It’s a well known fact that switching your broadband supplier can end up saving you some serious money – hundreds of pounds a year if you’re lucky. Broadband companies are always offering up big incentives for new customers, which means you’ll have to switch your internet supplier when your current contract expires to reduce your monthly bill.
But while changing your broadband is clearly a good idea, it seems many are put off doing so by a charge that you may not even know existed. Some suppliers, including BT and TalkTalk, will not let you keep your existing premium email features for free if you decided to make the switch to a rival firm.
In fact, BT will charge you a hefty £7.50 per month for the privilege of still receiving emails to your @BT.com email address. TalkTalk wants £5 per month.
Of course, this won’t affect you if you have a generic email from services, like Gmail, but research from Compare the Market suggests that as many as one in four adults in the UK have an email address linked to their broadband provider.
Older people appear much more likely than Generation Z to have an email address linked to their broadband provider, with one in six 18-24 year olds to nearly two in five people aged over 65.
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Holly Niblett, head of digital at comparethemarket.com said: “It seems that many broadband providers are holding customers to ransom over their email addresses. Email addresses have fast become a vital and necessary part of our everyday lives. It’s unacceptable that the fear of losing an email address is leading to switching inertia, particularly amongst over 65s, who are more likely paying over the odds for broadband as a result. Better value deals tend to be secured by those out of contract and able to switch.
“With broadband increasingly recognised by the government as an essential utility, a fairer and more transparent system for customers to keep their email addresses when they switch provider is long overdue. Urgent reform is needed.”
Defending its email charges, a BT spokesperson said: “BT Broadband customers receive a free email service as part of their package. If they switch broadband providers, they can continue to use the BT email service, free of charge, through a web browser. This version includes unlimited storage, online virus protection and a UK based helpdesk.
“The email service with premium features is also available to customers if they switch provider, and additionally includes multiple inboxes and access through email apps, for £7.50 a month.”