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Can I keep my old email address? - Ask Our Expert
If you’re having technical, service or supply problems, or just have a question you want answering, why not write to OurExpert@BroadbandChoices.co.uk
Michael Phillips is product director at BroadbandChoices.co.uk and can help with anything from contractual problems, to giving technical advice or telling you how to speed up those slow movie downloads.
On the subject of keeping your email address, our expert says...
Hello Ian,
That is a very good question, and I’m afraid to say, there is no definitive answer. It all really depends on the broadband provider you’re switching from, and how your email account was set up.
For example, an email address such as xxx@btinternet.co.uk given to you by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), differs from an address like xxx@hotmail.com or xxx@gmail.com as they are free and allow you to access your email for as long as you choose to keep the account open.
As there is no industry standard in dealing with this problem, I’ve listed several of the main broadband providers, detailing whether or not it is possible to continue using that email account if you decide to switch broadband providers.
BT Internet
If your broadband is supplied by BT, such as Ian’s, even though you can access your BT email account via Outlook Express and BT Yahoo Mail, according to their terms and conditions; if you cancel your BT broadband subscription, then your BT email account will close too.
However, some users have claimed that is still possible to access their accounts through Yahoo Mail.
If you want to switch providers, but also want to keep your BT ISP email account open for work or personal reasons, then to guarantee that you still have access to your email you should sign up to BT’s Yahoo Premium Email Service. The service, priced at £1.50 a month, will allow you to access your BT account, even when signed up to another ISP.
You must wait at least seven days until you have left BT to subscribe to this service, but it is worth doing if you don’t want to lose all your messages and contacts.
AOL
If you’re going to be switching from to a new broadband provider, but want to keep your AOL ISP email account, then all you have to do is ask their customer support team. Once you’ve switched, you can carry on using your old email account through the website www.mail.aim.com.
Be Broadband
Be Broadband, like BT, also allow you to access your Be ISP email account through a number of email programmes, such as Outlook Express & Mozilla.
However, it is stipulated quite clearly in their ‘Email and Webhosting’ terms and conditions that when you cancel your contract with Be Broadband, they will delete your email account, as well as all of your emails and contacts, without any liability on their part.
Virgin
Similarly with Virgin Broadband, if you switch providers, your ISP email address will be shut down. According to their terms and conditions page, Virgin state that you will lose your ‘email address and any uncollected email.’
Other providers
Other providers, such as O2, TalkTalk, Sky and PlusNet, don’t have any clear cut terms and conditions that stipulate what happens to your ISP email address if you decide to switch providers. If you are in this situation, the best thing to do is probably ask your provider – they may have a policy similar to AOL’s, which would make thinks very simple for you. Or you may be able to subscribe to a pay monthly service like that of BT.
What do I suggest?
I think it is a good idea to have both an ISP email account, and an external email account, such as a Hotmail or GMail account.
This way, you can insure that if something does go wrong with one, or the other, then you will be fully backed up and won’t lose your contacts.
Before your switch providers, you may be able to download and upload your address book. GMail, for example, lets users do this, however not many email hosts do. So, moving to another provider often means starting over with an empty address book and building it up again from scratch I’m afraid, unless you ask your ISP if you can keep your address. There’s no harm in asking after all.
You could also consider buying your own email domain name, using the site www.123domainname.co.uk.
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