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General => Technical Help => Topic started by: LizzieL on Thursday 20 September 18 17:42 BST (UK)
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A friend of mine wants to change her broadband supplier but the old supplier won't let her. She has been completely without broadband for 4 weeks and can't even access her email. Anyone any advice?
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Maybe go down the route that the current supplier is in breach of contract as no service has been provided for a month
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Unless she has a contract with her present provider that still has time to run, they can't stop her from changing. Due to recent changes the responsibility for managing the switch lies with the provider to whom a customer is switching.
https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/switch/
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Try this link. It is now driven by the new provider. It is nothing to do with your old (current) provider, as long as you honour the terms to which you agreed.
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/change-provider/
(Only at Hotel California can you ",,,check out but you can never leave.)
Martin
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Unless she has a contract with her present provider that still has time to run, they can't stop her from changing. Due to recent changes the responsibility for managing the switch lies with the provider to whom a customer is switching.
https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/switch/
If she is still in contract then she can still switch, but would have to pay the current supplier a fee for early termination. However, as it seems they have been unable to provide a service for such a long time, that fee could, and should, be waived.
https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/guides/help/broadband-consumer-rights
The information on that site may help to find out how to resolve the problem.
Boo
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She doesn't know whether the contract has any time left to run. It is unlikely as it was set up by her husband a few years ago, but he has since died. She doesn't know what his password was, so has never received any bills for broadband or phone. When she phoned the supplier (non UK call centre) they were extremely unhelpful and told her the bills were sent to her husbands email account which she has no access to because she doesn't know the password
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She just signs up with a new provider.
They sort it out with the existing supplier.
She can also cancel the direct debit/continuous authority from her end
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She has signed up with new supplier, but they can't sort it out because the account with old supplier isn't in her name, it's in her late husband's name
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Contact the supplier again and ask to speak with the bereavement team and explain to them what the problem is. She will probably then have to send a covering letter with a copy of her husband's death certificate (not a photocopy). She should then eventually be able to get access to the account and reset passwords and billing etc.
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Bless her, as if she doesn't have enough to deal with.
That should have been dealt with when her husband died and his probate was done. A contract with a deceased person can no longer be valid and should have been cancelled. I am surprised that the bank did not automatically cancel the d/ds when they were informed of his death.
If she hasn't already done it, she needs to tell whoever the provider is that he has died and send them a copy of his death certificate.
Boo
Boo
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bank account was joint so it was transferred to her sole name and dds continued as before. It would have been even more inconvenient if all dd's suddenly cancelled - gas cut off, electricity cut off etc
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But the contract was not joint and should have been cancelled and, if required, transferred to the new sole name.
Though I do accept that at such a time, she may not have thought of that and if the account has been paid since he died and the service has since stopped then the provider is at fault.
Boo
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If it was by d/d then why has the provider stopped the WiFi?
The old supplier won't let her change.... so is she paying for it now? It was coming from same Bank account number.
If the supplier has withdrawn Wifi, then the supplier has killed off any contract! So how can he stop her from getting Wifi from someone else?
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Contact the broadband supplier (old) and ask for the MAC code. If they need a male voice get someone else to phone. Give the mac code to the new supplier.
Just for clarification, what exactly do you mean when you say the old supplier won't let the person change supplier? What are they saying/doing?
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Can`t you change broadband whenever you want to ? !! They try to put obstacles in your way.
I found this https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/switch/
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Contact the broadband supplier (old) and ask for the MAC code. If they need a male voice get someone else to phone. Give the mac code to the new supplier.
Just for clarification, what exactly do you mean when you say the old supplier won't let the person change supplier? What are they saying/doing?
As I understand it, They would only send the MAC code by email to the account holder which is my friend's late husband, not over the phone. And she doesn't have password to access his email.
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this has gone on too long, I'd suggest she contacts Ofcom to report the problem and say the isp are acting not only unreasonably but utterly unforgiveably
Boo
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If she still hasn't access to broadband, surely the easiest thing to do would be to stop the direct debit and write to the company enclosing a death certificate cancelling the contract. Not much they can do if the contract is in her late husband's name, they can't sue him. Then take out a new contract with a different provider in her own name.
I wonder if she isn't talking to the correct people, she needs to talk to their bereavement team and not just to one of their ordinary team, who are probably told they can only deal with the person whose name is on the contract.