Hi guys,

I entered into an 18 month contract with BT roughly one year ago which meant a reduced line installation fee of 35£ instead of 125£. However, I've now seen on my phone bill that they increased the monthly line rental from 11.50£ to 12.50£.

Am I right that this means that I can now change my line to another provider without having to pay fees for ending the contract early? As they have increased the line rental fee without my prior permission, I can waive the minimum contract length, right? I would then actually prefer Madasafish, as they have a one month contract period only...

Any guidance greatly appreciated,

Best regards,

Mat

Hi

id definately challenge them on that

hope this helps

BT state that if any changes to Terms & Conditions which they feel is to your material disadvantage are made they will offer you the chance to leave penalty free within a few weeks of being advised of any increases.

Unless you have received any such advice and bearing in mind the line rental increase was levied to all providers who take services from BT Wholesale it's unlikely you will escape penalty free.

If your contract specifically states you will pay a set amount for the duration of the contract you may be in luck though.

Just looked at this issue for my daughter who had her phone line installed new last October. She was convinced that she had been guaranteed that the rental was fixed for the contract period but we couldn't find any evidence; As its a universal increase I'm sure that the forums would have been alive with stories if there was a "get out" clause!!

Hi all,

and thanks for your answers so far. Seems like the common understanding is that you're not allowed to leave early even though they increase the charge. So let me just spin this a bit further: This would mean that I entered into a contract which binds me to pay for an undefined amount - because BT could change it without me having a chance to do something against it. This would mean that they could increase it to £100 a month (I know, exaggerated) and I would still have to stay with them for the remainder of the 18 months? Clearly this can't be lawful...? And the fact that they decide whether a charge imposed by them detrimentally effects me (like fnarrr wrote) clearly won't remedy this situation at all.

I just know that all mobile phone providers have such a statement in their contract terms - if they increase rental charges you can cancel. SUrely there must be something similar in BT's terms? I must read them again...

Best regards,

Mat

Okay, there we have it (Article 34 of the residential Terms, thanks fnarrr):

If we have made a change which is to your material disadvantage, you will not have to pay a charge if you decide to end your agreement early, unless the relevant price terms say otherwise. However, once we have told you about such a change, you must let us know that you want to end the agreement within 10 days. When we make a change that we reasonably believe is to your material disadvantage we will also let you know that you may end the agreement early without paying a charge for doing so.

So clearly I am free to leave now, right? Paying more clearly is a material disadvantage... So I should better send them my cancellation via registered mail, or does the claim number I got after sending an email is sufficient for showing that I responded within 10 days of being aware of the changes? Let's go safe with this one...

Regards,

Mat

Hi guys,

just an update: I had a nice conversation with BT and they insist that their increase isn't material enough to release me from the contract. However, I feel that nearly 10% increase are definitely material so I went on to another provider anyways. BT now confirmed the move to be due on the 16/06 and said they will charge me around 60£ early termination fee - which of course I will NOT pay.

In case this gets rogue, I will put them in front of the Small Claims Court, but for me it is "good bye BT buggers, welcome Madasafish buggers" - and since one is a daughter of the other, it's not too bad at all ;)

I would heavily recommend everybody else to take this into consideration. The fact that they increase the charges and deny the customer their right to terminate early beggars belief, and even more so after I found out that they also increased the connection fee from 6p to 10p... Madasafish doesn't have ANY.

Regards,

Mat

Very interesting about Madasafish - I'm out of contract shortly with BT so looks like a move is on the cards - provided it doesn't affect my broadband connection with Plusnet !!

Actually, Madasafish is a daughter of Plusnet, and both belong to BT - so there shouldn't be a problem with that ;)

By the way, both sides can earn money with Madasafish Recommend-a-friend. you can send me a private email to find out if you're interested.

Regards,

Mat

Okay, an update: I'm now with Madasafish and everything went very smoothly. I'm paying my less than 10£ a month and don't have the hassle of a quarterly bill anymore, but a decent and nice monthly bill. My broadband is still with O2 and it didn't matter at all that I changed from BT to madasafish. I highly recommend them and their customer service is really good.

Regards,

Mat