Moving in together with two broadband contracts

Gather the same facts for each contract from your online account, a bill or the contract summary (our guide to reading a broadband contract summary shows where to look), or ask the provider.

Sky's terms cap its early termination charge at what you'd have paid for the rest of the minimum term, less costs Sky saves and the benefit of paying early; BT's ask for the remaining charges less costs BT saves. Other providers set their own method. Our guide to leaving broadband without an exit fee covers these charges in general; this guide stays with the moving-in decision.

Providers treat a contract as belonging to the person who signed it (BT clause 28a, Sky condition 11(b)). A provider's own change-of-account-holder process (covered further down) changes who pays for one contract; it doesn't combine two.

Keeping both running isn't tidy either. BT's terms (clause 9a) say the customer pays whether they or someone else uses the service, and Sky's terms say a contract continues after a move unless you have a right to end it. An unused contract at an address you've left is still yours to pay.

If both contracts are with Sky, there's a firmer limit: Sky's Broadband & Talk terms (condition 1(d)) say you can only have one Sky Broadband subscription at your address. So both can't run at the shared home.

These questions usually settle it:

1. Which has longer to run? Where the exit charge is based on the charges left, as with Sky and BT, ending the contract with the least time left normally costs least.
2. Which is already at the shared home? If one of you is moving into the other's place, that contract needs no move, installation or moving charge.
3. Does the leaving provider offer a concession? If the contract that would go is Sky and the home already has Sky, read the Sky section below first.
4. Which works best at the address? The same provider doesn't mean the same speed somewhere new. Check what each can supply there, and compare deals at your postcode to see the alternatives.
5. What hangs off each contract? A number relatives still ring, an email address used for bank logins, or a mobile or TV discount can tip the balance.
6. Is one of you with BT and the other with TalkTalk? BT bought TalkTalk out of administration on 5 October 2026; the Competition and Markets Authority's case was still open on 28 October 2026, after its phase 1 report to the Secretary of State on 19 October. BT says separate BT and TalkTalk contracts and bills stay separate, so treat them as two providers.

If both contracts are out of term, pick whatever suits the household. If you're moving into a rented home where broadband comes with the rent, you may need neither contract there. Citizens Advice notes that you might still have to pay a cancellation fee to leave an existing contract early in that case, so ask each provider what leaving would cost and explain why. Our guide to checking broadband before you move helps if you're still choosing the home.

What it costs depends on how it ends, whether a published concession applies, and timing.

If the kept contract is already at the shared home, nothing moves. If you're moving somewhere new together, that provider's moving rules apply; they differ on fees and on whether your term carries over. Our guide to broadband when moving home covers the steps, and the provider guides go into detail: moving home with Sky or NOW, with BT, EE or Plusnet, with Virgin Media and with Vodafone.

One detail helps couples: Sky says you don't have to be the account holder to book a Sky Home Move if you know the account password and are moving with the account holder.

If a number matters, decide before anything is cancelled.

• It depends on the provider and the area. Some providers let you keep a number if you stay in the same exchange or dialling code area; Sky gives home movers a new one.
• Switching while moving can lose it. Ofcom's switching guidance says you may not be able to keep your number if you switch landline provider at the same time as moving home. If the number belongs to the contract that's ending, ask the provider you're keeping whether it can take it on at the shared address before you cancel.
• Mind the porting window. Under Ofcom's General Condition C7.6, providers must offer number porting (moving a number to a new provider) free of direct charges to switching customers, for at least one month after the contract ends. Virgin Media's terms give 31 days after the account ends.
• Point callers onwards. BT's chargeable Caller Redirect tells people ringing an old number the new one, or you can divert the home phone to a mobile.

The old copper phone network (the PSTN) is due to be switched off by 31 January 2027, with landline calls moving to a digital service over broadband. See our guides to keeping your landline number and the digital landline switchover.

A provider email address used for bank or energy logins is hard to lose. Check each one before either contract ends. BT has three cases:

• Moving a BT address into your partner's BT account. A BT address can be linked to another BT broadband account if the person doing it holds that account, it already has an email address linked, and they know the moving address's password. If the address is yours and your partner holds the account, you have to agree and share the password for your email address and for the BT ID it's linked to. BT recommends doing it together and then "gifting" the address back, so you keep your own security details.
• You hold the BT Broadband account and are leaving BT. To keep your address free, order Basic email when you cancel: BT says you can't switch to it directly later.
• Leaving Virgin Media. Its email accounts are usually closed within 90 days of broadband disconnection, and Virgin Media email is moving to Junara, a paid service.

The lasting fix is an independent address that doesn't depend on any broadband contract. Our guide to keeping your email address when you switch covers BT's Basic and Premium options in full, Sky's Yahoo Mail addresses and other providers.

The saving often sits on another bill, so it's easy to miss.

• Virgin Media says discounts, offers or benefits linked to a cancelled service may no longer apply. Its terms tie Volt benefits (from pairing an eligible O2 Pay Monthly plan with Virgin Media broadband) to both plans. If the O2 plan is cancelled within 14 days of getting the SIM or re-contracting, Virgin Media may remove the Volt speed boost and the WiFi guarantee. If it's cancelled later, the benefits may be lost when you next re-contract. Your Virgin Media minimum period is unaffected either way.
• EE says that if broadband is discounted through a linked EE mobile account and you move the broadband into the other person's name, the mobile must move too to keep the price.
• Vodafone Together has, since 30 October 2025, discounted eligible new additional plans on one account, up to 10. On the older arrangement, cancelling the mobile plan keeps the broadband discount only until the broadband minimum period ends.
• Sky: cancelling Sky Broadband cancels Sky Talk, but Sky TV and Sky Mobile carry on until cancelled separately. Our broadband and TV deals page shows combined packages.

Our guides to extras you can lose when you switch and broadband and mobile discounts go further.

The contract you keep stays in its account holder's name. Citizens Advice says that if you're the only person named on a bill, the provider can chase you for the full amount even if others you live with used the service; if you signed a joint contract, you're both responsible for paying. If it's one name, agree between you how the bill is shared.

If the bill should sit with the other person, ask the provider about changing the account holder. EE, for example, asks the current and new account holder to call together. If the broadband price is discounted through a linked EE mobile account, the mobile account has to move into the new name as well to keep that price. Our guide to changing the broadband account holder covers other providers.

If a charge looks wrong, for example because the provider's own terms say it shouldn't apply, complain formally. For complaints first raised on or after 8 April 2026, you can go to alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the independent Communications Ombudsman or CISAS, after six weeks, or at once with a deadlock letter. Our guide to complaining about your broadband provider walks through it.

A declined goodwill request isn't a wrong charge, though: if your terms allow the charge and no concession applies, a complaint may not change it. That's why the end-date check comes first.