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Who Actually Owns Your Broadband Account, Your Phone Number and Your Email?

By Adrian James, Broadband Editor · Reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith · 25 July 2026

The rule that explains everything

A UK broadband account has one named account holder, not two. Your provider can normally only take instructions from that one person. Almost every difficulty people run into during a bereavement, a separation or a parent's decline comes from assuming it works like a joint bank account. It does not.

Nobody thinks about who owns their broadband account until something happens. Then it turns out that the contract belongs to one person, the phone number belongs to nobody, the email address belongs to the provider, and the router has to go back. Four things, four completely different sets of rules. This page explains all four, and what level of authority you need to change each one.

The short version

  • One account holder. Not two. Adding someone as an "authorised user" does not make them a holder, and does not make them liable.
  • You do not own your phone number. Ofcom allocates numbers to providers, who assign them to you. You have a right to move it, not a right to keep it forever.
  • You do not own your provider's email address. It is a service, not property, and it usually stops working a set time after the broadband does.
  • One bill is not one account. Mobile is very often a separate account from broadband, even inside the same company.
  • Authority comes in levels. Paying someone's bills and closing their account need completely different paperwork.

The one rule: one account holder, not two

Direct answer: most UK telecoms contracts are between the provider and a single named individual. Ofcom puts it plainly, noting that most telephone contracts are between the provider and one named person.

This is the fact that everything else on this page hangs off, and it surprises people because so much else in a household is shared. The mortgage might be joint. The current account might be joint. The council tax might be in both names. The broadband, almost certainly, is not.

Providers do let you add other people to an account, but there is an important distinction hiding in the wording. An authorised user or nominated contact can usually discuss the account and sometimes make small changes. They are not liable for the bill, and they generally cannot close the account or move it into their own name. An account holder is liable and can do everything. The two are not the same thing, and the person who has been paying the direct debit for eleven years may still be neither.

Genuine joint accounts do exist in some cases. Ofcom's bereavement guidance says that where an account is held in joint names, it should be put into the surviving person's name on request, which tells us joint holdings are possible. But they are the exception rather than the rule. The only way to know is to look at your contract and see whose name is actually on it. It is worth doing that today rather than in the week after a funeral.

The four assets on every account

Direct answer: whatever your situation, there are only ever four things that need dealing with, and each one follows a different rule.

The four assets on a broadband account and who controls each A diagram showing one account holder at the top, connected to four assets below. The contract is controlled by the account holder and determines who is liable. The phone numbers are not owned by anyone but can be ported by the account holder. The email mailbox is owned by the provider and is deleted after the contract ends. The equipment is owned by the provider and must be returned when the account closes. ONE ACCOUNT HOLDER the only person the provider will take instructions from 1 · THE CONTRACT Who owns it The account holder What it decides Who is liable for the bill and whose credit file is at risk On a life change Transfers only with the holder's consent, or with legal authority 2 · THE NUMBERS Who owns it Nobody What it decides Ofcom allocates to providers, who assign to you On a life change Can be kept, but only if you act before the line is ceased 3 · THE MAILBOX Who owns it The provider What it decides A service under their terms, not property you hold On a life change Closing the broadband starts a deletion clock. Often irreversible. 4 · THE KIT Who owns it The provider What it decides Routers and boxes are usually loaned, not sold On a life change Must go back, or a non-return fee applies Four assets, four different rules. Only the first one is really "yours".
The four assets. People assume all four move together when a household changes. None of them do.

Who owns your phone number?

Direct answer: nobody does. Not you, and strictly speaking not your provider either.

UK telephone numbers are a public resource. Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom maintains the National Telephone Numbering Plan and allocates blocks of numbers to communications providers. Those providers then assign individual numbers to their customers. At no point does anyone acquire ownership.

How a UK telephone number is allocated rather than owned A three-step chain. Ofcom holds the National Telephone Numbering Plan and allocates blocks of numbers to communications providers. Providers assign individual numbers to subscribers. The subscriber uses the number and has a right to port it to another provider, but does not own it. If the line is ceased rather than transferred, the number returns to the pool. A number is lent down a chain, never sold OFCOM Holds the National Telephone Numbering Plan. Allocates blocks. YOUR PROVIDER Holds an allocated block. Assigns one number to you. YOU Use it. Right to port it. No ownership. Cease the line instead of transferring it and the number goes back up the chain. That is usually the end of it.
Allocated, assigned, used. The practical consequence is that a number survives a change of provider but not always a change of circumstance.

What you do have is a regulatory right to take your number with you when you change provider, which is what porting means. For mobile, Ofcom's text-to-switch rules let you text PAC to 65075, and the network must send your code back within one minute. Landline numbers can also be ported, though the process runs through the providers rather than a text message.

The bit that catches people out

A number is only safe while a line is live or being transferred. If a line is fully ceased, the number goes back into the pool and getting it back afterwards is usually impossible. Ofcom's own guidance stresses telling the provider you want to keep the number, and the time to do that is before anything is cancelled. Mobile numbers are typically recycled somewhere between three and twelve months after an account ends.

One important limit. Switching provider and changing account holder are different operations. One Touch Switch, live since September 2024, lets you move provider by contacting only the new one. It is not a mechanism for moving an account into a different person's name, and you should not assume a number follows automatically through a change of holder. Say out loud, on the call, that you want to keep the number.

Who owns your provider's email address?

Direct answer: the provider does. An ISP email address is a service governed by their terms, not an asset you hold, and it is generally non-transferable.

This is the one that does real damage, because an address you have used since 2004 feels like yours in a way a router never does. It is not, and the consequences arrive quickly.

When a broadband contract ends, the mailbox attached to it goes onto a clock. The length of that clock varies enormously between providers, and so does whether anything can be salvaged afterwards. Virgin Media, for instance, states that email accounts are deactivated and permanently deleted 90 days after services are disconnected, with no paid retention option and no way to move the address elsewhere. BT, by contrast, moves former broadband customers onto a free basic tier after 60 days. Sky keeps an address alive provided you sign in at least once every six months.

Why this matters more than it sounds

That mailbox is very often the password recovery address for online banking, government services, photo storage, insurance and subscriptions. Losing it does not just lose the emails. It can lock a person, or their family, out of accounts that have nothing to do with broadband at all. If a broadband account is going to close for any reason, deal with the email before you close it, not after.

Because the timescales are provider-specific and change without much fanfare, we have kept the detail in one place rather than repeating it. See our guide to keeping your email address when you switch, and check your own provider's current policy directly before you rely on any figure, including ours.

The authority ladder: what you are actually allowed to do

Direct answer: five levels, and they are not interchangeable. Being able to pay someone's bill does not mean being able to close their account.

This is the part almost nobody knows, and it includes a right that Ofcom obliges every provider in the country to offer.

The five levels of authority over someone else's telecoms account Five ascending steps. Level one, living at the address, gives no authority at all. Level two, named or authorised user, allows discussing the account only. Level three, third party bill management, allows speaking to the provider, receiving bills and paying bills, but not closing or changing the account. Level four, a registered property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney, deputyship, enduring power of attorney or benefits appointee, allows everything including closing the account. Level five, executor with grant of probate, allows dealing with the account after death. Five levels of authority, lowest to highest 1 · You just live there No authority at all, even if you pay the bill every month. 2 · Named or authorised user Can discuss the account. Cannot close it, and is not liable for it. 3 · Third party bill management: every provider must offer this Speak to provider, receive bills, pay bills. Cannot close or change. You do not become liable. 4 · Registered LPA (property and financial affairs), deputyship, EPA or benefits appointee Everything, including closing and changing the account. A health and welfare LPA does not count. 5 · Executor or administrator, after a death A death certificate usually closes an account. Probate is needed to escalate a dispute. more authority
The ladder. Level three is the one families miss. It exists specifically so a relative can help without needing a solicitor.

Level three deserves its own paragraph

Ofcom requires every telecoms provider in the UK to offer third party bill management. It lets an account holder nominate someone to speak to the provider, receive the bills and pay them. The nominated person cannot close or change the account, and importantly does not become liable for the bill.

For an ageing parent who is managing perfectly well but finds the phone calls exhausting, this is very often the right answer, and it needs no solicitor, no court and no fee. Set it up while the account holder still has capacity to ask for it, because after that the requirements change considerably.

What each level of authority actually permits
Level Speak to provider Receive bills Pay bills Close or change account
Third party bill managementYesYesYesNo
LPA, deputyship or EPAYesYesYesYes
Benefits appointeeYesYesYesYes

Permissions as set out in Ofcom's guidance on managing telecoms accounts on someone else's behalf, prepared with the Office of the Public Guardian. Only a property and financial affairs LPA is valid for a telecoms account. An ordinary power of attorney stops being valid the moment the person loses mental capacity, which is usually exactly when families reach for it.

The rules differ across the UK. Scotland uses continuing and welfare powers of attorney under the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). Northern Ireland uses enduring powers of attorney registered with the High Court through the Office of Care and Protection. Our guide to managing someone else's account covers all three jurisdictions in detail.

One bill is not one account

Direct answer: bundled broadband, landline and TV are usually a single account, but mobile is very often a separate one, even inside the same company.

BT is the clearest example. A BT broadband account and an EE mobile account are separate accounts, and each has to be notified independently even though both sit within BT Group. The same pattern repeats across the industry. One envelope, one direct debit and one app do not mean one contract.

Split handset and airtime agreements add another layer, because the device plan may be a separate credit agreement from the airtime. On a death, an outstanding device balance can be a liability of the estate.

The practical step: count the account numbers on your paperwork, not the bills. Write them down somewhere a family member could find them. That five-minute job saves a genuinely miserable afternoon later.

What this looks like in real life

The rules above are the same whatever has happened. What changes is which of them bites first.

After a death →

Why the order you do things in matters more than anything else, and what to save before you close anything.

Managing someone else's account →

Bill management, powers of attorney and deputyship, across all four UK nations.

Separation and divorce →

Moving an account between two people who are both still here, and both entitled to be difficult about it.

Leaving a shared account safely →

If the account holder is someone you are afraid of. Includes what your provider can and cannot do.

Adrian's take

The single most useful thing on this page takes five minutes and costs nothing. Find out whose name your broadband is actually in, write down every account number in the house, and note where the email password lives. Nobody does this, because it feels morbid and there is always something more pressing. But every difficult story in this cluster starts the same way, with a family discovering at the worst possible moment that the account was only ever in one person's name, and that person is no longer able to tell them anything.

Related reading on this site

None of these are things you need right now. They are here because people arriving at this page often turn out to need one of them.

Frequently asked questions

Can my broadband account be in two names?

Usually not. Most UK telecoms contracts are between the provider and one named individual, with the option to add authorised users who can discuss the account but are not liable for it. Ofcom's guidance does refer to accounts held in joint names, so genuine joint accounts exist in some cases, but they are the exception. Check your contract to see whose name it is actually in, because almost every difficulty people hit during a life change comes from assuming a telecoms account works like a joint bank account.

Do I own my phone number?

No. UK telephone numbers are a public resource. Ofcom allocates blocks of numbers to communications providers under the National Telephone Numbering Plan, and providers then assign individual numbers to their customers. Neither you nor your provider owns the number. You do have a regulatory right to take your number with you when you switch provider, which is what porting means.

Who owns my BT or Virgin Media email address?

You do not own it. An email address supplied by your broadband provider is a service governed by that provider's terms and conditions, not an asset you hold. It is generally non-transferable, and access usually ends a set period after your broadband contract ends. Virgin Media, for example, states that email accounts are deactivated and permanently deleted 90 days after services are disconnected, with no retention option.

Can I take over my partner's broadband account without them agreeing?

No. Ofcom states that it is not possible to transfer a telecoms account taken out by someone else into your name without their permission, because providers can only take instructions from the account holder. This is true even if you have been paying the bill. If the account holder will not co-operate, your practical options are to arrange a new service in your own name at the property, or to seek specialist advice.

What can I do on a relative's account if they cannot manage it themselves?

It depends on what authority you have. Ofcom requires every UK provider to offer third party bill management, which lets you speak to the provider, receive bills and pay bills, but not close or change the account. To close or change an account you need a registered property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney, a deputyship order, an enduring power of attorney, or benefits appointee status. An ordinary power of attorney stops being valid once the person loses mental capacity.

Is one bill the same as one account?

No, and this catches people out. Broadband, landline and TV bundled together are usually a single account, but mobile is very often a separate account even within the same company group. BT broadband and EE mobile, for example, are separate accounts that each need to be notified independently. Count the account numbers on your paperwork rather than the bills that arrive.

Who is liable for an unpaid broadband bill after a separation?

The named account holder. If the contract is in one person's name, that person is pursued for arrears and it is their credit file that is affected, regardless of who lived at the property or who benefited from the service. A non-account-holder's credit file should not be affected unless they were a genuine joint holder or a guarantor.

What happens to the router when an account closes?

It usually has to go back. Routers and set-top boxes are typically loaned rather than sold, so providers ask for them to be returned when an account closes and may charge a non-return fee. Providers usually supply a prepaid returns envelope or label. Recently issued or valuable mobile handsets may also need returning.

References

Written by Adrian James, Broadband Editor at BroadbandSwitch.uk. Reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith. Published 25 July 2026. All regulatory positions verified against Ofcom and Office of the Public Guardian sources on 25 July 2026. Provider policies change without notice, so check directly with your provider before acting on any specific figure. This page is general information about how telecoms accounts work. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will publish the correction.