How to cancel BT, EE or Plusnet broadband

Switching away: your new provider handles it. BT's terms say your agreement ends on the date the switch completes, and BT says that if it gives you inaccurate switching information you may be entitled to compensation.

Cancelling without a new provider: call BT on 0800 783 1401. BT needs 30 days' notice and stops your service 30 days after you cancel.

Your end date is on the My BT home page and in the My BT app. Minimum periods are usually 12, 18 or 24 months from when the service started. BT counts the months left "on each service contract", so if you take more than one service from BT, ask for the end date and any charge for each one.

BT describes its early termination fee two ways. Its help page puts it as your monthly price times the months left on each service contract, plus VAT. Its terms (clause 13d) say the charge is "equivalent to the total amount of charges you'd have paid if you stayed with us for the whole minimum term minus any costs we save from you leaving early". The terms are the contractual rule, so get BT's figure for your leaving date in writing and ask what was taken off for saved costs. Our guide to leaving broadband early without an exit fee explains how to check and challenge a fee.

BT's terms (clauses 13c, 10b and 17c) say there's no fee for leaving early when:

• you cancel within the cooling-off period;
• BT raises your core charges or changes the terms in a way that isn't only to your benefit, or changes the service or other charges in a way that significantly disadvantages you (the annual price rise written into the terms doesn't count). You must tell BT within 30 days of the date of its notice; the terms then end the agreement the day before the change takes effect where possible, so the new price never applies to you;
• BT breaks a significant term, or you've had repeated faults (assessed case by case);
• your download speeds are regularly lower than BT estimated in your order confirmation, you've told BT and followed its instructions to fix it, and they still regularly fall short of the minimum guaranteed line access speeds BT sets out for your line (conditions at bt.com/yourlinespeed), as long as the service has been active more than 10 days and you didn't renew knowing speeds were low;
• BT moves you to another service, or you move home and BT can't serve your new UK address.

See our minimum speed guarantee guide for gathering speed evidence, and how BT, EE and Plusnet price rises work if a rise is pushing you out.

BT's cooling-off period runs until 14 days after the latest of: equipment delivery, the service starting, or receiving your order confirmation. If the service started in the last 14 days or hasn't started, BT says you can cancel online. If it has started, you pay the full cost of the service you've had (its charges, any usage the charges don't cover, and any connection or activation fees), and loaned kit must go back within 14 days in BT's pre-paid packaging, or you pay its full cost. An engineer installation can be cancelled before work starts; once it has started, installation charges can't be refunded. Our cooling-off period guide covers your wider rights.

BT says that since 13 December 2019 it has owned the hubs it lists (Hub 4, Smart Hub, Smart Hub 2 and Smart Hub 3), the Z4, G4 and G5 TV boxes and Complete WiFi extenders it sends out (not hubs or discs you bought outright), and its returns page says all loaned kit should go back once you no longer need it. You're charged if BT hasn't had it back 60 days after you stop using it (its full-fibre page says that includes the time BT takes to send a jiffy bag). Kit supplied before 13 December 2019 isn't charged for.

1. BT emails a QR code and a printable label, one per parcel; text LABEL to 61996 for another.
2. Hand it in free at a Royal Mail Customer Service Point (usually your delivery office or Post Office branch), or at a Royal Mail parcel locker if you've printed the label. Or book a paid Royal Mail collection using the tracked reference.
3. Keep the receipt with the tracking number, and reply with it if BT chases you.

BT's pages disagree in two places. Its returns page says stores only accept mobile phone returns, but its full-fibre page says you may drop items at an EE store, so ask before making a trip. And if you're charged and then return the kit within two years, the returns page promises a full refund, while its terms (clause 23b) say BT credits an amount reflecting the kit's condition, with a cash refund at its discretion. Either way, paying never makes the hub yours.

To keep your BT address as free BT Basic email (web browser only, and you must log in regularly to keep it), ask for it as part of cancelling. Leave it until later and there's no direct route: BT says you'd have to take paid Premium email and then downgrade. Our guide on keeping your email address when you switch helps you move accounts. BT's terms also say extra services may end the day your agreement ends, and bundled (linked) agreements may be cancellable alongside one you can leave free. Thinking of recontracting? See our BT broadband deals page.

EE's leaving page says two things: one section asks for 30 days' notice, while a separate "EE Broadband - Early cancellation charge" section further down the same page says the agreement ends 14 days after your request or your order with a new provider. The Version C terms (clause 10c) settle it: 14 days' notice if you're switching through an approved switching process, 30 days if you're cancelling for any other reason. Switching shouldn't leave you paying EE after you've moved: its price guide says notice is generally reduced to match the time the switch takes, and Ofcom's rules ban notice charges beyond the switch date. EE's Version B terms have the same rule in clause 10c, and they cover customers who joined a Core, Standard, Premium or Ultimate plan from 12 December 2025 as well as those on the Essentials, All Rounder, Full Works or Busiest Home Bundle plans from 10 April 2024; on anything earlier, check your version or ask EE.

To cancel outright, EE's leaving page points you to its contact options rather than one number; the only number on that page for EE Home Broadband & Home Phone is 0800 079 8586 (option 1), which it lists for changing a home phone call plan. If a fault is why you're going, EE suggests reporting it or using its speed guarantee first.

EE's terms (clause 11d) and price guide set out the steps:

1. Add up the outstanding charges for the rest of your minimum term, allowing for any recurring discount, with part months at a daily rate.
2. Take off VAT, then the costs EE saves (such as wholesale costs), then a further 1% for early payment.
3. Add VAT back on. The price guide says the charge has carried VAT since 29 November 2020.

You also pay all charges up to the date your cancellation takes effect. There's no charge if you cancel in the cooling-off period, EE breaks a significant term or a voluntary code, EE moves you to another service, or you move home and EE can't provide your plan there. With regular faults or a service consistently below what you might reasonably expect, EE may let you leave free after you get in touch (clause 10f).

If you're an EE One customer, cancelling broadband costs you more than broadband: EE says you lose any discounts and data add-ons on your EE Mobile account. Our guide to broadband and mobile discounts explains these bundles. Cancelling a new order within EE's cooling-off period (14 days after the latest of delivery, start or confirmation) means paying the full cost for the time you had the service. EE's terms go further than BT's: they say discounts and free offers aren't taken into account, and you also pay any connection, installation or activation fees. Loaned kit must go back within 14 days or you pay its full cost.

EE emails a QR code and label. Returns are free at a Royal Mail Customer Service Point, Post Office, delivery office or parcel locker; text RETURN to 61996 for another label, and keep the Royal Mail receipt. The deadline varies: EE's leaving page asks for it back inside 30 days to avoid a charge on your final bill, while its terms and price guide say 60 days from the service ending. Treat 30 days as your deadline. EE kit supplied before April 2023 isn't charged for, and EE refunds the charge in full if you return the kit within two years of being charged.

EE's leaving page covers mobile and broadband together, and its final-bill section is written for both, so treat these as EE's general statements. It says the final bill arrives within 14 days of "your number being cancelled or your switch being completed". If your billing date falls in a 30-day notice period, expect an interim bill and then a final bill showing remaining contract charges and a refund of unused line rental paid in advance. Money owed to you comes back without you asking, around eight days after the final bill date: to your bank if you pay by Direct Debit, otherwise by cheque. Your old bills stay visible online for six months after you leave, so save any you need. For account details after leaving, the page prints 07953 966 150 (its tap-to-call link ends in a different digit, so check the page before dialling). Weighing up a new EE deal instead? See our EE broadband deals page.

In most cases you don't need to tell Plusnet. The new provider tells Plusnet when to switch you off, Plusnet accepts that order as your notice, and it closes your account only once the new service is set up. The new provider may ask for your account number, name and address (and landline number if you have one), found on bills or in My Account under Manage Account. To check whether an exit charge applies, look in My Account or call 0330 1239 123.

Only the account holder (or, exceptionally, someone like a Power of Attorney holder) can ask for a cease. Call Plusnet's Customer Options team, or write, ideally by recorded delivery, to Plusnet Plc, Endeavour, Sheffield Digital Campus, 1a Concourse Way, Sheffield S1 2BJ with the account holder's name, username, service address and phone number.

• Notice: 14 days for a home account, from when Plusnet receives your request; withdraw it and a later request starts a new notice period.
• Dates and pausing: a weekend cancellation moves to the next working day, you pay to the end of the notice period even if you close sooner, and Plusnet can't put an account on hold.

Plusnet takes your monthly charge including discounts, removes VAT, reduces it for costs it saves (such as wholesale costs), takes off 1% for early payment, multiplies by the months left in your minimum term (part months by the day), adds VAT and deducts any credit on your account.

After the minimum term a one-month rolling term applies, and you still have to give notice. The final payment covers the notice period and usage; the account closes once everything owed is paid (see the Account Summary page), and the final invoice can arrive after closure.

Plusnet's 14-day cancellation period runs from the day after you sign up. You pay for services used and any installation, connection or activation charges, even ones advertised as free, and return the equipment. Timing matters: Plusnet says that if you give notice within 48 hours of your service activating, it can't stop the order, so you pay any installation or activation charges.

Plusnet routers are on loan. Its returns page says customers who signed up after 1 February 2024 are charged if they don't return the router, and anyone who signed up or recontracted before that date doesn't have to (though it can go back free for recycling). If you joined earlier but recontracted later, the page isn't clear, so check with Plusnet. Where a return is due, Plusnet sends a request by email or text; you log in for a pre-paid label or QR code, pack the router and cables, and take it to a Post Office. Keep proof of postage until Plusnet confirms receipt, usually about seven days. We found no deadline in days.

Closing a Plusnet account removes your Plusnet email and any hosted webspace. If you have a domain name with Plusnet, give instructions before you cancel: it can stay on a subscription Mail Only account if you ask, or be transferred first so it keeps working. Staying instead? See our Plusnet broadband deals page.