the original contract with 'ISP 1' allows the ISP to cancel with 30 days notice.

'ISP 2' has taken over that contract, and must stick to those same contractual terms. So they are threatening to exercise the 30 day cancellation rights.

eddddy

JJ_Egan wrote: »

As the OP is out of contract it means no penalty .
NO contract means not breaking contract law .

Of course there's a contract.

What you mean is the fixed period of the contract has finished, so either party is allowed to cancel the contract (probably with 30 days notice).

The OP pays a monthly fee and receives a broadband service in return. How can there not be a contract?

And the ISP's contract will clearly state the contract terms once the fixed period is finished.

iniltous

So the OP options are to accept the new terms , be cut off,or move ISP, rather than accept or be cut off, but the advice is the same, don't like the new terms, move to a new provider, arguably the new provider isn't changing the terms of the contract , they are offering new terms or be cut off, so almost a distinction without a difference, the OP presumably doesn't like the terms on offer, so will no doubt reject them and find a new provider, or be cut off...TBH , it would be interesting to know if anyone who does nothing is cut off , or just receives a bill from the 'new' company, and if they try to leave subsequently are held to this 'new' 24month term....if the OP has any sense they won't be arguing the legal minutia, but be finding a new ISP