There are three ways to handle broadband when you move: transfer your existing contract to the new address, switch to a different provider, or bridge the gap with mobile broadband until a fixed line is live. Which one is right turns on a single question you can answer in thirty seconds, and most people never ask it.
That question is whether your current provider actually serves the new address. If they do, they will transfer the contract, usually for a one-off home-mover fee of around £20 to £32, with no early termination charge. If they do not, they are required under Ofcom rules to release you with no exit fee at all, regardless of how long your contract has left to run.
Quick answer: Check the postcode availability tool for your current provider at the new address before you ring anyone. If they cannot serve it, you leave free. If they can, expect a home-mover fee rather than an exit fee. Start three to four weeks before moving day, because engineer appointments are the bottleneck, not the paperwork.
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The three routes compared
| Route | Typical cost | Timescale | Best for | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer the existing contract | Home-mover fee, around £20 to £32 | Book 3 to 4 weeks ahead | Happy customers whose provider serves the new address | Often restarts the minimum term |
| Switch to a new provider | Exit fee, unless waived | 10 to 14 days under One Touch Switch | Anyone out of contract or paying a legacy price | Loses a provider email address and landline number |
| Free exit, no coverage | Nothing | Immediate release | Movers whose provider cannot serve the new postcode | You still need to arrange a new service |
| Mobile broadband bridge | Rolling monthly, often under £30 | Next day | Gaps between move-in and activation | Data limits and variable speeds |
| Do nothing until you move | Weeks without connection | Not recommended | Nobody | Engineer slots at the new address are the constraint |
Plenty of movers combine two of these. Transferring the main service while running a 4G device for the first fortnight is common, and considerably cheaper than the alternative of working from a phone hotspot for three weeks.
The free exit most people never claim
If your provider cannot supply service at the new address, Ofcom’s General Conditions require them to release you without an early termination charge. This applies most often to cable and to smaller full-fibre networks whose footprints are patchy.
Cable networks and the newer independent fibre providers have limited geographic coverage by design, so this comes up constantly. A household two miles away can be entirely outside the footprint. Openreach-based services, which includes most of the familiar names, have far wider reach and so transfer more often than they release.
Two practical points make the difference between claiming this smoothly and arguing about it. Check the availability tool yourself before you phone, so you already know the answer when the retentions team suggests otherwise. And have proof of your new address to hand, since a signed tenancy agreement or council tax confirmation is what providers ask for before waiving anything.
Ask for the waiver in writing. If a provider refuses despite being unable to serve the address, escalate through their formal complaints procedure and then to the relevant alternative dispute resolution scheme. The obligation is regulatory rather than a matter of goodwill, and providers generally concede once a complaint is formalised.
How One Touch Switch changed the process
Since September 2024, the provider you are joining handles the cancellation of the old service. You do not contact your existing provider at all. They have one working day to confirm any exit fees, and the switch typically completes within 10 to 14 days with no loss of service.
The critical instruction is what not to do. Cancelling your old service yourself before the new one is live is the most common way to end up with a gap, and it can break the switch entirely. Order with the new provider and let the process run.
You get a 14-day cooling-off period on the new contract. If the exit fees on your old service come back higher than expected, you can withdraw within that window and stay put with no consequence. That is genuinely useful leverage, because it means you can find out what leaving costs without committing to leave.
There are gaps in the scheme worth knowing about. It does not cover mobile-network home broadband, the 4G and 5G products, so switching to or from one of those means dealing with the operator directly. Some smaller independent fibre networks also sit outside it, in which case the older process of giving notice separately still applies.
If a switch does go wrong, automatic compensation applies. The rates are set by Ofcom and paid as bill credit without you having to claim, currently in the region of £9.76 for each day of total service loss and £29.15 for a missed engineer appointment, credited within 30 days.
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What you lose when a contract closes
Two things disappear when a broadband account is closed rather than transferred: any email address issued by the provider, and the landline number if it runs over a digital voice service. Both need arranging before the closure date, not after.
The email address is the one that causes lasting damage. An address tied to a provider stops working when you leave, and anything registered to it becomes difficult to recover: banking, government services, shopping accounts, two-factor recovery. If you still use a provider-issued email, migrate to an independent address weeks before the move and change your key logins across.
Landline numbers can usually be ported to a new provider, but the request has to be made as part of the switch rather than afterwards. Once the line is closed the number is generally gone. This matters more than it used to for older households and for anyone running a small business from home.
- Return the router if asked. Providers charge for unreturned equipment, sometimes substantially, and the returns window is short.
- Check whether the term restarts. A home-mover transfer frequently resets the minimum term to a fresh 12, 18 or 24 months.
- Cancel any bundled services separately if needed. TV packages and mobile SIMs sold alongside broadband do not always follow it.
- Check what happens to a bundled TV box. Some transfer, some need swapping, some are cable-only and cannot move.
- Take a photo of the meter-equivalent details. Account number, line reference and the router’s credentials, before anything is disconnected.
Timing it against moving day
We mapped the broadband tasks against a typical move, because the constraint here is engineer availability at the new address rather than anything a provider does at a desk.
| When | What to do | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks before | Check availability at the new postcode for your provider and others | It determines every other decision |
| 3 to 4 weeks before | Arrange the transfer, or order a new service | Engineer slots book out, especially around month ends |
| 3 weeks before | Migrate away from any provider-issued email address | Changing logins takes longer than expected |
| 2 weeks before | Confirm the activation date in writing | Gives time to arrange a mobile bridge if there is a gap |
| Moving week | Pack the router and cables somewhere findable | It is the item most often lost in a box |
| Moving day | Plug in and test, before the van leaves if possible | An unexpected fault is easier to report the same day |
Two findings matter. First, cable-based services take longer to activate at a new property than Openreach-based ones, because the physical cable connection may need checking or installing. If you are moving to a property that has never had cable, allow considerably more time than the standard estimate.
Second, the router is the single most misplaced item in a house move. It goes in a box, the box goes in a stack, and the family spends the first evening without internet in a house full of unlabelled cardboard. Put it in the same bag as the kettle and the phone chargers.
Fees, compensation rates and timescales described reflect published UK positions in 2026 and vary by provider. Confirm the figures for your own account before deciding.
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When transferring is the wrong call
Transferring is not automatically the easy option. It usually restarts your minimum term, which locks you into a legacy price for another year or two at the exact moment you had a free opportunity to reprice. If you are out of contract, moving is the best time to switch rather than transfer.
Providers present the home-move transfer as the frictionless choice, and administratively it is. Financially it often is not. Households that stay put drift onto undiscounted standard pricing, and a like-for-like switch commonly saves somewhere between £120 and £300 a year.
Check your minimum term end date before you decide anything. Out of contract means you can leave without an exit charge, and a move is a natural moment to act on that. Still in contract means the arithmetic depends on the exit fee, which you can ask for in writing without committing to anything.
The other case for not transferring is technology. Full fibre now reaches around three quarters of UK homes, and a new address may support a service your old one could not. Transferring a slow legacy connection into a property that could take full fibre is a missed opportunity that lasts as long as the new contract.
Before either, phone the retentions team. Telling an existing provider you are moving and considering leaving frequently produces a better price than any home-mover process would.
How EcoGreen Movers fits around activation dates
Broadband activation and the removal van are the two fixed appointments in a move, and they are worth aligning. EcoGreen Movers works to confirmed arrival windows rather than vague morning slots, which makes it realistic to be at the property for an engineer on the same day.
Being free to meet an engineer depends on not being mid-move yourself. Premium covers the packing, so the day is a delivery rather than a scramble; Standard Plus handles the furniture at both ends; and Standard covers the loading and unloading. Boxes are sold on their own if you are packing in the weeks while an activation date is confirmed, and storage helps where an installation lands after your completion.
We run residential moves across the UK, including London, Manchester and Edinburgh. For the rest of the first-week setup, see our guide to unpacking room by room, or get in touch for a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay an exit fee if I move house?
Not if your provider cannot serve the new address, in which case Ofcom rules require them to release you free. If they can serve it, they will normally transfer the contract instead and charge a one-off home-mover fee of roughly £20 to £32 rather than a termination charge.
How much notice does a provider need?
Three to four weeks is the sensible minimum, and rolling contracts generally carry a 30-day notice period. The real constraint is engineer availability at the new address rather than the notice itself, particularly around month ends when most moves happen.
Should I cancel my old broadband myself?
No, if you are switching providers. Under One Touch Switch the new provider handles the cancellation, and contacting the old one separately can disrupt the process and leave you without service. Order with the new provider and let it run.
Will I keep my email address and landline number?
A provider-issued email address stops working when the account closes, so migrate to an independent address well before the move. A landline number can usually be ported, but the request must form part of the switch rather than being made afterwards.
What if there is a gap before activation?
A rolling monthly 4G or 5G home broadband device bridges it for well under £30 a month with no long commitment, and some providers supply a temporary backup device themselves. Ask when you book, rather than assuming you will manage on a phone hotspot.
In summary: check coverage before you phone
Run your new postcode through your provider’s availability checker first. No coverage means a free exit and a clean opportunity to shop around. Coverage means a transfer with a modest home-mover fee, and a decision about whether restarting the contract term is what you actually want.
Start three to four weeks out, migrate off any provider email address early, and pack the router where you can find it. If there is a gap, bridge it with mobile rather than living without.
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