Onestream Broadband Unreasonable Early Termination Fee

fit_regale

Hi, I need some advice on how to deal with Onestream.

I signed up for a 12-month contract in September 2024, but I’m moving out at the end of July 2025 — two months before the contract ends. I can’t transfer the service, as my new place already has broadband.

I’ve been told I’ll be charged an early termination fee of £258, which seems excessive. This includes £34 for the final two months (£17/month), plus £99 for activation and £125 for the router. I received a promotional deal at sign-up, so I was never charged these setup fees.

My contract states I may be charged an early termination fee, but the actual breakdown of the price was in a separate document, which wasn’t made clear at the time.

From what I’ve read, Ofcom requires early termination fees to reflect a provider’s actual loss, and the charges must be clearly communicated upfront. If I could stay in the property and complete the contract, I wouldn’t owe any setup fees — so the current £258 charge feels unfair, it’s also reasonable to assume that these costs have already been recouped while I’ve been in contract.

I believe the £99 and £125 fees are unreasonable under Ofcom’s guidance. Please let me know if my conclusion is correct and what I can do to resolve this, or if any other options are available.

Thank you.

flaneurs_lobster

Any way you can just continue the service for the last two months?

TadleyBaggie

Might be a issue if the new occupants want to get their own broadband installed and Onestream won't release the line.

iniltous

Actually if Onestream are an  Openreach based service (and they probably are )  and the new occupant asks for service via Openreach from anyone, including Onestream , the OP service would be taken over and ETC raised in the same way as if the OP asks for service to be ceased before the end of the minimum term , it’s a bit late now , but if the OP has asked about this ISP on here before signing up , they would have been plenty of warnings to avoid them like the plague.

FYI , £17 a month probably doesn’t cover their setup costs and providing a router , as well as ‘internet access’ , TBH , if  I were looking and saw that price I’d be thinking what’s the catch , you unfortunately have found out what the catch is

…if you were to be philosophical about it , you have been paying around £13 less than a more reputable ISP would charge , so over the 10 months you were with them you have saved £130 , you can in effect deduct that from the amount from the total , but the ETC’s  if you were with a different ISP and quit two months early  ( that would ask you to return the router as they only loaned it to you )  , would still be a fraction of what Onestream want , even after the £130 deduction .

Can you get out of paying it , probably not .

The only way I can see this working out for the OP , is if the OP continues to pay after they leave the address  , and hope the property remains empty , or the new occupants don’t order broadband from a provider using Openreach , or don’t order from an Openreach based provider for at least two months , that way the OP may get to September and be able to quit outside the minimum term , and therefore avoid the ETC , but the chances are Onestream have some other ‘trap’ for non renewal , for example I’d suspect they charge for the router , but you would need to check their T&C’s 

fit_regale

Hi,

Thank you for your response.

I’m not sure if this changes anything, but I was actually paying £25/month between September and February, and £28/month from March onward. The £17/month is the discounted figure they apply when calculating the early termination charge. I do understand this is still relatively low for a 12-month contract, but I wanted to clarify.

My main concern remains with the other charges. I’m being asked to pay a £125 router fee — but I’m also required to return the router. That seems unreasonable for equipment I don’t get to keep.

I’ve been looking into Ofcom’s guidance and found a statement (from 2013) that says:

“Other (incidental) terms and charges must be fair. […] Others, like early termination charges, should also be limited (consumers who end contracts early should never have to pay more than the payments left under the contract - in fact they should often pay less, to reflect costs providers save because the contract ends early).”

If that guidance is still applicable, then I’d be paying over four times the cost of the remaining two months — which doesn’t seem proportionate or fair.

Finally, I don’t recall these fees being made clear during the call when I signed up, and the details weren’t included in the main contract. From what I understand, Ofcom requires that such terms are communicated clearly and prominently at the point of sale, which I don't believe happened in this case.

Any further advice would be much appreciated.