Broadband provider keeps charging me even after moving out

oilyd

Hi all I need some help as my ex broadband provider is charging me still even though I moved out 3 months ago. The bill now stands at£183.71. Even though I completed a moving out form and have spoken to them last month and told them I’m no longer there so how can they keep charging me for a place I don’t live ??. They seem to still think I owe them money please help my wife is dying of stage 4 cancer and I can’t cope 

elsien

Were you still in a fixed term contract or had it gone onto a rolling month by month?

if you’re on a fixed term contract and you haven’t moved the deal over to your new address, then generally speaking you are bound to pay for the rest of the term. You can’t just cancel mid contract without any penalties.

Who is the provider? 

oilyd

Kcom in hull and they are refusing to stop the bills I’m leaving uk shortly as wife needs to see the world and complete a bucket list 

elsien

But if you are still in contract they will carry on charging you. So are you still in contract or not?

oilyd

No contract hadn’t renewed as I knew I was moving 

oilyd

Do I need legal assistance 

iniltous

Commiserations  on your situation , but it’s not clear what state contractually you were ( or are )  in.
 If you were out of contract and gave the appropriate notice in the correct way  , then a final bill would be produced, even if you were inside a minimum term and gave notice to quit , a final bill would be produced but it would include early termination charges for ending your service before an agreed date , so there are a few possibilities, one is you haven’t actually served notice to quit , so your monthly bill is produced in the same way as if you were not wanting to leave ( the effect would be the same if you supplied them correctly with a notice to quit , but they never acknowledged it ) , or you are being charged for the monies owed , which may include ETC if you have quit early , so it may not be a continuing monthly bill , but an invoice ( possibly with late payment additions ) for service you did have, have you paid them anything since you assumed you had advised them of quitting ?

Is the service still working , that may indicate if it’s a final bill they are chasing you for , or they have not received or not acknowledged your notice to quit , this may be difficult to establish if you no longer live at that address, but if it’s still working they obviously haven’t ‘ceased’ your service.

I’m not sure what a ‘moving out’ form consists of , I would have thought the usual way to quit , would be to call them and get a verbal acknowledgment from the customer service representative that they will arrange the closure of your account and arrange the final bill , and them expecting a letter or email confirming that you service will end on a particular date , simply sending some ‘random’ form seems unsatisfactory as you get no indication that this instruction has been actioned.

As far as how can they charge you for a place you no longer live at , unfortunately that’s not the issue, if they are not advised correctly that you want service to end , they will continue to bill , regardless of the service not being used or not , any ‘argument’ along the lines of ‘ look at the usage , you can see nobody has used the service because I don’t live there anymore ‘ doesn’t actually change anything , if the notice to quit hasn’t been done correctly they can ( and do ) bill for the service even if it’s an empty house.

oilyd

I spoke to them in September and they said the service was stopped so idk anymore I’m dealing with a lot and just need help. The minimum contract had finished and they wanted me to start a new one. I only found out as I had mail redirected 

elsien

You don’t need legal assistance.
What you you do need to do is access their terms and conditions and doublecheck that you did properly give notice to end service.

look at section 25 and 28 in here.
https://www.kcom.com/home/media/flipk005/universal-conditions-v23-11023.pdf

then  make a formal complaint if you are sure that you did. I am unclear whether the moving house form would be enough to end the contract. It doesn’t end because the 12 months have come to an end, you still need to give notice. 

“If you're moving outside of the KCOM network area, or to an address that you're unable to transfer your current services to, we'll need to make arrangements for your account to be closed. We require 30 days' notice to cancel an account and if you're in contract, early termination fees may apply…..”

Any complaint should be a traceable  before either via email or in writing. Or if you leave use live chat to make sure you get a copy or a screenshot. 

And make sure that you clearly say it is a  formal complaint. 
https://www.kcom.com/home/complaints/

LightFlare

One thing that springs to mind - did you just inform them you were “moving out” in which case they will have just transferred the service to your new address OR did you terminate the service/contract ?

What exactly did you say/do ?