Cancelling my Talk Talk account early

I want to cancel my 18 month TT contract with 13 months left. This is because BT has introduced a Home Essentials broadband offer for people like me living on benefits which is considerably cheaper. However, TT wants to grab £132.60 from me for the privilege of being my current provider. A libertarian would tell me I agreed the contract; yes, I did - but only because TT broke my existing contract by drastically increasing the monthly price I'd agreed with them and insisting that I take up their new 'offer' in February 2021. I am sure that, if I took this to the Communications Ombudsman, it would agree that I and other TT customers had been exploited.

Can I simply stop paying TT and take up a contract with BT?

Can I simply stop paying TT and take up a contract with BT?

You could, but you’ll end up paying for both somehow.

Also BT won’t just takeover the existing line, as there is a working service on it, so you’ll need a full install of a separate line, with any additional costs associated with that.

In reply to a post by Airlane:

insisting that I take up their new 'offer' in February 2021

TalkTalk did not insist, you took up the new offer willingly. You could also have chosen not to extend your contract end date, or changed provider at that time without any penalty.

You said "TT broke my existing contract", in what way did they break it?

In reply to a post by MHC:

You said "TT broke my existing contract", in what way did they break it?

Price increase, allowing everyone to leave without penalty.

That is not TT breaking the contract. It is allowing the customer to invoke a early leaving clause.

In reply to a post by MHC:

That is not TT breaking the contract. It is allowing the customer to invoke a early leaving clause.

The terminology isn't relevant anyway, the OP has not been on that contract for five months.

That being said, TalkTalk is currently under investigation for advertising "no mid contract price rises", before introducing a mid contract price rise: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/07/talkt...

However, knowing the ASA, it will be a slap on the wrist and "don't do it again naughty boy" response.

As many other TT customers will attest, in early 2021 the company increased the price of its service to customers who had signed up in 2020 in the confident expectation - as assured by TT customer sales agents - that we were signing up to a fixed price contract for 18 months. We were not told that a small clause in the TT contract allowed the company to raise prices "for business reasons". And how many residential broadband customers read every clause of the contracts we blithely sign?

Exactly: a mid contract price rise which was specifically advertised as not going to happen. TT partly covered itself by including a clause which allowed it to increase prices at any time 'for business reasons'. But doesn't that contradict the first claim?