Dave Chanteur

Ofcom writes broadband-to ask companies to pay why do some people have to old E-Mail addresses.

TalkTalk costs £5 Per month and BT charges £7. 50 in the month, when customers switch supplier before but want to continue their E-Mail addresses.

virgin deletes those that it gives to customers 90 Days after they leave, but Sky makes the people keep theirs For You for free.

Ofcom said Radio 4 's money Box, it could see no reason for what you the customer as "basically rip-offs".

Ofcom added: "We are superior in this search, whether we need to step in and take action. "

As the UK, the big four providers, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin supply 90% of the UK network, with households with broadband.

Money Box spoke to a customer who has Paid to keep £260, an old address in the three years since the changeover from BT.

It is a similar story for the Little girl, Wendy, from Bookham in Surrey, who has charged £160 since leaving BT for another provider two years ago.

"It started at £5 Per month if we switched in January 2018. They increased that to £7. 50 Per month, paying attention in October 2018, and we that since then.

"I think it is basically, rip-offs and it doesn't help to change the incentives for the people providers.

"If you switch to save money, but then you will suddenly find that you are going to pay to keep your E-Mail address, so that you will have to change the inconvenience of everything that would be in connection with your E-Mail address, and it cost them up to £7. 50 Per month, then these savings will disappear.

"I think that Ofcom should act and look in the broader practice in the industry. If the industry refuses to change their practices, I think that Ofcom should be strengthened, so as to regulate at. "

BT says, the people can take their E-Mail addresses for free with a basic service that can only be accessed via a browser, but that customers who want to your normal E-Mail service, you have to pay £7. 50 Per month.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "We can't see a reason why you should have to pay these amounts, you keep your E-Mail address. So we look to consider this, whether we need to step in and take action.

"Last year, we have also secured commitments from companies to customers is Fair, so we have asked you to explain how that fits in with this Promise . "

and people pay for that old E-Mail addresses, another possible area of concern for Ofcom is the danger that people will be deterred and change to better deals, because the trouble of the loss of their E-Mail addresses.

The idea is to change his E-Mail address with all the pages he used, something Dave Currie, of Inverkip, says, is simply not worth any possible savings.

He had to go, as soon as, before, if the supplier is "tipped" him to another company: "I had to change every online account required an E-Mail address as a login, and there were over 100 of them.

"I had to change to applications for the banking, gas and electric suppliers, car insurance, house insurance, holiday companies, airlines, all the online shops which require this.

"I also had some problems with automatic renewal of contracts, and sent reminders To My old address, so that caused a lot of problems.

"had to do it once, I would certainly exchange service provider, to deter, even for a much better deal It's just too much time and effort. "

Dan Grabham, editor of the technology website, says the amount people are being charged is shocking, especially as some providers let their clients to keep them for nothing, if you decide to switch.

"If Ofcom is serious duty, ISPs (internet service Provider) for access to addresses after leaving their provider, then it will Institute a system similar to the ability to exchange your mobile number to another network.

"If you are thinking about leaving your ISP in the future and an E-Mail address with you, it's worth it to find out how much it costs, and to change the factor that in your decision.

"It could be that it is cheaper For You in the next 12 months, even if the payment for the access to your E-Mail address.

"But it would be my advice, to prevent this problem in the future by taking into account The Hit now. A web-based E-Mail address of a reputable provider, such as Microsoft Outlook or Google Gmail, start with that, and gradually move your registration for the services, which you can use on it. "

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Source of news: bbc.com