Changing the broadband account holder: who takes over the contract

Somebody is moving out and the bill is in their name. A relationship has ended, a housemate has gone, a parent has died, and the internet carries on working for whoever is still in the house. Changing the broadband account holder sounds like the smallest job on the list, and it is the one most likely to end in a charge nobody expected.

The short answer is that it depends on your provider, because no rule obliges any of them to do it. Some will move a live contract onto a new name and leave everything else alone. Others will not. The only route they offer is closing one account and opening another, which is a different thing entirely with different costs attached.

Can you change the broadband account holder?

Sometimes, and it is worth asking before you assume either answer. A broadband contract is an agreement between you and the company you signed with, so whether it can be handed to somebody else is set in that company's own terms rather than by a regulator. Practice across UK providers splits roughly in two, and which side yours falls on decides everything that follows.

The first pattern is a genuine change of name on the same account. The service never stops, the contract keeps running with whatever term is left on it, and the new holder takes it on as it stands. Providers that do this usually want both people available at the same time so each can confirm the change, which is a safeguard rather than an obstruction. It is the outcome to aim for, because nothing about the deal changes.

The second pattern is a close and reopen. The old account ends, the new person places their own order, and the line is taken over rather than transferred. Everything that comes with a new contract comes with it: a fresh minimum term, whatever price is being sold today rather than the one agreed two years ago, and a check on the person taking it on. Our guide to what a broadband credit check actually looks at covers that last part, which is the step most likely to stall a takeover.

Why a name change is not a switch

One Touch Switch will not help here, and it is worth knowing that before you go looking for the button. The process exists for moving your service from one provider to another: your new provider contacts your old one, the two of them agree the date between themselves, and you never have to ring anybody to cancel. TOTSCo, the industry body that runs the messaging behind it, exists to carry those requests between residential providers.

Staying with the same company and putting a different name on the account is not a move between providers, so none of that applies. There is no automatic cancellation of the old arrangement, no agreed date handled for you, and nobody obliged to keep the service running while the paperwork catches up. If you want to change the name and the provider at once, they are two jobs rather than one, and our guide to how switching actually works is the half that is handled for you.

Who pays if the account has to be closed?

Whoever is named on the contract, in most cases, and that is the sentence worth reading twice before anybody packs. If your provider will not transfer the account and the minimum term still has time left on it, closing it early is an early termination charge like any other, and it follows the agreement rather than the address. The person leaving is usually the one who signed, which is how somebody ends up paying for a connection they no longer use.

Work out the number before you make any calls rather than after. What it costs depends on how many months are left and what your provider is allowed to recover, and our guide to what it costs to leave early sets out how that is put together. Between two people who have to agree who pays, a figure is a far better starting point than an estimate.

There is a real trade off in here, and it does not point the same way for everyone. A transfer that keeps the existing contract also keeps the existing price, which on a deal signed a couple of years ago is often better than anything being sold now. Closing and reopening resets that, and the new price is simply the new price. So the household that most wants a clean break is quite often the one that pays most for it.

What happens after a bereavement?

This is the one case where the position is clearer, and it is more generous than most people expect. Ofcom's guidance on notifying a provider of a customer's death says it may be possible to transfer the plan into another name, and that an account held in joint names should be put into the surviving person's name on request. It also says you should not have to pay an early termination charge, while noting that business accounts can be treated differently.

Behind that sits a rule rather than a courtesy. Ofcom's general conditions have required providers since October 2018 to have policies and procedures for treating vulnerable customers fairly, and bereavement is one of the circumstances that guidance names. Most larger providers run a specialist team as a result, which is usually a quicker and kinder route than the ordinary customer service queue.

If you are the surviving partner on a joint account, say that at the start of the conversation. The request is to have the account put into your sole name, not to close it and start again, and those are two very different outcomes for the price you go on paying. If money is tight while the estate is sorted out, our guide on what to ask for when a bill is unaffordable covers the help a provider can offer.

What to do before anybody moves out

Five things, and the first one answers most of the rest.

• Ask in writing, and ask early. A message through the account inbox asking whether the name on the account can be changed gets you the policy in a form you can point at later. A phone call gets you an answer nobody can find again.
• Find out how long is left. The contract end date decides whether any of this costs money. Out of the minimum term, closing the account is free and the whole question gets easier.
• Compare the two prices, not just the two processes. If a takeover means a new contract, ask what that contract would actually cost per month before agreeing to it, and check it against what is being paid now.
• Agree who pays what, in advance. Any exit fee follows the person who signed. Between a household splitting up and a landlord holding a deposit, that is a conversation to have before the van arrives rather than after.
• Do not cancel first. Ringing to close the old account before the new arrangement is agreed is the reliable way to lose things that could have been kept, including the landline number.

None of this is a reason to leave the bill in the name of somebody who has gone. It is a reason to spend twenty minutes on it rather than none, because the version that goes wrong is always the version nobody asked about first. If the move is a house move rather than a change of name, what happens to your contract when you move is the guide you want instead. And if the answer turns out to be a new contract either way, start with the availability checker and see which networks can actually reach the address before you sign anything.

Frequently asked questions

Can you change the name on a broadband account?

Sometimes, and it depends entirely on your provider. There is no market wide right to hand a broadband contract to somebody else, because it is an agreement between you and the company rather than something a regulator controls. Some providers will move a live contract to a new name with both people on the call. Others will only close the account and let the new person place their own order, which starts a new contract rather than continuing yours.

Does One Touch Switch change the account holder?

No. One Touch Switch is the process for moving your service from one provider to another, and it is run between the two providers on your behalf. Staying where you are and putting a different name on the account is not a move between providers, so none of that machinery applies to it. If you want to change both the name and the provider, treat them as two separate jobs and decide which order they happen in.

Who pays the exit fee if the account has to be closed?

Whoever is named on the contract, in most cases. If your provider will not transfer the account and there is time left on the minimum term, ending it early is an early termination charge like any other, and it follows the agreement rather than the address. That is worth working out as a number before anybody moves out, because the person leaving and the person staying often assume the other one is covering it.

What happens to a broadband account after a death?

Ofcom guidance says it may be possible to transfer the plan into another name, and that an account held in joint names should be put into the surviving person’s name on request. It also says you should not have to pay an early termination charge in these circumstances, although it notes that business accounts can be treated differently. Most larger providers run a specialist bereavement team, which is usually a quicker route than the ordinary customer service queue.

Will the new account holder be credit checked?

If a new account is being opened, almost certainly. A takeover that opens a fresh contract is treated as a new customer signing up, so the usual checks apply to the person taking it on rather than to the person leaving. A straight change of name on a contract that carries on running may also involve a check, since the company is accepting a different person as the one who pays.