Most UK broadband contracts last 12, 18, or 24 months at a fixed introductory price. When that period ends, the price usually rises to a higher “out-of-contract” rate. Millions of households pay that uplift for months or years before noticing, because the only visible change is a line on the direct debit. This guide covers how to find your end date, what Ofcom requires your provider to tell you, and what to do about it.
The out-of-contract problem
Providers offer cheap introductory rates to win you over, then rely on inertia once you’re on the books. After your minimum term, there’s no early-exit charge and the contract rolls month to month at a higher price. That’s where the loyalty tax sits: not in the headline rate, but in the gap between what new customers are being offered and what you’re now paying.
The uplift isn’t small. Ofcom’s own analysis has found that some customers who switched or re-contracted after a reminder saved more than £110 a year on average. For heavier packages the saving is often significantly larger.
What Ofcom requires
Since February 2020, UK broadband, phone, and pay-TV providers have been required to send an end-of-contract notification between 10 and 40 days before your minimum term ends. The notification must include your current price, the price you’ll pay once the minimum term ends, and the best deals the provider offers — including those open to new customers.
If you stay out of contract, they also have to send you an annual best-tariff notification. In principle this means you shouldn’t miss the moment. In practice these notifications arrive in the same inbox as every other routine email from your provider, and the subject line doesn’t always scream urgency.
How to find your end date
- Log into your provider’s online account or app. All the major providers show minimum-term end date on the account summary page, sometimes labelled “contract end” or “renewal date”.
- Check your original order confirmation email. Contract length is always stated there; add that to your start date.
- Search your email for the phrase “end of contract” — Ofcom’s notifications use consistent wording.
- If all else fails, a direct message to the provider’s support chat will get you the date within a few minutes.
What to do 30 days out
Roughly a month before your minimum term ends, you have three options:
- 1. Haggle with your current provider
- Call the retentions team (not general customer service). Say you’re looking to leave. Have comparison-site quotes on hand. They usually have discretionary pricing they don’t advertise, especially if you’re a long-standing customer. If it works, you’ll be offered a new fixed term at a lower rate.
- 2. Switch to a new provider
- Often the cheapest option. New-customer deals are frequently better than any retention offer. The switching process is handled provider-to-provider for most lines — you typically don’t need to call your old provider at all.
- 3. Let it roll
- Sometimes fine if the out-of-contract price is still competitive, you’re about to move house, or you just can’t face the admin. The cost is the difference between what you pay and what you could pay, multiplied by however long until you get round to it.
Don’t rely on the provider’s reminder
The Ofcom notification is a safety net, not a plan. It arrives during a 30-day window, in an email that looks routine, often forwarded from a no-reply address you filter out. It also arrives too close to the end date to comfortably run a comparison and switch with room to spare.
Setting your own reminder 30-45 days before the end date solves both problems. You get time to compare and decide calmly. If you’ve got car insurance, home insurance, and a broadband contract all ending in different months, one place to see them all is worth more than three separate calendar events.
This is general information about UK broadband contracts, not financial or regulatory advice. Always check your own contract and your provider’s current terms. Ofcom’s rules change — this page was written in April 2026 based on the rules in force at that time.