Cancelling BT Broadband and other services

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Disclaimer: The information on this page was last updated on 04/01/2023, 15:47:30

Cancelling any tv or broadband provider can be a tough and arduous process, but it doesn’t need to be. More often than not, people don’t know where to begin or who to contact at their provider’s company, so they end up staying stuck in the same services they want out of! This page will explain the process of how to cancel BT, and the potential to switch services there if that’s something you wish to do.

How to cancel BT

Because BT has a wide variety of products and services that millions of customers use, how you cancel each of these products has a different process that you’ll need to go through.

You’re able to cancel or change these packages of BT online:

• BT Calling Plans
• Broadband and Fibre
• BT Sport
• BT TV and their TV packages
• BT Mobile
• Calling Features
• And BT Email

The opening hours for BT’s helpline and customer service team are:

Landline: 0800 783 1401

From outside the UK: +44 150 174 7714

For those just looking to cancel their BT Mobile Service:

Landline: 0800 389 8414

From outside the UK: +44 150 174 7714

Changing/cancelling your BT Calling Plan

How you cancel or change your BT calling plan works slightly differently depending on whether or not you have a BT ID already set up.

With a BT ID

1. Log in at My BT
2. Scroll down and click on the ‘View Package’ button
3. Head over to the ‘landline’ section and you’ll be able to view your current Calling Plan
4. To change it, click on the option ‘Upgrade Calling Plan’ and there’ll be a range of options available for you to choose from.

Without a BT ID

1. Go to the ‘check’ or ‘change your Calling Plan’ option
2. Scroll until you see the ‘Change Calling Plan’ button
3. Enter your phone number and your postcode, then click the box by the side so that you can confirm you’re the account holder.
4. Click ‘continue’ - after this, you’ll see your current Calling Plan and the option to change it
5. To change your Calling Plan, just select the new plan that you want and click ‘continue’ when it appears.

BT are good for letting you swap between your calling plans.

How to cancel BT Phone Line

When you want to undergo a BT cancellation with your phone line, BT requests a minimum of 30 days’ notice period if you want to cancel your phone line with them. You can do this by calling 0800 783 1401 or through your online account.

Please be aware, if you request to stop the phone line on a set date before the 30 day minimum period is up, then you’ll be charged for however many of those 30 days remain.

Here’s an example:

1. If you contact BT on 10th January and inform them you want to cancel on 20th January, you’ll still be charged from 11th-31st January because you haven’t given them the 30 days’ notice period.
2. You’ll receive your final bill by 21st January. BT always aims to send this final bill within 10 days of the contractual stop date.
3. However, if you tell BT on 1st January you want to cancel on 31st January, you won’t be charged for any period after this date, and they’ll still aim to send you your final bill without the 10 days of your contract’s stop date.

There are some exceptions to these rules from BT:

1. If the BT account holder has passed away
2. If you’re switching providers through the standard process, where the required notice period is 14 days

How to cancel BT Broadband

It’s extremely easy to cancel your BT Broadband. All you have to do is call 0800 783 1401 or change your package through your online account. Alternatively, you can simply contact your new provider and they can take over the process for you.

However, before you think about cancelling BT Broadband, always, ALWAYS, check your contract.

BT has a policy in place where if you’re still in contract with them, you’ll have to pay a termination fee if you want to cancel your BT broadband.

The contract lengths with BT are usually 12 or 24 months. Sometimes, they can be 18 months. Whichever it is, it’s a long time!

In all honesty, the best course of action may be to just wait until your minimum contract period with BT expires, because then you could avoid having to fork out any extra money on paying your termination fees. These fees can be quite expensive!

If you would like advice on cancelling BT broadband or switching to a new provider, contact Utility Switchboard at 0203 048 4598.

In some cases, if you’ve decided to cancel BT but still want to stay on a network that uses Openreach, then due to new rules making it easier to switch providers, you may not even have to contact BT.

However, if you’re moving to a provider that uses its own cable network like Virgin Media, then you’ll need to contact BT and tell them you’re switching.

How to cancel BT Sport

Cancelling BT Sports is quite straightforward, mainly because it’s best to cancel it over the phone!

The number to cancel BT Sports is 0800 783 1401.

BT’s customer service is open:

• Monday to Fridays: 8am to 9pm
• Saturdays: 8am to 8pm
• Sundays: 9am to 6pm

The same applies with BT Sport as it does with BT broadband, because of how their packages work, you’ll need to provide a 30 days’ minimum notice period.

You can also cancel BT Sports online via your BT account.

• You’ll need to log into ‘My BT.’
• Find the section where your BT Sports package is outlined.
• Select the ‘cancel subscription’ option.

You may be asked some questions, such as why are you cancelling BT Sports? If prompted, provide answers to these questions and follow all the necessary steps.

How to cancel BT TV

BT TV flexible packages are normally fixed at 24-month minimum terms.

If you just want to change your tv package during this time, then you can do so at any point by calling 0800 783 1401 or through your online account. That’s why they’re called flexible tv packages!

If, however, you want to cancel, you may need to pay termination fees.

In addition, and this is important to remember, because these packages come with a recordable BT TV box and cables, such as ethernet cables, that help you set up your BT TV package, you’ll have to return that equipment or risk incurring extra charges.

With your flexible TV packages, if you have any add-ons such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, they’ll renew themselves automatically until they’re manually cancelled. To do this, you’ll need to log in into each separate account you have with these add-ons and cancel them from there.

Cancelling BT Mobile

Cancelling BT Mobile works exactly the same as cancelling your BT broadband - you can call 0800 783 1401 or cancel through your online account.

If you don’t want to switch providers, then BT will allow you to request a standard disconnection service.

Still required to provide 30 days’ notice, and once this has been provided, BT will stop sending you bills and will terminate your service.

If you do want to swap providers, then here’s what you can do, especially if you want to keep the number you currently have. If this is the case, you’ll need something called a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC).

• Call 0800 800 150
• Head over to your BT account and follow these steps: Log in - Manage my products - Manage Mobile - Settings - Switch to another provider - request a switching code.
• Text PAC to 65075

The PAC that BT gives to you is valid for 30 days. If you don’t switch providers within this time frame, then you’ll have to start all over again.

Cancelling your BT Email account

Cancelling or deleting your BT email address is pretty easy.

As with everything else, you’ll need to log into your My BT account with your BT ID.

1. If you’re a BT broadband customer, select ‘Your Products’ then move down to the Email title and select the option to ‘Manage’ your account. If you have a Premium Email address with BT, select the ‘Premium Mail’ option.
2. Select the Email Address/Addresses you want to delete, then confirm that decision. If prompted, you may be asked to provide the password.
3. Once you’ve cancelled, BT will send you a confirmation email.
4. You still have the chance to re-activate this deleted email address up to 60 days after choosing to delete it. Further on from this, the email address can still be available for re-use up to 3 years after!
5. The 60-day limit is if you want to recover any content from your email account to transfer over to your new one.

BT cancellation fees

BT cancellation fees are something you have to pay if you decide to cancel and leave your BT contract before your minimum contract period has come to an end.

You have to pay these termination fees because they will have been outlined in your initial contract that if you want to leave your contract early then you’ll be charged. All broadband companies apply some sort of cancellation fees as they hope it is a way of keeping customers, but also, recouping any losses they may incur if a contract isn’t fulfilled by the customer.

How BT calculate cancellation fees

BT don’t just charge any random termination fee for you to pay. It’s worked out in quite a nuanced way.

The fee is the total of the remaining amount you would have paid up to the end of the minimum contract period you had when with BT.

They subtract:

• The costs they save (stuff like payments to suppliers) as a result of the early cancellation to your contract.
• 1% off if you send your final payment early to BT.

Here’s an example of this process in action:

1. If you pay £35 a month on your contract, and you cancel with 4 months remaining until your minimum contract period ends. This becomes 35 x 4 = £140.
2. With VAT reduced, this comes down to £116.67.
3. They remove costs they save (ie, £15 a month x 4 = £60 pounds saved). This then brings that £116 down to £56.67.
4. Then they add in the 1% discount which = £56.10.
5. Finally, they add on VAT, and the total termination fee cost comes to £67.32.

Complicated isn’t it! Hopefully though, you have a better understanding of how BT works out the cancellation fees they send to you.

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