How to cancel your mobile phone contract

If you've decided to cancel your phone contract early, you might be a bit unsure about where to start. It could cost you money, and you've also got to think about things such as moving across your phone number.

Here we look at what's involved in cancelling your phone contract.

Cancelling your mobile contract for free

You have a right to cancel your mobile contract free of charge, no questions asked, in one of the following situations:

• during the first 14 days of your contract

• if your network provider raises the monthly fee midway through

The cooling-off period (first 14 days)

If you’ve signed up for your contract online or on the phone, it’s subject to a cooling-off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. These regulations give you the right to cancel within 14 days without paying a penalty. The 14-day period starts running the day after you make the purchase.

Unfortunately, there’s no right to a cooling-off period if you’ve signed the contract in person. The only exception to this is if you’ve signed the contract at home during a door-to-door sales call.

The cost of your plan has gone up

Under Ofcom rules, your network provider must give you 30 days’ advance notice should they decide to increase the price of your contract. If you’re unhappy with the raise in price, you have a right to cancel free of charge within those 30 days.

You won’t be able to cancel your contract for free if the network told you the price would go up at the start of your contract. This usually applies in situations where you’ve been given a discounted rate for the first few months of the contract as an introductory offer.

Cancelling your contract: the fees

If you’re not within the cooling-off period and your network provider hasn’t raised their rates, you may still be able to cancel your contract. The exact cancellation policy will vary from network to network, and you’ll usually need to pay a hefty penalty.

Early termination penalties are usually equal to the amount you’d pay had you stayed on for the remainder of your contract. So if you still have twelve months remaining on a £20 a month contract, for instance, you’ll need to pay a £240 penalty. This may make it impractical to cut your contract short, especially if you have a lot of time left on it.

Typically, you’ll also need to give at least 30 days’ advance notice, either by phone or by email.

After you’ve cancelled your phone contract

Unlocking your phone

If you decide to cancel your contract and switch to a new phone network, your may need to unlock your phone if you want to keep using it.

If you bought your phone as part of your current contract, it will probably be locked. This means the phone will only work with SIMs belonging to that network and it won’t be able to detect a SIM belonging to a different network. (If you’re not sure if it’s locked you can try putting in a new SIM or ask your network’s customer service).

Most network providers offer phone unlocking services for a fee, usually in the range of £10 to £20. Depending on your network, the unlocking process can take as little as 72 hours or as much as 20 days.

If your network provider is being difficult, you could try a third-party unlocker. Most high-street phone shops will do this for you. There are also companies you can find online. However, do be careful, as some of them can be unreliable.

Keeping your current number

When you switch network provider, you have a right to keep your current number.

Carrying over - or porting - your number to your new network is easy. In order to do it, you simply need to obtain a porting authorisation code (PAC) - a nine-digit code that’s used to identify your mobile number - from your current network provider. A PAC is free; and it’s valid for 30 days.

Once you give the PAC to your new provider, they’ll take care of the switch and let you know when the process is complete. It usually takes about 24 hours.