How to cancel Sky or NOW broadband: notice, fees, router

Start here, because the rules differ. Your Contract Summary, the short summary of the main terms that providers must give you before you sign up, has a "Duration, renewal and termination" section that must state how long the contract runs and the fees for ending it early. Our guide to reading a broadband contract summary shows where to look.

Two things catch people out. Sky's exit-fee page says a minimum term can also apply if you take up certain offers, and that it tells you this before you accept, so if you've accepted an offer since you signed up, check whether it came with a minimum term of its own. And Sky's terms say cancelling or switching Sky Broadband automatically cancels Sky Talk, and vice versa, unless Sky says otherwise. NOW customers: NOW's Broadband & Calls contract (April 2025) sets out two plans, the Saver Plan (normally 12 months) and the No Contract Plan (rolling every 30 days), and doesn't mention NOW Broadband Powered by Sky, which NOW's terms page says is supplied by Sky on separate 24-month contracts. So that contract doesn't appear to cover Powered by Sky; if you're unsure which you have, your Contract Summary or NOW's My Account will say.

The legal cooling-off period in Sky's terms is 14 days, but Sky's help page gives UK customers an enhanced 31 days to cancel Sky Broadband and any Managed Installation (an engineer installation Sky arranges) without a reason, counted from the latest of: your Wireless Router (Sky's hub) being delivered, the service being activated, or you receiving the terms.

Sky refunds what you've paid, including equipment delivery, but you pay a proportionate amount for any service you asked to start during cooling-off. One-off activation or set-up fees aren't refunded after activation, and a Managed Installation charge isn't refunded unless you cancel before 3.30pm on the working day before the visit.

Sky's terms list three ways to cancel in cooling-off: call 03442 41 44 14, write to Sky Subscribers Services Limited, PO Box 43, Livingston, West Lothian EH54 7DD, or use the contact options on Sky's "Cancel Sky Broadband" help page, giving your name, account number, address, postcode, phone number and email. Return the router without undue delay using the returns method Sky provides; the terms say return costs are yours. The legal rules are in our guide to the broadband cooling-off period.

Moving to another provider at the same address? You don't need to cancel Sky first. Sky's help page says you can normally just order with the new provider, and Sky Broadband and Sky Talk cancel automatically when the new service is activated; Sky's terms say the contract ends when Sky is notified through One Touch Switch, the home broadband switching process set by Ofcom, the communications regulator.

You contact only the new provider. Sky, as the provider you're leaving, must then send you switching information, including any early termination charges and the effect on other services you have with it. Read it before the switch date: the switch can happen as soon as the next day, and Sky keeps supplying you until the new service is live.

• Weigh up any exit fee against what the new deal would save you.
• Decide about Sky TV and Sky Mobile, which stay active when your broadband moves.
• See what's available at your address. Compare broadband deals at your postcode or browse UK broadband providers; to stay and change package instead, see our Sky broadband deals page.

If nobody is taking over your line (you're moving abroad, say, or moving in with someone who already has broadband), you give Sky notice yourself. The first question is how much.

Sky charges ETCs on Broadband, Talk and Line Rental only if the service ends during your minimum term for a reason the contract doesn't allow; there's none afterwards. Sky says it will tell you whether one applies and how much. Its help page sets out the method:

1. Start with the product's monthly charge.
2. Take off the business costs Sky saves and a discount for being paid early ("accelerated receipt"). That gives the monthly ETC rate in Sky's published ETC table.
3. Deduct any discount you get on that subscription.
4. Multiply by the months and days left in your minimum term.
5. Round the Broadband and Talk totals up to the nearest 25p.

The amount also reflects days already billed in advance, so Sky says it may not be an exact multiple of the monthly rate, and its terms cap it at what you'd have paid for the rest of the minimum term, less costs saved and the benefit of early payment. Sky TV ETCs are different: they're charged upfront when you cancel. To decide whether paying a fee is worth it, see our guide to leaving broadband early without an exit fee.

For a change, an unfixed speed problem or repeated drop-outs, Sky's terms say to give notice within 30 days of receiving Sky's notice, so don't sit on a price-change letter or a message saying a fault can't be fixed.

Sky sells broadband as "variable": its terms say prices can change during the minimum term with at least one calendar month's written notice (rises required by law, such as VAT, are handled separately). NOW's terms also say prices may change during the minimum term.

That notice can be your way out. Sky's terms and NOW's Broadband & Calls terms both say you can leave without ETCs after a change that isn't exclusively to your benefit, if they've told you about that right, by giving notice within 30 days of their notice. ISPreview's reports of recent rises, and NOW's own help page on its 2026 rise, described 31 days, so follow the deadline in your own notice.

• Sky, April 2026: ISPreview reported (updated 18 February 2026) that from 1 April 2026 "For Broadband, most customers will see a £3 increase"; social tariffs weren't affected, and broadband and talk customers had 31 days from notification to leave without penalty.
• NOW, July 2026: NOW's help page on changes to NOW Broadband memberships (checked 14 October 2026) says the prices of its broadband plans rose by £3 a month, showing in bills from 3 July 2026. Customers on an offer kept their discounted price until the offer ended but still paid £3 a month more; NOW Broadband Basics, its social tariff, was not affected; and customers within their minimum term could cancel without early termination charges by calling NOW within 31 days of receiving the price-increase notification. NOW adds that the notification email came from Sky rather than NOW and was genuine.
• NOW, July 2025 (the year before): ISPreview reported on 13 May 2025 a similar £3 a month rise from bills on or after 5 July 2025, with the same 31-day exit and Basics exemption.

The 2026 windows for both Sky and NOW have now closed. NOW's exit-fee help page reflects its July 2026 change too: it lists higher monthly ETC rates for contracts ending on or after 3 July 2026. When the next notice lands, note the date you received it and, if you want to leave, contact Sky (or call NOW) rather than just ordering elsewhere. Our guides to mid-contract price rises and your rights when a provider changes your contract cover the wider rules.

Sky's help pages say Sky TV and Sky Mobile stay active when you cancel or switch broadband, so you cancel them separately.

• Sky Talk (Sky's home phone service) ends with your broadband, and cancelling Sky Talk also cancels Sky Broadband, which can't then be re-ordered on its own. Sky's Sky Talk help page says 14 days' notice, but the Sky Talk terms (April 2025, conditions 8.5 and 8.11) say at least 31 days, so get the date in writing. To keep your number, read our guide to keeping your landline number when you switch.
• Sky TV needs 31 days' notice, which can't end before the minimum term finishes, and any ETC is charged upfront.
• Sky Mobile is left by requesting a PAC or STAC (mobile switching codes) when you move provider; ETCs apply within the minimum term, and payments on a Credit Agreement, such as one for a handset, carry on if you cancel the SIM plan.

Whether your Sky TV keeps working over another company's broadband depends on how you get it: our guides to keeping your TV when you change broadband provider and multiroom TV over broadband explain what to check.

Sky's Wireless Router and any Boosters are on loan: its terms say they're supplied at no cost and remain Sky's property, and its help page warns of a non-return fee if you don't send them back.

• Wait for the returns information. Sky sends it, with packaging and a pre-paid label where applicable.
• Note the deadline. You get at least 30 days after the returns information is sent.
• Miss it and you pay. Sky charges a Non-return Charge equal to the equipment's value and may disable the kit. Paying doesn't make it yours.
• Late still helps. Return it within three years and Sky credits the charge, less a reasonable deduction if the kit wasn't kept in good condition.

Sky's "return or recycle" help page takes you through the steps for each item. Keep proof of postage until a final bill arrives with no equipment charge.

NOW's help page says cancelling or switching NOW Broadband also cancels NOW calls and line rental at the same time. Your other NOW memberships, such as TV, are separate: cancel each one in your account's Membership settings by selecting Cancel next to it.

1. Find your minimum term and exit fee in your Contract Summary.
2. Check for a free exit: cooling-off, a price-change notice, a move Sky can't follow, or an unfixed speed problem.
3. Switching? Order with the new provider and read Sky's switching information. Cancelling? Confirm the notice period and get your end date in writing.
4. Deal with Sky TV, Sky Mobile and NOW TV memberships separately; if you use a Sky email address, read our guide to keeping your email address when you switch.
5. Keep your Direct Debit running until the final bill is settled, then return the hub and boosters before the deadline and check the final bill.

If Sky or NOW won't process your cancellation or the final bill looks wrong, our guide on complaining about your broadband provider explains the next steps.