When you take outa broadband or cable Internet service from a service provider (ISP) it almost always comes with a “free” email address. For instance, with BT you might get a btinternet.com address or with Talk-Talk it will besomething at talktalk.net.
Whilst it sounds great to get a free email address, this isn’t always a good thing: it’s perfectly possible to transfer a telephone number to a new (maybe cheaper) provider but email addresses cannot be transferred and will be lost.
In the early days of the Internet, ISPs never really kept track of who was using their email service, they just created new email accounts when a new customer joined. These were never monitored so you could go on using the service for many years, regardless of who you were paying for Internet access.
But in recent years all the big ISPs have begun harvesting old email accounts; those belonging to exiting customers are turned off after six to eigh tweeks.Older email addresses that are not linked to current broadband services are being deleted too. Some ISPs allow you to rent just the email address, BT charge £7.50 a month for this. Some ISPs allow you to keep the address as long as you sign in to their webmail every few months. Either way it’s a cost or a burden to keep the address going.
If you have an ISP supplied email address, then this means that you are much less likely to move ISPs and get the best deal on broadband, soyour old supplier has you over-a-barrel.
My advice is to use an un-bundled email supplier like Outlook.com or Gmail. These services are paid for by advertising and are considered to be free-for-life. These companies are specialists in email so their service is often much better and more reliable than the email platforms provided by ISPs.
It is a challenge to move away from an email address if you’ve been using it for years.I reckon it takes about 6 months. Start by registering for a new independent address and email all your contacts to tell them your new address. Keep checking your old email and remind anyone still using it. Change your address with your online accounts such as PayPal, eBay, Amazon, your bank, your utility providers at home, insurance, etc.
One neat side effect of moving to a new address is you will not be getting any spam or junk at all(at the startat least).