BT Services early termination charge - how to avoid?

[Schermerhorn]

As many of you guys many know, BT give you a minimum 24 month contract for a business. I pay £55 per month for Broadband and my Telephone line and I am happy enough with their service but I have decided to stop trading to focus on other ventures and give my family more time.

I have notified Companies House of this and the business is in the process of being struck off (and with it the bank accounts etc will be subsequently closed also).

Now, I have told BT of this and they have sent me an Early Termination bill totalling £651 + VAT to close it. Now, this seems quite high for just a termination fee and unfair (though understandable on their part) given that no more trading will happen and there is no more use for their services so what is there to charge for? I understand they want a return on their products and services but is there a way to avoid paying this entirely or reducing it significantly?

Can I liquidate the business and show there are no assets (which is what the lady over the phone subtly hinted at) or is there a more ethical way of going about it?

Regards

Scherm

Edited by Schermerhorn on Tuesday 28th March 12:16

[Schermerhorn]

Mr Overheads said:

If the Ltd Co entity no longer exists then they have no one to chase for the debt. Cancel the DD and ignore the bill.

Is this method a dead cert?

It will take 2 months for my company to be closed down at CH and BT may give me 28 days to pay the bill from the end of the notification period (21st April 2017 they said). I am happy to pay the April bill but beyond that I really don't want to pay anything extra.

[Schermerhorn]

Mr Overheads said:

Imagine for a second that the contract is with you personally. And presume you have no assets to your name, no house, no car, no cash in the bank etc. You then drop dead tomorrow. So you as an entity cease to exist. Who would BT chase for payment, there is no estate to chase and you don't exist.

So an asset less folded company is the same.

But surely even if the company folded, they would just check Companies House records and see that I am the (ex) director of the firm and just come knocking on my door where I reside?

[Schermerhorn]

Different opinions which is quite interesting.

When I terminated my British Gas supply I put it back onto the name of the landlord and paid £0.00.

This is interesting and I need some more consistent answers before deciding on which course of action to take. The BT Accounts manager lady's were quite interesting though, 'if you have no assets and have liquidated the company BT cannot come after you'.

PS the original contract started Decemmber 2015. We moved premises in September 2016 and carried on with the same number but BT applied another 24 month contract.

Is there any maneovurability here?