Is there a way to keep my email address when I switch internet providers?

A recent survey by Which? revealed that 10% of the UK have never changed providers because they are worried about losing their email addresses. So, can you switch without having to ditch your email account? The answer is – probably, but it all depends on which provider you’re with.

Most of the big providers give customers a free email address when joining. Some of these – think @tiscali.co.uk, @ntlworld.com and @sky.com – have been used for years as customer’s main point of contact. They’re more than just emails, they become archives for important info and used for all subscriptions. The inconvenience of not being able to keep these is huge.

But never switching costs the consumer an average of £98 a year. Ofcom reports that that millions of people in the UK are out of contract for their phone, broadband or pay-TV service and paying too much because of this.

Which providers let you keep your email address?

The good news is most providers let you keep your email address after cancelling, although some will charge for this. In fact, the only company that point blank won’t let you is Virgin Media. Those who leave will have their email account terminated and closed 90 days later.

Policies all vary, we’ve summed up what to expect from each provider.

Can I keep my email address if I leave BT?

If you’ve been with BT and you cancel you can keep your email but it’ll be downgraded to a Basic version with less features. Or, you can choose to keep your email with all the same features by getting Premium email which costs £7.50 a month. One way to keep your Premium email without paying for it is by linking it it a friend or family member’s BT Broadband and then you’ll be able to keep it for free.

Can I keep my email address if I leave Sky?

Yes, you can keep your Sky email address after you leave without paying any fees. However, Sky will eventually close down inactive accounts, so you need to use it not to lose it.

Can I keep my email address if I leave Plusnet?

Plusnet used to charge a small monthly fee for this service but this charge was scrapped in February 2024. You can now keep your Plusnet email for free, as long as you notify Plusent before cancelling your contract and continue to regularly use your account. If you don’t notify them, your email account will be deleted when you leave.

Can I keep my email address if I leave Virgin Media?

No. If you leave Virgin Media broadband you will have access to your email account for 90 days and then when that period is up, the account will be closed and all your messages and contacts will all be permanently deleted.

Can I keep my email address if I leave TalkTalk?

You can keep your TalkTalk email address after cancelling but you’ll need to pay a fee. Ex customers are required to subscribe to TalkTalk Mail Plus, which costs £5 a month or £50 for the year. Those who choose not to will have their account closed and deleted within 12 months.

Think about moving your email to a free email service

If you don’t want to risk being held ransom by a broadband provider, there are lots of free email services available that are quick and easy to set up. These often help you transfer information from your existing email account such as your contacts and the messages you already have. You can also set up these accounts on the ‘Mail’ app on your smartphone so you can easily access your emails without having to log in via an internet browser.

Gmail is a great free choice. It’s easy to use and a generous 15GB of free storage. It also integrates with other Google applications, so you can synch your calendar, docs and drive. It’s good with security two and has two-step verification and strong spam filtering.