Why am I charged Line Rental charge for a Broadband Only package?

[#1]

I have had the Unlimited Fibre Extra package for years now, and my phone line is with BT and I pay them for the line rental. I've been out of contract for the last couple of years because I never actually come here or think about my broadband package, it's just there, in the background. I popped in to see if Full Fibre is available to me yet (it is not) and saw the alert telling me that I can renew my contract to drop from £29 to £24 a month. 

I thought that would be a good way to save some pennies until FTTP come out here, especially as prices are about to go up anyway. However, I was a little confused when I went to upgrade my package that the only one available to me seems to include line rental - albeit deferred for two years, after which the contract expires and then it would go from £24 a month (for just broadband) to £48 a month (for broadband and line rental) as both would be charged. 

I get that I am effectively renewing my "broadband charges only" contract for the two years of the contract, and that's fine, but if (as is entirely likely) I never bother coming in here again and the contract lapses, can anyone explain how Plusnet can then charge £23 line rental for a line that is with BT and not them? I understand paying Plusnet if the line was with them as well as the broadband, but it is not, I just have their broadband on someone else's line. Effectively I would be paying line rental twice, once to BT and once to Plusnet (which, I know, would really be twice to BT lol), 

Seems a little off to me, maybe my tiny dinosaur brain is missing something but it seems to me a bit like paying road tax to the government AND paying road tax to the company I lease the car from that uses the roads.  

[#2]

Plusnet no longer (and haven't done for quite some time) done Broadband only (other than on FTTP where there isn't any copper line or voice component available).  I think you must be on a legacy package if you're Broadband only.  By re-contracting Plusnet would be taking over the phone line and so your BT contract would be terminated.  I think that's how it works at least.

[#3]

@dogsounds Something doesn't sound right here. How long have you been a Plusnet customer for Broadband? Unless I am totally wrong here, AFAIK PN have never sold FTTC as a standalone package.

[#4]

@pjmarsh - did PN ever offer FTTC as a 'standalone' component? I seem to remember customers moving from ADSL BB only having to take the line rental with PN as well?

[#5]

@jab1, I think they did, but wouldn't want to put even 50p on it!

[#6]

@jab1 they did, I was on FTTC broadband only when I joined in 2016.

[#7]

fair enough, @pjmarsh - and  neither would I.

[#8]

Thanks, @Browni -FTTC wasn't available round here when I joined in 2012, and ADSL was 'good enough' for what I needed - but I wouldn't go back to it now. 😀

[#9]

I've had Plusnet BB for well over 15 years I think, started out on Force 9 dial up before then in the early 2000s and then they got taken over by PN. My current Unlimited Fibre Extra was just for broadband only, no line takeover, and I have had that for several years. It was last renewed in 2018. 

[#10]

@dogsounds OK, @Browni confirms it was possible back then, but I wasn't aware.

[#11]

Popping back to December 2019 they were doing Broadband Only.  January 2020 the menu doesn't include it, so it might have been around then that it was stopped being offered.

[#12]

 Yeah.I've had PN since tey took over Force 9, although I can't recall exactly when I first took the current Unlimited Fibre Extra package. 

If you are saying that Plusnet now MUST take over the BT line if I renew my package then that stops me in my tracks, as I am not the actual BT account holder of the line (it is my parents who own the line, I provide our broadband on it). I guess I will just have to stay out of contract until the day FTTP becomes available as I can't risk messing up their BT service. Curses!

[#13 · Accepted solution]

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@dogsounds wrote:

If you are saying that Plusnet now MUST take over the BT line if I renew my package

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That's correct. Apologies for the disappointment!

Also for reference, I'm sure we offered broadband only packages since the very beginning, because that's how we started. We only began to offer landline phone packages later on, still many years ago.

Digging through the depths of the interweb, it looks like we launched our first fibre package in 2010 which we offered as either solus (broadband only) with a small surcharge, or dual play with a landline phone.

Additionally, we did indeed retire our broadband only packages from sale in December 2019. As it stands today, the only form of broadband only product we offer is for a full fibre service.

[#14]

That answers my question perfectly, thanks

I shall have to think and decide whether to stay off-contract for now until FTTP ( and go up to £34 next month with the price rise) or risk renewing and hope I don't forget to renew again in two years

[#15]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to My Account / BIlling