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guides
What's actually in your broadband contract
guides
A broadband contract sets out your minimum term, your monthly price now and later, any annual rise, setup fees, the speed you are guaranteed and what it costs to leave early. UK rules force the headline terms into a short contract summary before you sign. This guide walks through every clause that actually matters.
Nobody reads the contract. You click "agree", the box arrives, the router blinks and the document sits unread in an inbox until eighteen months later when the price quietly jumps by a third and you cannot remember agreeing to any of it. You did agree to it. It was all in there, in the bit nobody reads. So let us read it for you, clause by clause, so the only surprise left is how few surprises there should have been.
The first number that matters is the minimum term. Most big-brand full-fibre deals run for 24 months. You will also see 18-month and 12-month options, plus 30-day rolling or no-contract deals at a higher monthly price. Longer terms buy you a lower price and tie you in for longer. Shorter terms cost more each month but let you walk sooner.
Decide which trade you want before you sign, because the term sets everything else: how long the cheap price lasts, how big your exit charge could be and when you are next free to switch. If flexibility matters more than the headline price, a rolling plan is worth the premium. You can browse the No-Contract & Rolling Broadband Deals options if a fixed term feels like a trap.
Most deals advertise a low introductory monthly price for a fixed window, then a higher standard price afterwards. A deal might run at one rate for the first six months, then step up. Other deals stay flat for the whole term and only jump when the contract ends.
This post-intro or out-of-contract jump is the single biggest avoidable overpay in broadband. The fix is dull but it works: find the standard price in the contract summary, note the date it kicks in and treat that date as your cue to haggle or switch. If you would rather skip the homework, our cheapest deals are ranked lowest-price-first to get you started.
This is the clause that changed. From 17 January 2025, Ofcom banned new and renewed contracts from carrying inflation-linked or percentage-based mid-contract rises. For years providers buried "CPI plus 3.9%" in the small print, which meant your price rose by a number nobody could predict at sign-up. That trick is dead for new contracts.
Any in-contract rise now has to be set out in pounds and pence, prominently, at the point of sale, including when it takes effect. So a deal will say something like "rising by a fixed amount each April", with the actual figure shown next to the headline price. The rule is not retrospective. If you signed before 17 January 2025, your old percentage-based term can still apply for the life of that contract. We track how each provider lands this every year in our Mid-contract price rises this year piece.
One important catch: a rise that was clearly spelled out in pounds and pence at sign-up does not give you a free exit. You agreed to it. But if the provider raises the price by more than it specified or did not specify it at all, you can leave penalty-free. Any change "not to your benefit" needs at least one month's notice and a right to exit without penalty.
Setup fees vary by deal. Plenty of big-brand deals now advertise no setup fee. Others charge a one-off activation or delivery fee, often somewhere between nothing and around £35. The contract summary will say which, so look before you assume "free installation" means free.
Your router is the other line to check. Some providers lend you the kit and want it back when you leave, with a non-return fee if you do not send it. Others let you keep it. This is provider-specific and changes often, so do not take a forum post as gospel. Check whether your router is yours or a loan and what the non-return charge is, all set out in your own contract summary or terms.
Leave during the minimum term and you can trigger an early termination charge (an ETC). Ofcom says these "should be set out in your contract" and before you sign every provider must give you a one-page contract summary, three pages for a bundle, covering the charges, the length and how to cancel.
The general method is roughly what you would expect: the remaining monthly charges to the end of your term, usually minus a small discount for costs the provider no longer carries, pro-rated. The exact formula differs by provider and lives on pages that are notoriously fiddly, so check your own provider's ETC page for the precise sum rather than trusting a rule of thumb. There are two big exceptions where no ETC applies: when you leave under the speed guarantee and when a price rise was not specified or was larger than specified.
Buy your broadband online, over the phone or away from a shop and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give you a 14-calendar-day cooling-off period from the day the contract starts. Change your mind in that window and you can cancel.
If you asked for the service to go live inside those 14 days and then cancel, you pay a proportionate amount for what you actually used. If the provider failed to give you proper cancellation information, you bear no cost at all and the window can stretch much further. It is a genuine safety net, so use it if the deal turns out wrong on day three rather than day three hundred.
UK broadband does not auto-renew into a fresh fixed term. At the end of your minimum term it rolls month-to-month, out of contract, usually at the higher standard price, until you re-contract or switch. From there you can leave on about 30 days' or one month's notice with no ETC. The exact notice period is usually 30 days but is provider-specific, so confirm it on your provider's cancellation page.
Switching is easier than it used to be. Under One Touch Switch you only deal with your new provider, you do not serve separate notice to the old one and notice-period charges cannot run past your switch date. So the out-of-contract trap is entirely escapable. The only thing keeping people in it is not noticing the contract ended.
Buried in your contract summary is a number worth more than the headline speed: your minimum guaranteed download speed. Under Ofcom's voluntary Codes of Practice, signatories must give you that floor at the point of sale, alongside realistic peak-time estimates.
If your speed drops below it, you report the fault, the provider gets 30 calendar days to fix it and if it cannot, you can leave penalty-free, including any bundled landline or pay-TV. Signatories include BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, around 95% of home broadband customers, plus Utility Warehouse and Zen. Most altnets are not signatories, so on a smaller full-fibre network this protection may not apply. Worth knowing before you sign.
If you are still working out which connection suits you, we explain how full fibre, part-fibre and cable differ in plain terms. To land on a tier you will not regret, work out what speed you actually need first. When you are ready to buy, the full-fibre deals are the place to start. You can also read how we judge every deal before you trust a single one.
Most big-brand full-fibre deals run for 24 months, with 18-month and 12-month options on some providers. If you want flexibility you can take a 30-day rolling or no-contract plan, but you will pay more each month for the freedom to leave whenever you like.
Yes, but leaving during the minimum term usually triggers an early termination charge, roughly the remaining monthly fees to the end of your term, minus a small discount. The exact figure is in your contract. You can leave free if the speed guarantee fails or a price rise was not properly specified.
Yes. If you bought online, by phone or away from a shop, you get a 14-calendar-day cooling-off period from the day the contract starts. Cancel inside that window and you only pay for service you actually used. You pay nothing if the provider failed to give you proper cancellation information.
Only sometimes. A rise spelled out in pounds and pence at sign-up does not give you a free exit, because you agreed to it. But if the provider raises the price by more than it specified or did not specify it at all, you can leave penalty-free.
It does not renew into a new fixed term. It rolls month-to-month, out of contract, usually at the higher standard price, until you re-contract or switch. At that point you can leave on about 30 days' notice with no exit fee, so the end of your term is the moment to act.
The contract is not the enemy. The bit you never read is. Read it once, set a reminder for two dates and the industry loses its favourite trick.
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