Switching from EE to Sky.

grumpyoldget

I've decided to take advantage of the advertised SKY deal on this site and so switched from my current provider EE. The deal saves me nearly £30 a month. Being an OAP, that is a lot when you factor in the rise in energy costs as a result of the Middle East conflict.

I was in a two year contract with EE ending in July 2027. They are now threatening me with a bill for just under £690 for leaving them. I knew I would have to pay a penalty, but this is frightening. I can't afford to pay this amount, I'm on a fixed income and struggling as it is. I live in a rural area, and rely on the internet for normal daily living, plus it keeps me in contact with my kids who live in various parts of the country.

Can EE legally do this. The tone of the email was like something out of The Sopranos.

littleboo

Yes they can do this, you have contracted with them to take a service for a minimum period, until July next year. You cant just walk away from that commitment if something cheaper comes along without some sort of penalty.

flaneurs_lobster

I'm afraid that EE can impose charges for you breaking your contract with them, the amount will be a bit less than the amount you would have paid over the term of the full contract - but not by much.

Suggest you cancel this new deal forthwith.

Perhaps MSE need to make it more obvious in their marketing of these deals that ending existing contracts will incur penalties.

If you are in receipt of certain benefits (not just SP) you might be eligible for a swap to a BT social tariff which would probably be less expensive.

oldernonethewiser

If you have just initiated this change then you should be within the cooling off period and able to cancel the Sky contract.

EE aren't threatening you, they are asking you to pay what you will have agreed, for early temination, when you signed up with them

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6663246/switching-from-ee-to-sky

Sky will pay up to £200(?) towards ETCs but you would still be responsible for the £490. Definitely cancel the Sky contract now.

Can I ask what you are paying EE for exactly as being in a newish deal for circa £50+ just for broadband seems excessive?

iniltous

Its not EE’s fault that you never considered what the early termination charges would be , what’s more as you are barely 9 months into a 24 month deal , the early termination charges were always going to be significant, to not consider the costs before switching to Sky is astonishing and reckless , but EE are perfectly entitled to apply the early termination charges if you don’t complete your contractual obligation with them , why on earth wouldn’t they ?.

As stated , if this has just happened and you haven’t actually joined Sky yet , if the early termination charges make the move financially nonsensical, cancel your order with Sky , if you are not within the cooling off period, it’s an expensive lesson to learn .

TBH , Sky may be cheaper than EE for broadband but not by much , on a like for like basis Ive never seen anywhere near a £30 a month difference between Sky and EE , what products are (were) you taking from EE and what is the Sky replacement product called ?, TBH even if Sky were available over City Fibre for your address rather than Openreach , so an extra saving because of that , I’d be surprised if the monthly saving were £10 let alone £30, so it suggests you are taking a cheaper Sky package (less speed or extras like whole home WiFi ) unless you are also cancelling a TV package with EE , then the broadband cost savings seems unlikely.

Exodi

JSmithy45AD

Can I ask what you are paying EE for exactly as being in a newish deal for circa £50+ just for broadband seems excessive?

Since I love working out this sort of thing, I used EE's worked example to estimate the OP's monthly EE payment - I got the OP's contract to around £75-£80 p/m based on their early termination fee (though I can't say exactly as it depends on when in July their contract expires, and also there's an unknown variable of EE costs, but I used the same percentage as their example). See page 29:

https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/help/terms-and-conditions/price-plans/home/ee-monthly-home-price-guide-1-march-2026.pdf

That puts the Sky package at around £50 p/m.

After checking EE's site, even their fastest broadband package 1.6Gbps doesn't come in that expensive, so inevitably this comes with extras: TV, phone, etc.

I presume the OP is also looking at bundles with Sky.

Unfortunately as for the OP, this is one for personal responsibility unfortunately. You agreed to a 2 year fixed contract and then cancelled only a third of the way through.

The justification unfortunately isn't very convincing either: "Being an OAP, that is a lot when you factor in the rise in energy costs as a result of the Middle East conflict.", I don't really see that being a pensioner or the Middle East conflict offers any form of mitigation, especially as you mentioned "I knew I would have to pay a penalty"… it was negligent to not look into this before switching. Likewise I'm not clear what "[I] rely on the internet for normal daily living" means, it's not in the same essential category as something like water.

"Can EE legally do this." - yes. And it's not just because EE are really mean, you will find virtually all internet providers (and utility, and many other service providers for that matter, mortgage lenders, etc) would do the same. You've broken your contract with them.

As they put it "The charge is the compensation you pay us for not keeping the service for the minimum period you agreed to when you took the service."

Fortunately it sounds like you may be able to cancel your switch to Sky so the situation may be salvageable.