Broadband contracts and moving house

dander

Hopefully can get advice on something that will be really obvious to other people, but not me!

My current broadband contract with BT is soon to end and to get best price with BT they want me to renew for another 24 months - or I'll go with another supplier who will also tie me in to a contract. However, I hope to move house within the next 12 months. - I haven't moved for 15 years, so am very uninformed on how this works. What happens with the contract - do I have to pay for the full time contracted, is there a clause you can get out of when you move, or can you just move the contract to a new address?

Obviously if I can just move the contract, I can just pick the best price regardless of contract length, but if not I need to hunt out something a bit more flexible. Many thanks.

amanda1024

I think you probably need to ask BT whether the contract they’re offering is portable…

GrumpyDil

Read the T's and C's but I suspect the answer will be the same as for my current provider. They will port the remainder of the contract term to a new address. However, if they are unable to provide service at the new address they will allow cancellation with no penalty. 

matelodave

You need to ask the question of the supplier and not assume or even take advice from well meaning forumites. Some suppliers will allow cancellation if they can't transfer your contract but some wont as you will be breaking the terms by moving.

All the suppliers have nuances in their contract that make them all a bit different, so check the T&C's for the contract with the supplier that you are contemplating, not the one for someone else , whether its a different supplier, a mate. or even the bloke next door.

Generally you can look up the T&C's and download a copy before you take out a new contract

Some suppliers change their T&C's 2-3 times a year so what your mate got six months ago may not be relevant to you if you take out a new one.

dander

Thanks - I'll drop BT a line and ask them directly then. Probably less stressful than trying to find a proper T&C doc for the specific contract! Suspect staying with BT at this stage might be wise too - as a company that are highly likely to be able to provide a service for the new house so it would just be a case of moving the contract, not ending it.

iniltous

If you are within a minimum term with BT and move to a new address and don’t want to pay for quitting this minimum term early ( early termination changes ) , unsurprisingly you use the BT Home Mover Service, that arranges service at the new address , the only cost for this service is that you start a new minimum term at the new address , so ( for arguments sake ) you took a 24 month deal and moved  after 6 months , the new contract at the new address isn’t the 18 months you have left , but a new 24 month deal, you may think that’s not a good deal , but the alternative is to ‘pay’ the 18 months of early termination charges for quitting before the end of your existing term and start a new minimum with someone else .

If you do use a different ISP at the new address , they  will almost certainly have a 12/18/24 month minimum term themselves , so ( IMHO ) it would be strange to dismiss BT because they insist on starting  a new minimum term , then accepting a new minimum term with someone else, especially as the cost of the 18 month ETC will probably far outweigh any savings you  could  make .

Obviously if a house move is in the offing and flexibility with providers is essential then renewing with anyone at the old address is not a great idea as it reduces that flexibility, but continuing on an out of contract basis could cost more that inside a minimum term , only you can decide what’s more important, cost or flexibility.

Generally speaking , ETC are not levied if your existing provider cannot provide service at the new address, ( so it’s a reasonable argument to say I would stay with you but it’s your inability to offer services that is stopping me ) but BT via Openreach are usually available everywhere , so that avenue is not that likely, but some have reported that they were excused ETC because although service was available at the new address , the same speed they had wasn’t available at the new address so they didn’t have to pay ETC .

dander

Thank you - I've gone ahead and renewed on the best deal BT had for now and will just do the switch service if/when I move.