What leaving your contract early costs
Type the figures from your latest bill or your online account: what you pay a month, how many months are left, any balance still owed on the phone, and the early termination charge your network quotes.
- Cost of leaving today
- £338.00
- Cost of staying to the end
- £320.00
Leaving now costs £18.00 more than running the contract to its end, because most phone agreements make you pay the remaining instalments either way.
If you could move to a £12.00 plan today, you would save £104.00 over the 8 months left — which is why the settlement figure matters so much.
Ask your network for a settlement figure in writing before you cancel — they must give one, and it is the only number that counts. If you signed within the last 14 days you can normally cancel under the cooling-off rules, and if the network raised your price mid-term you may be able to leave without the early charge.
On a phone contract the handset is usually a separate credit agreement, so its outstanding balance is due in full whichever way you go. An airtime-only agreement may carry a smaller capped exit fee instead. Read the termination clause in your own agreement.
Why leaving early usually costs the same as staying
On most UK phone contracts the handset is paid for in monthly instalments under a separate credit agreement. If you leave early, the remaining instalments normally fall due in full, so you pay the same amount as you would have paid by staying — plus the airtime you have used. That is why the two figures here sit so close together, and why an early exit is rarely a saving.
An airtime-only agreement (a SIM without a phone) is often cheaper to leave. Some charge a percentage of the remaining months as an administration fee, others cap the charge, and some let a rolling 30-day plan go with a month's notice for nothing at all. Your own agreement's termination clause is what decides it.
Get the settlement figure first
Ask your network for a settlement figure in writing before you cancel. They must give one on request, and it is the number that shows exactly what it costs to close the account — including any instalments still owed on the handset and any discount you received that has to be paid back. Do not rely on a chat answer, and do not cancel before you have seen it.
There are exceptions worth knowing about. If you signed up in the last 14 days, the cooling-off rules usually let you cancel for little or nothing. If your network raised your price mid-contract and you told them you would not accept the rise, you may be able to leave early without the charge. And if the network cannot provide the service it promised, that is a different conversation again — put it in writing.
When it still pays to leave
Leaving can be right even when it costs money: if your bill is far above the market and the balance is small, paying an administration fee to move to a plan a fifth of the price can be back within months. The calculator's cheaper-plan figure shows what that gap is worth over the months you have left, so you can see whether the settlement is worth paying.
Coverage information comes from each network's own checker and from Ofcom's Map Your Mobile. Contract and roaming rules follow Ofcom's guidance for phone customers. CompareDirect does not sell phones, SIMs or contracts, and takes no commission from the buyers listed here.
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