Broadband switch gone wrong? How to fix it

Which switching process you were on decides who is responsible for what. Since 12 September 2024, residential customers switching broadband or landline between providers at the same address are meant to use a system called One Touch Switch (OTS for short), although ISPreview warned at launch that not every switch would use it straight away. With OTS you only contact the new provider, often called the gaining provider, and it arranges the switch with your old one, the losing provider. You don't need to ring your old provider to cancel.

OTS doesn't cover every switch, though. It's only a requirement for residential customers, and it only applies when the old and new services are at the same property. If you were moving home, you were expected to end your old contract yourself. Some switches also still need a call to the old provider. TalkTalk's help pages, for example, tell customers moving to Virgin Media or Vodafone on the CityFibre network to contact TalkTalk to arrange disconnection, and say that not every provider can take over an existing line. Our step-by-step guide to switching broadband providers explains the One Touch Switch process. If you moved home, our guide to broadband when moving home covers that route, and how to cancel broadband explains giving notice yourself.

If the date you were given comes and goes, or keeps being pushed back, Citizens Advice's advice is simple: contact your new provider and check when the switch will happen. It runs the process, so it can see where the order is stuck.

When you call or use webchat, have your order reference ready and ask:

• What is the new date, and what's causing the delay?
• Does the switch need an engineer visit, and if so, when is the appointment?
• Is anything needed from me, such as access to the property or a different account detail?
• Will I get automatic compensation for the delay, and how will it be paid?

Note the date, time and name of the person you spoke to, or save the chat.

A delay shouldn't leave you offline: on a One Touch Switch, the losing provider has to keep supplying your service on the same terms until the new service is active. If your old broadband stops before the new one starts, tell both providers.

If you were on a route where you cancel the old provider yourself, such as moving to a network that can't take over your line, timing matters more. Gigaclear, for example, recommends not cancelling your existing contract until your new service is installed and connected. If you've given notice but the new connection is late, ask your old provider whether your end date can be moved before it passes.

Ofcom says any loss of service during a switch must not exceed one working day where technically possible, and providers are expected to compensate customers if things go wrong. If you're past that, it's time to push.

Work out which situation you're in:

• The new service is live but not working. It's now a fault on your new provider's service. Report it to them as a fault, rather than only chasing the order: under Ofcom's scheme, reporting the fault is what you need to do to qualify for delayed-repair compensation. See our guide on how to report a broadband fault.
• The new service never started. Treat it as a delayed switch: contact your new provider, and tell your old provider that you've been left without service.
• The switch failed. On a One Touch Switch, the losing provider must reactivate your phone number and related services if a switch fails, so contact your old provider and ask for your service to be restored while the problem is sorted.

Once a new connection does come up, it's worth running a quick check on a device plugged into the router, such as our broadband speed test, so you have a note of how it's performing from day one.

Sometimes a switch goes through, but not the way you meant. Your landline is cut off when you only switched broadband, or the new provider takes over a line that isn't yours. We couldn't find any official consumer guidance specific to this situation, so here we stick to the general steps that apply to any switching mistake.

The matching step described above is where this usually starts, so if you live in a flat or a converted house, check the exact address and flat number on your order and in any confirmation emails.

Your switching information is your best evidence. Under One Touch Switch, your old provider sends you details of the switch and must tell you who the gaining provider is. Look at what it says was being switched and to whom.

1. Contact the provider that placed the order straight away. Explain exactly which service or line was affected and what you'd asked for, and ask how it will put things right.
2. Contact your old provider as well, especially if you've lost a service you didn't mean to switch. If the switch failed, it must reactivate your number and related services.
3. Make a formal complaint if it isn't fixed quickly, keeping the records listed in the complaints section below.

If the problem is that a line at your new home is still in a previous occupant's name, that's a different situation. Our guide to broadband still connected from a previous occupant explains what to do.

Slamming is when a provider transfers your service to itself without your permission. Ofcom has called it an extreme form of mis-selling and one of the most serious breaches of its General Conditions, the rules every phone and broadband provider must follow.

Ofcom's switching rules, in General Condition C7, are clear: a gaining provider must take all reasonable steps to make sure it doesn't switch a service without your express consent, doesn't slam, and that whoever asks for the switch is authorised to do so. Gaining providers must also keep records of consent. Ofcom can fine a provider up to 10% of relevant turnover for breaking these switching rules.

Ofcom has taken action before. In November 2021 it fined two small providers, Met Technologies and Guaranteed Telecom, £35,000 in total for slamming at least 110 customers in 2019. A sizeable proportion were elderly or vulnerable. The companies had to release affected customers from their contracts without charge and refund anyone who had paid early termination fees. That was the outcome in that case, not an automatic right.

Before One Touch Switch, moving between separate networks often meant cancelling the old service yourself, and ISPreview noted that some people ended up paying for two at once for a short time. Some overlap in paperwork is still normal: TalkTalk, for example, says you may receive more than one final bill after you leave. But on a One Touch Switch, residential customers don't pay notice-period charges beyond the switch date, and the old contract should end automatically when the switch completes.

Which process you were on (see the start of this guide) decides who should have ended the old contract: on a same-address One Touch Switch, ordering through the new provider was enough; otherwise you needed to give notice yourself. Citizens Advice then suggests these steps:

1. Check you followed your provider's cancellation process.
2. If you did, ask for a full refund and for the company to stop taking payments. If your old provider is still charging you after a switch, Citizens Advice says to contact both your old and new provider and follow their complaints procedures.
3. Cancel the Direct Debit with your bank if payments keep coming, but remember you still have to claim the refund from the company itself.
4. Go to your bank if the provider refuses to refund you or keeps taking payments. The bank will investigate and might be able to get your money back.

Don't confuse a genuine final bill with double billing. Citizens Advice says to pay your final bill, or get a refund if you're in credit. A final bill can include charges you agreed to, such as early termination charges shown in your switching information. Our guide to disputing a broadband bill takes you through checking each charge and writing to the provider.

If you no longer want the new provider and signed up by phone or online, you can normally cancel within 14 days. This is the cooling-off period. If you asked for the service to start during the cooling-off period and then cancel, you pay in proportion for what was provided. There's no legal 14-day right to cancel if you signed up in person.

A cancellation sent by post or email within the cooling-off period counts from the date you send it, so send it recorded delivery if posting and keep copies. Our guide to the broadband cooling-off period explains the timing and charges in more detail.

Before you cancel, think about what you'll do next. On a One Touch Switch your old contract ended automatically when the switch completed, so cancelling the new one won't bring the old one back. If you need to find another provider quickly, you can enter your postcode in the comparison at the top of our broadband deals page to see which deals are offered at your address. If you need a home phone too, look at broadband and phone deals. To see who is available on different networks, including full fibre providers, browse our guide to UK broadband providers. We compare deals through a partner's comparison tool; we don't arrange the switch for you, so you'll order directly with the provider you choose.

If a phone call doesn't fix things, move to a formal complaint. Keep your order confirmation, the switching information your old provider sent, a log of each contact (date, time, who you spoke to and what was promised), saved webchats and emails, and bills or bank statements showing disputed charges. When you write, include your account number, say clearly what went wrong and what you want (service restored, a refund or compensation), and use recorded delivery if you post it.

Every provider must belong to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme. This is an independent dispute resolution service, either the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS, depending on your provider. The schemes are free for consumers to use and look at complaints the provider hasn't resolved. Ofcom's website lists which scheme each provider uses. For complaints raised on or after 8 April 2026, a provider must send you a letter telling you that you can go to ADR if your complaint is still unresolved six weeks after it was first received.

Ofcom does act when providers make it hard to leave. In July 2026 it fined Virgin Media £28 million after finding that its procedures were likely to put customers off cancelling or switching between January 2022 and September 2024. The rules say a provider's termination procedures must not discourage you from changing provider.

For free advice, call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133, or contact Consumerline in Northern Ireland. Our guide on how to complain about your broadband provider covers the complaint letter and the ADR schemes step by step.