Switching mobile provider and keeping your number: one text gets the PAC

Changing mobile provider in the UK no longer means a phone call and a wrestle with the retentions team. One text does it, and the reply lands in about a minute.

Keep your number: PAC

Text PAC to 65075. Your provider should reply within a minute with your switching code and the information that matters — including any charge for leaving your contract early. Pay-as-you-go customers get their credit balance in the same reply.

The code is valid for 30 days. Hand it to your new provider, who must complete the switch within one working day.

New number: STAC

If you do not want the old number, text STAC to 75075. The rest is the same: code to the new provider, switch within one working day.

Just checking your contract: INFO

A useful detail few people know. Text INFO to 85075 and you will be told whether you are in or out of contract, without requesting a switching code at all. Handy when you are only weighing up whether it is time to move.

If the account has several numbers

A family plan or several lines on one account cannot be switched by text: the code has to be requested through your online account or by phone. That is the one exception to the single-text rule.

Early exit charges

Early termination charges have not gone away, and your provider must set them out in that reply. But Ofcom has banned providers from charging for a notice period that runs past the switch date. That is why the code must go to the new provider: both companies then see the date, and you do not pay twice.

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The handset stays yours

Selling network-locked handsets is banned, so switching provider does not mean changing phone, and no unlocking is needed.

If the service drops

Any loss of service during a switch should last no longer than one working day. If something goes wrong, providers must compensate you.

Already cancelled and had second thoughts

Even after cancelling you can keep the old number: ask your new provider to hold it for you. It is free, but you must ask within one month of cancelling.

What to do

Text INFO to 85075 first and see whether your contract has ended. Then text PAC to 65075 and read the reply carefully: it carries both the code and the exit charge. Weigh that against the saving on the new tariff, and if the move pays, hand the code over. It should take no more than one working day.