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Telecoms got transparency, not a price cap
If you have read our insurance rights page, do not assume the same applies here. It does not, and the difference matters.
In insurance, the FCA bans charging a renewing customer more than an equivalent new customer. Ofcom has no equivalent rule. A broadband provider may legally charge you more than a new customer for the same service, and many do once you are out of contract.
What Ofcom requires instead is disclosure: they must tell you when your contract is ending, what you will pay afterwards, and what their best deals are. The rules give you information and an exit, not a capped price. Verified
End of contract
The notification they must send you
Before your fixed period ends, your provider must send an end-of-contract notification. It has to be a standalone message — not a line buried in a bill — and it must set out:
- The date your fixed period ends, and the notice period that applies.
- The price you pay now, and the price you will pay afterwards.
- That you can leave without an early termination charge once the fixed period ends.
- How to terminate, and what your options are.
- The provider's own best available tariffs.
In force since 15 February 2020. Ofcom’s guidance says that notification should arrive between 10 and 40 days before the fixed period ends. Worth being precise: the 10-to-40-day window sits in the guidance under the Condition rather than in the Condition itself. Verified
Already out of contract? They must send you a best-tariff reminder at least once every twelve months, again as a separate message. If you have not had one, that is worth raising. Verified
Price rises
Pounds and pence, and the exit that usually isn't there
For contracts taken out from 17 January 2025, providers can no longer link mid-contract rises to inflation or a set percentage. Any in-contract rise must be stated in pounds and pence, with the date it takes effect, made clear before you sign.
Here is the part most guides get wrong: if the rise was properly set out when you signed, you do not get a right to leave when it lands. The rules bought transparency, not an exit route. Verified
When you can leave penalty-free. If a provider changes your contract in a way that was not set out at the point of sale, they must give at least a month's notice and tell you that you can leave at no cost. Take that option and no early termination charge is payable.
Check your own contract's wording, though — some providers carve their annual increase out of that right explicitly. Verified
Two things you will read elsewhere that are wrong. "CPI + 3.9%" was never an Ofcom cap — it was common industry practice, nothing more. And there is no regulatory cap on early termination charges; Ofcom sets fairness and transparency expectations, not a maximum. Contracts signed before 17 January 2025 may still carry inflation-linked rises perfectly legally. Verified
Switching
One Touch Switch
Since 12 September 2024, switching broadband at the same address runs on a single industry process. You contact the new provider only. Ofcom's rules say the process must not require you to contact your existing provider, get their consent, or take any step they demand — and it must be free.
Your losing provider must give you, in clear terms: what is transferring, the migration date, the impact on any other services, and the total you will owe as a single figure, plus what happens to your equipment and any credit balance.
They also cannot bill you for a notice period beyond the switch date. An early termination charge can still apply if you are leaving mid-contract — that is separate. Verified
Mobile works differently. One Touch Switch covers fixed broadband and landline. Mobile runs on the PAC and STAC text-to-switch codes, which is a separate process. Verified
When things go wrong
Compensation and complaints
Automatic compensation pays out when a total loss of service is not fixed within two full working days, when an engineer misses an appointment or cancels with under 24 hours' notice, or when a new service starts late. From 1 April 2026 the rates are £10.34 a day, £32.31 per missed appointment, and £6.46 a day respectively, rising each April.
But it is a voluntary code, not a regulation. Around ten providers have signed up, including all seven we cover. If your provider has not, you have no entitlement under this scheme. And for faults you must report the problem first — the clock only starts then. Verified
Complaints now escalate at six weeks, not eight. That changed on 8 April 2026. If your provider has not resolved a complaint within six weeks, or gives you a deadlock letter sooner, you can take it to a free independent adjudicator.
There are two approved schemes: CISAS — which covers Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Vodafone, O2 and Three — and the Communications Ombudsman, which covers BT, EE and Plusnet. Both are free, and cover residential customers, small businesses of up to ten people, and not-for-profits. Verified
Any page still telling you to wait eight weeks before escalating is out of date. The threshold dropped to six on 8 April 2026. General
Sourcing
Where this comes from
| Claim | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| End-of-contract and annual best-tariff notifications | Ofcom statement Helping consumers get better deals, May 2019; General Condition C1 | 26 July 2026 |
| 10–40 day notification window | Ofcom guidance under General Condition C1 — guidance, not the Condition itself | 26 July 2026 |
| Pounds-and-pence price rises, from 17 January 2025 | Ofcom statement Prohibiting inflation-linked price rises, July 2024 | 26 July 2026 |
| Penalty-free exit on an unnotified contract change | Ofcom General Condition C1 (modification and termination rules) | 26 July 2026 |
| One Touch Switch, live 12 September 2024 | Ofcom statement Quick, easy and reliable switching, February 2022; Ofcom launch page | 26 July 2026 |
| Automatic compensation rates from 1 April 2026 | Ofcom, April 2026 — voluntary industry code, not a General Condition | 26 July 2026 |
| ADR threshold cut to six weeks, 8 April 2026 | Ofcom statement on its review of ADR procedures, July 2025 | 26 July 2026 |
| “CPI + 3.9%” as a regulatory cap | No such rule exists. Ofcom describes it as typical industry practice | Not a rule |
| A numerical cap on early termination charges | None found. Ofcom applies a fairness and transparency framework instead | Not a rule |
Bill Watch
One email, three weeks before your renewal or fixed deal ends, telling you it's time to shop around. Free, and that's the whole product.
No spam, no sharing your address, unsubscribe in one click. We'll email you once to confirm — the reminder only starts after you click that link.