Internet providers should make it easier for customers to cancel contracts – Wirral MP

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29 Nov 2023
Parliament has been dissolved until after the general election and I am no longer an MP.

Margaret Greenwood MP has suggested that internet providers should have a simple option on their websites for customers to be able to cancel their contracts.  

This, she argued, would make it easier for people to get out of contracts where they are perfectly entitled to do so, but where they may face difficulty in cancelling their contract with their provider on the phone or via an online chat function. 

The Wirral West MP was speaking in the House of Commons as MPs debated the government’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. 

The bill sets out new provisions to tackle so-called “subscription traps”, including new cancellation requirements. However, it is expected that, as currently drafted, subscription contracts between consumers and internet providers would be excluded from the scope of the bill. 

Labour’s shadow minister, Alex Davies-Jones, who has been leading for the opposition on scrutinising the bill, said that Margaret Greenwood had “made an important point about an issue faced by all our constituents who are struggling to get out of contracts that do not give value for money.”  

Speaking after the debate, Margaret Greenwood MP said: 

“I was pleased to be able to raise this issue in the House of Commons. 

“People can often face difficulties when trying to get out of contracts with their internet provider. 

“It can be an extremely frustrating experience to spend hours on the phone or to communicate via a bot online; even when customers do eventually get through, the person on the other end of the phone often tries to talk them out of cancelling. 

“This can be especially frustrating during the cost of living crisis when people need to be able to control their outgoings quickly and efficiently. 

“Internet providers should be required to have a simple and prominent ‘cancel my contract’ button on their websites, easily visible to anyone who is logged in.  

“That would save people lots of time and a huge amount of frustration. 

“It cannot be right that people have to face unnecessary hurdles just to cancel an internet contract.”

Promoted by and on behalf of Margaret Greenwood MP, 20 Rushworth Street, London SE1 0SS


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