BT cant provide services at new address, what are my rights for termination fees 7 October 2021 at 1:43PM in Phones & TV 11 replies 374 views

muzzpopmuzz

The builder at my new address doesn't give BT the rights to the estate and so I am unable to get broadband with them at the new address. I am about 12 months into a 2 year contract so concerned about the fees to cancel and as I am unable to get their services at the new address this seems unfair. Does anyone know my rights on this? Thanks

[Deleted User]

You have the right to pay the remainder of your contract to cancel. 

BT fulfilled their end of the contract in providing you with services at the address you gave. It's not their responsibility if you wish to now change the terms of the contract.

JJ_Egan

As above

Contract is only for current address .

See multiple identical posts for many ISPs .

Who is the builder telling you to sign up with and for how long .

Neil_Jones

muzzpopmuzz said:

The builder at my new address doesn't give BT the rights to the estate and so I am unable to get broadband with them at the new address. I am about 12 months into a 2 year contract so concerned about the fees to cancel and as I am unable to get their services at the new address this seems unfair. Does anyone know my rights on this? Thanks

Very regular question.  Very regular answer is you are moving to an area the provider cannot provide service to, that's not the fault of the provider that you are moving.

iniltous

There was a very similar post on here , or another similar forum, and the consensus was that the poster should have done their homework before moving and if the developer has effectively locked out Openreach ( and by association BT ) then early termination charges are still due , after all it’s not ‘BT’s’ fault the poster chose to move etc., but surprisingly the poster came back and said that BT had waived the ETC because they couldn’t provide service.
FWIW, if the developer has provided their own FTTP system , you are tied to a very limited number of providers , possibly only one.

JSmithy45AD

muzzpopmuzz said:

The builder at my new address doesn't give BT the rights to the estate and so I am unable to get broadband with them at the new address. I am about 12 months into a 2 year contract so concerned about the fees to cancel and as I am unable to get their services at the new address this seems unfair. Does anyone know my rights on this? Thanks

You'd be better asking BT than random strangers on an online forum.

mjm3346

Friend recently moved from a BT Fibre area to a non-fibre one only a couple of months into a contract -  there was no cancellation fee

Neil_Jones

mjm3346 said:

Friend recently moved from a BT Fibre area to a non-fibre one only a couple of months into a contract -  there was no cancellation fee

That's different because it is a service, albeit not the same as they had before, but something was available..  The OP has probably moved to a new build where BT is locked out for a while which is quite common on those new estate builds.

mjm3346

Neil_Jones said:

mjm3346 said:

Friend recently moved from a BT Fibre area to a non-fibre one only a couple of months into a contract -  there was no cancellation fee

That's different because it is a service, albeit not the same as they had before, but something was available..  The OP has probably moved to a new build where BT is locked out for a while which is quite common on those new estate builds.

Perhaps not clear enough - they didn't take any service from BT and there was no cancellation charge because BT couldn't provide the fibre service they had (if they cannot provide any service there should be no charge, they could provide a non-fibre service so I thought they may still charge but didn't)

iniltous

mjm3346 said:

Neil_Jones said:

mjm3346 said:

Friend recently moved from a BT Fibre area to a non-fibre one only a couple of months into a contract -  there was no cancellation fee

That's different because it is a service, albeit not the same as they had before, but something was available..  The OP has probably moved to a new build where BT is locked out for a while which is quite common on those new estate builds.

Perhaps not clear enough - they didn't take any service from BT and there was no cancellation charge because BT couldn't provide the fibre service they had (if they cannot provide any service there should be no charge, they could provide a non-fibre service so I thought they may still charge but didn't)

If someone moves from ( for example ) BT FTTP to an address that doesn’t have FTTP but can have BT FTTC or BT ADSL , then that’s not reason in itself to be excused early termination charges, they can still take a BT service, possibly not the same speeds , so if they chose not to ( perhaps an alternative network is available and they want to use that ) then ETC is perfectly fair…as already pointed out, you can move to addresses where the developer has excluded Openreach ( and will continue to exclude OR until the developer hands over responsibility for the roads and footpaths to the local council ) in these cases the person moving could legitimately claim they would be happy to use BT at the new address but there is nothing available from BT , intuitively you would think BT could still say ‘you still have a commitment , it you that is ending the arrangement early by moving address and that results in ETC’, but as I pointed out, there was at least one example where BT ( in these circumstances ) did not apply the ETC , because the address was outside OR’s reach.
As far as the OP, they will need to enquire…TBH, if they are told it’s ETC, then that’s ( IMHO ) hardly unfair, but if others have had it waived in the same circumstances  ,they could argue that if they don’t also get ETC waived , thats not treating them fairly , I suppose, you won’t know unless you ask.

mjm3346

Cannot remember where I found it on the BT site (may have been their forum) but the statement was along the lines of if BT cannot provide a service at the new address there is no ETC - looked this up for the friend who was moving - Knew there was ADSL but no fibre at the new address and thought that may not be a get out as there was a service of sorts but BT agreed no ETC (only 2 months into an 18 or 24 month contract).