Switching broadband when you owe money

ISPreview's report of the One Touch Switch rules, which went live on 12 September 2024, explains how the work is split between your old (losing) provider and your new (gaining) one:

• You deal with the new provider. You give it your name, address, contact details, your current provider's name and the services you want to move. There's no need to ring the old provider to cancel.
• The old provider writes to you. Without you asking, it has to send you switching information by the method you pick, such as email, text or letter. That covers any early termination charge (the fee for leaving before your minimum term ends) and what happens to other services you have with it, such as a landline or TV.
• No notice period after the switch date. The old contract ends automatically when the switch completes, and you don't pay notice-period charges beyond that date.
• Your service stays on in the meantime. Three's help page says your current service should stay active until the switch completes, and that One Touch Switch itself is free, though an early termination charge and a final bill from your current provider may still apply.

When you're behind, that switching information is the document to watch for: it puts the exit charge in writing, on top of what you already owe. It isn't a statement of your arrears, so check your latest bill or online account for the balance too.

If the figures change your mind

ISPreview reports that under One Touch Switch you can no longer ask for a switch to be stopped, as you could under the old process. If the exit charges make you think again, contact the new provider straight away and ask to cancel the order; EE's leaving page, for example, says you can change your mind that way.

If you ordered online or by phone less than 14 days ago, Citizens Advice says you can usually cancel for free in the cooling-off period, though you're likely to be charged for anything you've already used. There's no legal cooling-off right if you signed up in person. See the broadband cooling-off period and our guide to switching broadband providers.

Before you order, add up what the old account will still cost you. Under One Touch Switch the old provider's final bill normally arrives after the switch has gone through: EE, for example, sends it within 14 days of the switch completing. So you can't settle everything in advance, but you can estimate it. If you're in arrears, the final bill can include:

An example, for illustration only: someone two months behind who switches halfway through a 24-month contract could see the two missed bills, the charges up to the switch date and an early termination charge based on what's left of the term, all on one final bill. So ask for the exit fee figure before you commit.

How big the exit fee might be

An early termination charge isn't simply the rest of your monthly payments. EE says its fee is what you'd have paid to the end of the minimum period, minus the costs it saves because you're leaving early, and Virgin Media's terms say its early disconnection fee won't be more than the charges for the rest of the minimum period, less any costs it saves. On those definitions, the nearer you are to the end of the term, the smaller the fee, and once the minimum period is over there's nothing left to charge. Our guide to leaving broadband without an exit fee covers how other providers work it out and when you can leave early for free.

It's tempting to cancel the Direct Debit as soon as you order, or once the new service starts. Providers ask you not to:

• Sky asks you not to cancel your Direct Debit or other ongoing payment when you leave, because further payments might still be due.
• TalkTalk asks Direct Debit customers to leave it active for the final payment, or so a refund reaches you sooner if you're owed money.
• EE's page on credit files asks customers not to cancel their Direct Debit or miss a payment, warning that it could seriously affect their credit file.
• Virgin Media's terms say it can suspend services without notice if you cancel your Direct Debit without agreeing another way to pay. Your old service runs until the switch completes, so cancelling early could cut you off before the new connection is ready.

Cancelling the Direct Debit at your bank stops the payments, but it doesn't end what you agreed to pay, so the balance would simply become a missed payment. If the final bill is more than you can manage in one go, ask the old provider to spread it before the payment is due, and get what you agree in writing.

Before the account closes, look for charges after you'd left, an exit fee when you were out of contract, or services you never had.

BT's terms say it won't suspend or end your service while it looks into a genuine billing dispute, as long as you pay the part you agree you owe. Sky's terms say it may charge a reasonable late-payment fee or interest when you miss payments, but not on an amount that's under an ongoing dispute.

So pay the part you accept and put the rest in writing, listing each charge you dispute and why. Our guide on how to dispute a wrong broadband bill takes you through the steps and how to escalate. If the account was never yours, for example someone opened it using your details, that's a different problem: see what to do if a broadband contract was opened in your name.

If the bill itself is the reason you want to go, talk to your current provider before you order anything elsewhere. Citizens Advice says that if you tell your provider you're struggling to pay, it might let you leave your contract early without a fee, or you might be able to move to a different contract. Ask directly, and get the answer in writing.

Ofcom has also published best-practice guidance on how providers should treat customers who fall behind. Our guide to struggling to pay your broadband bill sets out what it expects and what to ask for, and our guide to telling your provider you need extra support explains how to get your circumstances noted.

Why "just stop paying" doesn't work

Letting the provider end the contract for non-payment doesn't make the debt go away:

• Virgin Media's terms say that if it ends your agreement for non-payment during the minimum period, an early disconnection fee may apply, so you could owe both the arrears and an exit fee.
• TalkTalk's terms say it may suspend, restrict or disconnect services if you don't pay a bill within 7 days of its reminder.
• BT's terms say it will phone or send a reminder if you don't pay on time, may add a late-payment charge if you still haven't paid 10 days after that reminder (7 days if you pay monthly), and won't normally suspend or end service until 28 days after the due date (21 days if you pay monthly), sooner if it's happened before.

You'd also be left offline with nothing lined up, and missed payments can be recorded on your credit file. EE, for example, says a late payment shows when a bill is paid late, and that a default is added if a bill is paid late for six months in a row.

Cheaper options to look at first

If you get certain benefits, a broadband social tariff may cost less, and our guide to free or low-cost ways to get online covers other routes. Otherwise look at cheap broadband deals, or drop TV and calls you don't use with a broadband-only deal.

It can. The Information Commissioner's Office says nobody has the right to credit, and Virgin Media, for example, says it can't guarantee to supply service on the basis of an order. We haven't found a source saying whether a new provider sees your old broadband arrears specifically, but what's on your credit file can count. What providers say:

• Virgin Media says it may credit-check you at any time. If you don't meet its credit conditions it may ask for payment in advance, set credit limits or ask for a deposit.
• TalkTalk's terms say that if it's unsure of your credit history it may ask for a deposit or set credit conditions.

Going back to a provider you still owe

Sky's terms, in the section for its Sky Talk phone service, say you may not be accepted if you owe Sky any money or your credit score is unsatisfactory. If you left a provider owing money and want to go back, ask it before ordering whether the balance needs clearing first.

Credit reference agency Experian says it's always the lender that decides, and that several applications in a short time can lower your score. So pick one deal, read its credit-check wording, and if you're turned down, find out why before you try again. Our guide to broadband credit checks explained covers soft and hard searches, deposits and options if your credit is poor.

Because your old contract only ends when the switch completes, a refused or failed order leaves the old account running as before; see what to do if a new provider cancels your order.

When you're ready, compare deals at your postcode or browse our broadband providers hub. Our comparison comes from a partner's deal panel: the order, and any credit check, happens with the provider itself, so read its own order pages for its credit-check terms.

The old provider keeps chasing what's owed after you leave. BT's, Virgin Media's and Sky's terms all let them use a debt collector or pass the debt on, and add collection or recovery costs to what you owe. So agree a plan with the old provider while it still holds the debt, even after you've gone, and keep a note of what you agree.

How you ran the account can also show on your credit file. EE says it records how you conduct your account and sends this to the credit reference agencies each month, and Virgin Media's credit checking policy says details of how you conduct your account may be shared with them. Neither page says how reporting works once you've left with a balance, so ask your old provider how the closed account will be reported.

Our guide on disputing a broadband bill covers what to do if a debt collector contacts you and how to correct a wrong credit file entry, and our guide to struggling to pay your broadband bill explains what late payments and defaults mean.

TalkTalk went into administration, and on 5 October 2026 BT bought its consumer and wholesale (PXC) businesses out of administration. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is reviewing the deal under a public-interest intervention notice and is due to report by 19 October 2026. Until then BT and TalkTalk are run separately, and nothing changes for TalkTalk customers.

BT says there's no change to TalkTalk customers' price, contract or billing, that existing payment arrangements, including Direct Debits, stay as they are, and that it will contact you directly if anything ever needs doing. What you owe TalkTalk is still owed, so keep paying as normal.

Our guide to what happens if your broadband provider goes bust explains administration, and our TalkTalk broadband page covers the provider itself.

1. Find your contract end date to see whether an exit fee applies.
2. Check the arrears are right. Dispute anything wrong in writing and pay the part you agree.
3. If money is the reason you're leaving, ask your current provider to waive the exit fee, offer a cheaper package or its social tariff.
4. Choose one new deal and read its credit-check wording. Compare deals at your postcode first.
5. Order with the new provider; you don't need to cancel with the old one.
6. Read the switching information from your current provider as soon as it arrives. If the charges change your mind, contact the new provider to cancel the order.
7. Leave the Direct Debit in place until the final bill is paid or a plan is agreed.
8. Agree a written plan if you can't pay the final bill in one go.
9. Return any equipment the old provider asks for, so it doesn't turn into another charge.
10. Check your credit files a couple of months later.

This guide explains how switching works; it isn't debt advice, and we don't give personal financial advice. BT's help page points customers to three free, independent sources of debt advice:

• National Debtline (BT spells it National Debt Line), run by the Money Advice Trust, which says all its support is free: 0808 808 4000.
• StepChange Debt Charity, freephone 0800 138 1111.
• Citizens Advice.

In England and Wales, a debt adviser can also start a Breathing Space, which pauses most creditor action and freezes most interest and charges for up to 60 days. Our guide to struggling to pay your broadband bill explains how it applies to broadband.