Broadband Guide

Broadband early termination fees

Updated: Tuesday 15 May, 2012

By Anthony Hill

The cost of cancelling a broadband or home phone contract is now as much as 85% lower, thanks to rules introduced by Ofcom in 2010...

Cable broadband is the answer

Early termination charges should “reflect the costs that providers save by no longer delivering the service,” says industry regulator Ofcom.

But because of how the charge is worked out - depending on how many months are left in your contract - early cancellation fees can still exceed £100.

The Ofcom rules apply primarily to home telephone services, but state that the lower charges “will also apply to landline customers who receive broadband in the same package”.

Ofcom has worked with major providers, such as BT (www.BT.com), TalkTalk (www.Talktalk.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com), to negotiate the lower cancellation fees, which came into effect in 2010.

Contract cancellation: The new rules

Under the Ofcom guidelines set out in 2010, customers “should never have to pay more than the payments left under the contract” - in fact they should often pay less, says Ofcom, since providers themselves are saving money when the contract ends early.

But because each provider has different costs to take into account, the early termination fees still differ from one company to the next. They can even vary between different packages from the same broadband supplier.

Early termination charges

The table below shows the new early termination fees for some of the most popular packages from BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.

Early termination fees are charged on a monthly basis depending on how many months are left in your contract.

*Virgin Media customers cancelling both a phone and broadband service will need to pay an early termination fee for each.

Cancellation charges with other broadband providers

Although Ofcom worked directly with some of the main UK providers, it says it expects other home phone and broadband suppliers to take similar action to cut the costs for customers leaving their contracts early.

Providers who don’t bring their early termination charges down to similar levels could potentially face formal enforcement action.

Can I ever cancel without paying a fee?

There are only a few situations in which you're legally allowed to end your contract early without having to pay a termination charge. These include:

• Distance Selling Regulations - If you’ve signed up online or by phone, the Distance Selling Regulations give you seven working days of "cooling off" time, starting the day after your purchase. During this time, you can change your mind and end the contract without incurring a cost.


• Material detriment - If your provider significantly ups its prices or changes your package in a way that's of “material detriment” to you, you can sometimes cancel your contract within a month of being notified of the price increase.


• Moving house - If you move house and your provider cannot supply a service at your new address, you may be able to cancel your contract without paying any fees. However, this is usually worked out on a case-by-case basis, so always check with your provider first.

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