BT Terms and Conditions

Your terms and conditions for BT Telephony, BT Broadband, Broadband Talk, Broadband Anywhere, BT Pre-Pay Mobile Broadband, BT TV, BT Sport, Supporters Club, BT Mobile, Value Added Services and BT Multi Play Services

These terms and conditions were last updated on 20th March 2016.

Important information:

The terms and conditions of each of the above services (except for BT Mobile Handset Plans) are made up of this important information and the following terms (including any other document we refer to in those terms).

• The Residential Standard Terms;
• The Packaged Service Terms (previously Multi Play Service Agreement) if applicable;
• The relevant Service Terms, including;
• Telephony, BT SmartTalk
• Broadband, Broadband Talk
• BT TV
• BT Sport
• Supporters Club
• BT Mobile
• Value Added Services
• The Special Offer Terms if applicable,
• The Tariff Guide
• The BT Privacy Policy
• Paper-free Terms and Conditions;

If any of these documents contradict each other, the terms will apply in the order set out above, save where the Special Offer Terms stipulate a price which shall take precedence over the Tariff Guide.

The terms and conditions for BT Mobile Handset Plans are made up of only the relevant BT Mobile service terms.

Click on the links above to go directly to a specific section of this document, or to the relevant Terms or the Tariff Guide.

Residential Standard Terms

The services we provide

1. We provide you with your chosen services, including Telephony, Broadband, Broadband Talk, BT TV, BT Sport, Mobile, Broadband Talk, and any other consumer services and any equipment we provide.
2. Except where you take a package of two or more individual services under a single contract, you have a separate agreement for each service that we provide to you, which is made up of these Residential Standard Terms, the relevant service terms ( telephony, broadband, broadband talk, BT TV, BT Sport, Supporters Club, mobile, value added services) the Tariff Guide and any applicable Special Offer Terms. If you take a package of two or more individual services under a single contract the Package Services Terms (previously the Multi Play Service Agreement) will also apply to the services contained in that package.
3. The services and equipment we provide to you under these terms are for personal non-business use.

Providing the service (access/permits)

4. You agree to follow any reasonable instructions that we may give you, and to allow us access to your premises if we need it.
5. You also agree to try to get any permission needed from someone else if we have to cross their land or put our equipment on their premises.
6. You agree to look after any of our equipment. If you do not do so and the equipment is damaged other than through fair wear and tear, you will, have to pay for it to be repaired or replaced. If the equipment includes batteries you agree that you are responsible for ensuring these are recharged or replaced as required.

Where we provide your communications services

7. We will deliver any equipment to the UK address you give us. We will provide the service in the UK unless the service terms say otherwise.

When we provide your communications services

8. Your agreement with us starts on the date we accept your order for the service either on the phone or online (as the case may be). The minimum period starts from the date we start to provide you with the service as set out in the relevant service terms and the Packaged Services Terms (if applicable).
9. If the service is intended to last for a minimum period, details will be set out in the Special Offer terms or the Tariff Guide.

Your Cancellation Rights

10. You have a right to change your mind and cancel an order for a service, digital content or equipment as the case may be, within the first 14 days, subject to the following paragraphs:

1. If we supply you with services you will have 14 days to change your mind from the day after the day we accept your order. If you cancel after we start to provide the service, you must pay the service subscription charge for any period that the service was made available to you and for any use of that service not covered by the subscription charge, up to the date that you told us you wanted to cancel. You will also need to pay any connection or activation charges associated with that service – including the full cost of charges that were discounted or advertised as free as a condition of taking the service on the terms that you agreed when we accepted your order. You will not have the right to change your mind once the service has been completed.
2. If we supply you with digital content you will have 14 days to change your mind from the day after the day we accept your order. You will not have the right to do this if we have made the digital content available to you and/or you have started to download, stream or watch that digital content.
3. If we supply you with equipment as part of your services contract you will have 14 days to change your mind from the day after the day you place your order. If you cancel after receiving equipment from us you must return the equipment within 14 days of telling us that you have cancelled.

11. If you cancel a service as set out in paragraph 10 above, your Agreement in respect of any equipment we supply that is needed to use that service will not end until you have returned the equipment to us (which must be sent to us within 14 days of cancelling). If you return the equipment we will refund anything you have already paid for it, but we may reduce that refund by an appropriate amount up to the full value of the refund where the equipment is damaged or we consider that the equipment has been used more than absolutely necessary to verify that it was fit for purpose.
12. We will treat any failure to return the equipment within 14 days of cancelling as a serious breach and immediately end your Agreement. If we do this and you did not pay for the equipment in full – you will be liable to pay the full price of the equipment. If you subsequently return the equipment to us, we will waive or refund what you have been charged for the equipment.
13. Unless otherwise agreed by us or as set out in these terms and conditions, you are responsible for the cost of returning any equipment we have supplied for use with a service. We may offer to collect the equipment from you and if you agree, we will charge you our reasonable costs for doing so.
14. If you cancel a service outside of the cancellation period set out above, you must give us 14 days' notice if you are switching to another provider through an approved switching scheme or 30 days' notice if you are cancelling for any other reason, as further described in paragraph 24. You may be liable to pay an early termination charge as set out at www.bt.com/earlytermination.

Returning equipment

15. a. You must return any item of equipment that either:

i. you report to us as faulty; or

ii. we tell you is faulty or requires replacement for technical reasons.

b. We will supply equipment that is fit for purpose, of satisfactory quality and (where applicable) as described. If you reasonably consider that we have failed to do this and you tell us, you may be entitled to certain legal rights. During the expected life of the equipment these legal rights will include:

i. Within the first 30 days where you tell us the equipment is faulty and we accept that it is faulty, a right to have the equipment repaired or replaced or the right to a refund, as we may agree that with you;r

ii. After 30 days but within six months of you placing your order you tell us the equipment is faulty, you have the right to have your equipment repaired or replaced (or full refund if a repair or replacement is not possible);

iii. After six months but up to the expiry of the warranty for the equipment that we have supplied to you, the right to have the equipment repaired or replaced, and if that is not possible or doesn't work, a right to a price reduction.

c. If you exercise these legal rights you must return the faulty equipment to us. We will provide you with the required packaging to do this and we will pay the costs of postage.

d. Where we agree to replace faulty equipment, we may replace such equipment before you return it to us, but you must still return the item.

e. We may test any item reported as faulty by you, and if it is found to be working, we may choose to either return or replace it (if we have not already replaced the item).

f. If within 30 days of us replacing equipment that either you report to us as faulty or we ask you to return, you have not returned that equipment, we may either interrupt or restrict access to any service that you take from us until the relevant item is returned, or seek to recover our costs in respect of that item from you via your bill. This does not affect your statutory rights relating to equipment which is faulty or wrongly described.

Your use of your communications service

16. The service is for your own personal use and enjoyment. You must always follow our acceptable use policies in the way that you use your chosen services which can be found on www.bt.com/acceptableuse. You must not use the service or allow the service to be used to make offensive, indecent, menacing, nuisance or hoax calls or to cause annoyance, inconvenience, needless anxiety or distress to yourself or others.
17. You agree that any content, software or other copyright material we supply to you is for your own private use, and that you must not copy, change or publish the material or supply it to any other person or use it for any business purpose.
18. If we provide you with a phone number, you agree to the following:

1. That the number must not be advertised in or on a BT phone box. If this happens, we may suspend or end your agreement for the service. However, we will write to you before we take this action.
2. That you do not own the phone number and that you will not transfer it to anyone else or try to do so.

19. If you want to connect equipment to our network other than by using a BT main phone socket, you must get our permission. You agree not to connect equipment to our network:

1. that does not bear the European Consumer Equipment Standards 'CE' mark; or
2. that may harm the network or other customers' equipment.

If you do, you must disconnect it immediately.

20. If you have an internet access service from us, you accept that you are using the internet at your own risk. You are responsible for making sure any equipment you use to access the service is protected against viruses.
21. If your service includes elements provided by BT Yahoo! you will need to agree to any additional terms of service you are presented with when you access that service. However, BT remains responsible for providing your BT Yahoo! service and handling your personal data.
22. You are responsible for properly using any user IDs, personal identification numbers (PINs) and passwords needed for the service, if any, and must take all necessary steps to make sure that you keep these confidential and secure, use them properly and do not make these available to unauthorised people.
23. Sometimes, when using your internet service, you may receive an 'error message'. For example, this can happen if you incorrectly type an address into the browser address bar or try to use a hyperlink or URL that is broken. In those types of circumstances, we may return results which we think are relevant or helpful to find what you are looking for. We will assume we have your permission to do this, unless you ask us not to. We will give you the opportunity to opt out of this facility on the first occasion that it applies to your use of your internet service.

Ending the service

24. Once we have provided the service, you may tell us to stop providing it at any time, either by giving 14 days' notice if you are switching to another provider through an approved switching process, or by giving 30 days' notice if you are leaving for any other reason. We will accept an order you place with another provider using an approved switching process as notice, or from you direct via phone. You can contact us to give notice using any of the contact details set out on your last BT bill or any other means of contact we have given you, for that purpose. We can stop providing the service to you by giving you 30 days' written notice.
25. If you cancel your direct debit without contacting us to arrange payment by alternative means we may end any agreement you have for the services you take from BT. We'll tell you if we intend to do this and if you're still within a minimum term contract for any of those services, you'll have to pay the charge – as set out in the relevant service terms – by way of compensation to us for ending those services early. You can find details of these charges in the Tariff Guide and on www.bt.com/termcharges.
26. If you or we end the agreement for the service, we will pay back to you any money we owe you relating to that agreement. We will first take off any money you owe us under that agreement or any other agreement between us. Where we provide you with a range of communications services and you owe us money for one service we reserve the right to charge you for that service via the bills we send you for your other services, unless there is a genuine dispute between us regarding one of your services.

Moving home

27. If you move home within the UK, and let us know at least 14 days before you do so we will continue to provide your communications service by whatever technology is available at your new address in line with our home mover policy (available on www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/homemove) and the terms set out in the relevant service terms.

Paying for the service

28. You agree to pay all charges for the equipment and the service, including any additional charges detailed in these terms, the Tariff Guide or the Price List, whether you use the service or someone else does. You will be able to review these prices when placing your order online or we will tell you what they are when placing your order via our call centre. The method of payment will be either as set out in the service terms or as we otherwise agree with you.
29. We will normally bill you upfront (in advance) for any rental charges for the service. We will bill you later for any usage charges for your communications services. If possible, charges will appear on your next bill, but sometimes charges may appear on a later bill.
30. Your first bill will be produced shortly after we have provided the service to you for the first time. After that, bills will be produced at regular intervals. However, we may sometimes produce a bill at a different time, for example if the amount of money you owe us is considerably higher than expected. We deliver bills to you either by post or by making the bill available to view online. Some services require that your bills are delivered in a particular way. We will tell you if this is the case. If you receive a paper bill, it will be posted to the address where the service is provided unless otherwise agreed by us. Online bills are available for you to view at www.bt.com/youraccount.
31. If you take broadband service from BT and receive a paper bill, you must pay a Paper Bill Fee as set out in the Tariff Guide for the regular monthly or quarterly bills that we post to you. This fee covers the additional production and postage costs associated with this type of bill. You can avoid paying this fee by opting to have your bills delivered online.
32. You will not have to pay a Paper Bill Fee if you are a BT Basic or Line Rental Plus customer or you have Network Controlled Calling on your telephone line. The Paper Bill Fee will not apply to reminders or initial, final, supplemental and interim bills. If we have agreed to send you a bill in an alternative format, e.g. braille or large print, or if you require a bill that serves as a VAT invoice for reclaim purposes, the Paper Bill Fee will not be charged. If we post multiple regular bills to you, e.g. because a service you take from BT is billed separately from your other services, you will only need to pay the Paper Bill Fee for the bill that includes your telephone and/or broadband charges.
33. You agree to pay the charges as soon as you receive your bill unless otherwise agreed by us. You may also need to pay a deposit or a payment upfront before you can receive the service or goods. If you think that the charges on your bill are incorrect and wish to dispute those charges, you must tell us straight away. You must pay any charges that are not disputed. We will not suspend or end a service while we investigate any dispute.
34. If you do not pay your bill, we will send you a reminder or call you. If we do not receive payment within 10 calendar days of the date of that reminder (seven days if you pay monthly), we may add a late payment charge of £7.50 to your next bill by way of compensation to us for breaking the terms of this agreement. We may also charge you £10 by way of compensation to us for any direct debit or cheque payments which are returned to us because you do not have enough funds in your account. The charges set out in this paragraph are not subject to VAT.
35. We will generally not suspend or end the service or the agreement for non-payment of your bill until 28 days after your payment was due (21 days if you pay monthly). If however you have failed to pay on time a recent bill or have failed to pay a bill on many occasions we may end the service earlier than 28 days (or 21 days if you pay monthly).
36. If you do not pay your bill, we may ask a debt-collection agency to collect the payment on our behalf. If we do, you will have to pay us an extra amount by way of compensation to us for breaking the terms of this agreement. This will not be more than the reasonable costs we have to pay the agency, who will add the amount to your debt on our behalf (this will depend on the amount you owe us). Any extra amount added to your bill will not be subject to VAT. This paragraph applies even if your agreement with us has ended or 21 days if you pay monthly.
37. By agreeing to take service from BT you also agree to allow us to share your payment history data with BT with credit reference agencies. If we choose to do so we will share your personal data under contract and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 with recognised and reputable credit reference agencies such as, for example, Experian and/or Equifax.
38. If you have agreed that we should not send you a paper bill, we will tell you by email when your bill is available to view on-line. Not all of our services are available with paper-free billing.

Our rights when we provide the service

39. We may monitor and record calls relating to customer services and telemarketing. We do this for training purposes and to improve the quality of our customer services. We also record all calls to the 999 or 112 emergency services.
40. Occasionally, we may have to:

1. interrupt the service. If we do so, we will restore it as quickly as we can;
2. change your area code or phone number, or access numbers; or
3. make minor changes to certain technical specifications, this may include (but is not limited to) limits for transferring information which are associated with the service and the technology we use to provide the service to you.

Our Responsibility to you when we provide the service

41. We accept responsibility if you are injured or die as a result of our negligence. We will not limit this responsibility.
42. We also accept responsibility for loss or damage to your physical property arising from our negligence. We will pay up to £1 million in any 12-month period for this loss or damage.
43. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the service or the equipment we provide will never be faulty. Our liability for faults in the services or equipment we provide is detailed in the relevant service terms. If you experience repeated continuous or intermittent faults with our services, or we agree that the standard of service you receive is consistently below what you might reasonably expect, we may, following an individual assessment, allow you to end your contract for the affected service without penalty.
44. Unless the service terms say otherwise, we have no responsibility to pay you compensation for financial loss, for any information which is lost or corrupted, or for any loss that could not have been reasonably expected. We will not be liable to you for any losses that you may suffer if you have used the service or equipment we provide for business purposes.
45. Except as described in paragraphs 42 and 43, we will not pay you more than £10,000 in compensation (even if we have been negligent) in any 12-month period unless the service terms say otherwise.
46. Nothing in paragraphs 42 to 46 affects your statutory rights relating to equipment which is faulty or has been described wrongly.
47. If any paragraph that limits our responsibility to you is disallowed or is not effective, the other paragraphs will continue to apply.

Matters beyond our reasonable control

48. Sometimes we may not be able to do what we have agreed because of something beyond our reasonable control, which may include: lightning, flood, severe weather, fire, explosion, terrorist activities, anything done by Government or other competent authority, or industrial disputes. In these cases, we do not accept responsibility for not providing you with your chosen services.

If you break the agreement

49. For serious misuse as described in paragraphs 13, 17 and 18 we may suspend the service – either in part or fully, or end the agreement for the service immediately. Otherwise we will normally give you an opportunity to put matters right within a reasonable time if you break the agreement.
50. However, if you do not do so, we may suspend or end the agreement for the service. We may also suspend or restrict the service or end the agreement for the service if you break any other agreement you have with us and do not put matters right within a reasonable time. If we suspend the service or end the agreement for the service, we will tell you what needs to be done before we can restore the service.
51. Sometimes we may choose to ignore it if you break one of our terms and conditions, or we may choose not to enforce a particular term. But even if we do this, we can still choose to enforce that term or take action because you break that or any other term in the future.

Sorting out complaints

52. From time to time you may need to contact us to sort out a problem that you're having with us. Our Customer Complaints Code sets out how you can contact us and the process for dealing with any complaint or dispute you may have. You can see a copy of the code online at www.bt.com/complaintscode. Alternatively, you can ask us to send a copy of the code to you. We will try our best to work through any complaint or dispute that you may have with us. However, if we cannot do this, you may be able to refer the matter to a dispute resolution service and get an independent view. Details of how and when to refer a dispute, are set out in our Customer Complaints Code.

Changing the price, the charges and the terms of this agreement

53. Sometimes we will need to change the price, or other charges, or terms and conditions for a service (which can include amending these Residential Standard Terms or any applicable service terms). Paragraph 54 and 55 below set out when we can do this. Paragraphs 56, 57 and 58 set out the notice that we must give you, and paragraph 59 sets out your rights to cancel a service where the terms and conditions for that service are changed in a way that causes you material disadvantage without paying any charges for leaving before the end of your minimum term.
54. We may change the price, or other charges (including introducing a new price or charge), or the terms and conditions for any of the following reasons:
1. If we materially change, or add to the service you receive (for example, if we increase the maximum up-load speed for your broadband service, or add new types of calls to your inclusive calling plan);
2. We introduce new products, or services which we wish to make a charge for (for example, we launch a new calling feature);
3. We wish to change the way we structure our products and services and the price we charge for those;
4. The cost to us of providing your products or services increases (for example, the businesses we buy services or products from increase their prices so that it costs us more to buy them);
5. We add features or benefits to your products or services, or introduce new features or benefits (for example, if we add new TV channels to your BT TV pack);
6. We add to, or change the way we provide products and services to you (for example, we introduce new ways to receive BT TV content);
7. The cost to us of running our business increases;
8. We reorganise the way in which we structure, or run our business which results in additional costs to us;
9. To reflect changes or developments in technology (for example, the way we provide the service to you may develop over time, or new ways to pay for our service may be introduced, or we may develop and introduce new systems which provide you with a better service);
10. As a consequence of any change in the law, regulation or regulatory guidance applicable to us (for example, if there is a VAT increase);
11. To make the terms and conditions clearer or easier to understand;
12. To change the terms and conditions in a way that does not cause you any material disadvantage.
55. Because we do not provide our services for a fixed duration and because we cannot always predict what the future may hold we may need to make other changes in circumstances other than those set out at paragraph 54 above. We may therefore change the price, the charges and the terms and conditions for any other reason. But if we decide to do so we will give you notice in accordance with paragraph 57 and we will give you the opportunity to leave a service where the terms and conditions for that service have been varied under this paragraph without paying any early termination charges.
56. If we change the price, the charges, or the terms and conditions as set out in paragraph 54, we will tell you at least 30 days in advance of the changes happening, except where the change is for legal or regulatory reasons as set out in paragraph 54(J) or it is a change that does not cause you any material disadvantage.
1. If we make a change for legal or regulatory reasons, we do not need to tell you about it 30 days before it happens if, because of the nature of the reason for the change, it is not possible or practicable to give you such notice. If this happens, we will tell you as soon as we can, either before or after we make the change.
2. If we make a change that is not to your material disadvantage we do not need to tell you about it 30 days before it happens but we will always tell you about it in writing, either before or shortly after we make the change.
57. Where we vary the service under paragraph 55 above we will give you 30 days' notice of the variation.
58. Any notice under paragraph 56 or 57 above will be in writing. This can include letter, email, with your bill or by any other written method or, in the case of any change that is not to your material disadvantage, by publishing it on our website. Other than a change that is not to your material disadvantage we will always make sure that the variation is drawn to your attention prominently.
59. If we change the price, charges or terms and conditions for a service you may end that service by giving us notice under paragraph 24. If you do so then except for any variation made under paragraph 54(J) (a variation for legal or regulatory reasons), if any change that we make to that service under either paragraph 54 or paragraph 55 is to your material disadvantage, then you will have 30 days' from the date we tell you about the change to contact us directly to tell us you want to cancel your contract. If you do so and then cancel your contract for the service then:
1. you won't have to pay any increased price or charge for your service during the notice period, and if you have already paid the higher price or charge we will refund the difference to you in your next or final bill;
2. if the service is in a minimum term you may end your service without paying any early termination charge;
3. you won't have to pay any cease charges for ending that service or any deferred prices for any equipment that would otherwise become payable for ending that service;
4. we will also end any other service that you take from BT which cannot be provided without the service you've chosen to end. Paragraphs 59 (b) and (c) above will then apply and you won't have to pay early termination charges, cease charges or deferred prices for any equipment.

Other things we need to tell you

60. You accept that the agreement for the service is personal to you and agree not to transfer it to anyone else, or to try to do so. However, we may take instructions from a person who we think, with good reason, is acting with your permission. We can transfer the agreement for the service to another company provided this does not adversely affect your rights under the agreement.
61. When we need to contact you, we will use your billing address, e-mail address, mobile or fixed phone number. If you need to contact us, please use the address on your last bill or any other postal address, e-mail address or phone number we have given to you for that purpose.
62. You accept that when you order goods and services from us we may make enquiries about you for credit reference purposes. These enquires include searching your records held by Experian / Equifax or any other credit reference agency and checking any details held on you by the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) Security Alert or any other fraud prevention scheme. At all times where your information is disclosed to us we will protect it and keep it secure in accordance with our privacy policy, which can be viewed online at www.bt.com. Data we hold about you may also be used for fraud prevention purposes and this may include sharing your personal data in confidence with third party companies, including other communication companies.
63. No third party is entitled to enforce any term under this agreement under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Paper-free Terms and Conditions

Paper-free billing means you'll receive your BT bill online. You'll stop receiving a paper bill through the post. When your bill is available we'll send you an email to let you know. You can then log in via the Your Account section on BT.com to view your bill and download and print it if you need to.

Plus, with paper-free billing:

• You'll reduce the amount of paper you use
• You'll get free 24/7 secure online access to your account
• You can view your call costs which are updated daily

Your bills will be held online for a maximum of 6 months. If you wish to keep a record of your invoices for personal use simply save it to your computer hard drive or make a paper copy by printing it out.

Paper-free billing is provided free of charge, but your Internet service provider may charge you to connect to bt.com.

Paper-free billing is available to all BT residential customers.

Bills are only available in English at present.

You must keep your BT.com user account updated with a valid email address as we will email you to let you know when your bill is available to view. If you are a Monthly Payment Plan customer and wish to clear all or part of the balance of your account when you get your bill, you can make a payment using the online debit card payment option. The payment will be shown on your next bill.

Similarly, if you are a Monthly Payment Plan customer and you order additional equipment from BT, we may send you a separate bill which you will need to pay as well as your normal monthly payments. You can also pay this using the online debit card payment option.

If you need a VAT statement, you can download it as a PDF file. This can then be saved to your computer hard drive or printed out. Please contact us at http://www.bt.com/personal/contactus if you require a VAT statement.

You may change back to paper billing at any time by contacting us.

We will only pass your details on to third parties as explained in our terms and conditions and in our privacy policy, which you can view online at www.bt.com/privacypolicy.

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