Can I keep my email address if I change broadband provider?
By Dan Howdle | Tuesday, July 6th 2021
Most broadband deals these days will offer an email address as part of the package. If that's something you need, it does raise the question of what its long-term value might be should you be planning to switch in future. Different providers have different policies when it comes to keeping hold of it when you move on.
The aim of this guide, then, is to delve deep into the small print of the UK's most popular broadband providers to find out exactly what their policy is with your free email address when you move on. Without further ado.
Can I keep my email address when I switch provider?
Generally speaking, in some instances, you can – but sometimes there can be a monthly charge to keep it. The fact of the matter is your email address is not transferable in the same way as your landline or mobile phone number. Unless you're using a third-party webmail address, chances are you'll lose that address and, after a period, all the contents of that email account, including any contacts or photographs you have in there.
Most providers, though, do offer a reasonable grace period during which you can begin using a different address from a different provider and gradually be redirecting all of your contacts and incoming mail to it.
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Can I keep my BT email address?
If you've switched broadband from BT to another company, you'll be able to keep your BT email address, but there is a catch – after 60 days you will have to subscribe to BT Premium Mail, and that is going to cost you money every month.
That's the only option when it comes to BT, so if you don't want to pay for a monthly subscription to your email account, you will have to set up a new account elsewhere.
Can I keep my Sky email address?
You can keep your Sky email address for as long as you want after you've cancelled your broadband, as long as you keep using it regularly. If you abandon it, Sky will close it down, assuming it is inactive. There are no fees to keep it active, so if you have a Sky email account, you're safe for life – or until they tell you otherwise.
Can I keep my Virgin Media email address?
If you cancel your Virgin Media broadband, you have 90 days to access your Virgin Media email before it vanishes forever, with all the contents going with it. Basically, Virgin Media gives you a window during which you can move or save anything important to your computer or forward it to a new email address. After that 90-day period, it's gone for good.
Can I keep my TalkTalk email address?
If you're cancelling your TalkTalk package, then you've got 12 months to use your TalkTalk email account, during which you can send and receive messages. You won't be able to use the 'My Account' feature, so you can't actively manage your account (things like changing passwords). Also, if you leave your account idle for six months, TalkTalk will assume it's inactive and delete it.
Can I keep my Plusnet email account?
If you switch your broadband from Plusnet to another company, you'll be able to keep your email address, but like BT, they will charge you a small monthly fee for the pleasure. You'll have to inform Plusnet that you want to keep using its email service, because if you don't, it will be deleted along with your account when you leave.
What to do if your broadband provider is going to delete your email account
Although getting a free email address from your provider sounds ideal on paper, since you're unlikely to be able to keep it forever in most cases, it's going to be a better idea to use a third-party free email address for your personal use than one of them. Gmail, among many others, is a good option, and you'll be able to keep it for life.
What is useful about these third-party email accounts is that it doesn't matter which broadband provider you're using because it isn't run by your ISP, so when you switch, it'll still be there and accessible from any machine. This is also great if you're between your exit and activation dates after switching, as you can use your webmail in a coffee house, at work or via whichever connection you're using.
These accounts are free and offer great storage at no extra cost, so if you don't have one already, set one up now. All the storage means you'll be able to forward everything from your old account, and your web-based third-party account will easily have the space for it all.
If you want to download or export your contact list, then you either need to look at the support page of the account you're using or contact your broadband provider to see if they can help. Alternatively, you could just set up an auto-response on your old account which informs your contacts of your new email address when they message you.
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You may also have to change the login details for any social media accounts, online banking, or subscriptions as they'll need an account that's in use, should you want to do a password change or anything like that.
If you have any photographs or things you want to keep, then download them straight to your device (be it your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer, and the rest) and if storage is an issue, then look for a cheap portable hard drive – there are plenty on the market for very reasonable prices, and you can store everything from your emails on there, as well as using it as a handy thing to back up the files on your computer.
Should you want to have storage for free, then there's a number of cloud options, like Google Drive, where you can store all your photos on what is basically a virtual, online hard drive.
How to protect your email address from future loss
Most broadband providers will let you set up accounts with third-party emails. For example, if you're with BT and want to log in to your account, you can do it with a Gmail address. Broadband providers will give you a new address, but you don't have to actually use it.
Be clear when you're getting your new account and talking to the company's customer service representative that you'd like to use your third-party webmail address, be it Outlook (formerly Hotmail), Gmail, or whichever one you've gone for.
If you have your own email account that isn't tied to your provider, you'll be fine going forward.
