TalkTalk Cause Confusion for Some UK Users with Paid Email Migration UPDATE

Some customers of UK ISP TalkTalk have been left confused after the broadband provider emailed them to notify that their free email accounts would soon be migrated to Open-Xchange’s Everymail platform, which will attract a cost of £5 per month – those who don’t agree by 8th September 2025 will lose access. But it’s not quite that simple.

So far as we can tell, TalkTalk’s original message appears to have been intended to target former customers of their home broadband service (i.e. active customers should continue to receive a free email service), which actually reflects a policy (i.e. charging ex-customers £5 a month to maintain email access) that they first introduced some years ago (here). Some other big ISPs adopt a similar approach.

However, the provider’s latest communication ended up causing quite a bit of confusion on TalkTalk’s Community Forums, with some customers being unsure of whether or not the charge applied to them and others saying they felt threatened by the email.

“To continue delivering the best email service possible, we’ll soon be moving your TalkTalk email to a new home, Everymail, a trusted service from Open-Xchange, the world’s largest independent email provider. They’ve already been working behind the scenes to help keep your email running smoothly, and now they’ll be taking care of it directly,” states TalkTalk.

The problem seems to have arisen because TalkTalk doesn’t appear to have a perfectly aligned record of active broadband and email users (bit awkward for a communications company). In other words, some of those they contacted about the paid email migration actually did have an active broadband connection with the ISP.

Sample Customer Complaint 1

“I’m an existing broadband customer who recently filled out a profile form requesting my existing talktalk email address etc was linked to my existing broadband account so I don’t have to pay and have had no reply to this request and today I have had another threatening email about losing my email account unless I pay. Can someone from email admin please sort this out and confirm that it has been done. thank you.”

Sample Customer Complaint 2

“I am a current TalkTalk Broadband customer. I have 2 legacy email addresses that I need to get linked to my account.

I have entered them into my Profile, as instructed on this forum.

Please link them to my account.

NB – I thought I had sorted this out already, but I received a new email today asking me to subscribe to Everymail, so I’m concerned that the linking has not happened.

I’d be grateful for confirmation that the linking has been done successfully.”

Users in this boat have since been directed to a forum post that explains how they can laboriously notify the ISP about this, although this process doesn’t always give a clear acknowledgement after the necessary data has been provided (i.e. leaving users in doubt about whether or not their request has been actioned). As above, some users that have submitted the data say they’ve continued to receive warning emails.

The Community Forum Post

If you have received the above mentioned email regarding changes to your Email, and you are a Broadband customer, please note that if you provide the required information you will not be charged and your email address(es) will be associated with your Broadband Account.

• Please, therefore, start your own thread under the Email Forum requesting your emails are linked to your broadband account.
• Ensure your Profile is completed and includes your Account Number.
• Within your Profile there is a field for Private Notes, that only you and Staff Members can view. In this field list every TalkTalk and legacy email addresses you wish to be linked to your account.

Here is a link to your Profile to help you.

 https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/user/myprofilepage/tab/personal-profile:personal-info

If you have any queries please ask them in your own thread as this thread is for information only and locked for replies.

The provider has also set up an FAQ Page about the change, which encourages users to subscribe by 28th July 2025 (you won’t lose access at this point, but you also won’t be able to send any emails). But even those that fail to subscribe by the main deadline of 8th September 2025 will still be given a chance to recover their data, at least until 31st October 2025 when the records will be erased.

As we’ve said many times before, it’s always wise to use a separate email service from the one provided by your broadband provider (there are many freemail providers, like Gmail, Hotmail etc.), not least because it can make it harder for you to switch ISPs (i.e. you run the risk of losing access to your old address or being charged for it). Ofcom doesn’t regulate email services, so there isn’t much support for those who experience difficulties.

We have asked TalkTalk to comment and expect their reply shortly.

UPDATE 12:57pm

TalkTalk has confirmed that a small number of their active broadband customers have also received this communication, which is likely due to a discrepancy between their TalkTalk email address and the address they use for their broadband account.

A TalkTalk spokesperson told ISPreview:

“No current broadband customers are being charged for email. For former customers, as we transfer this service to our specialist email partner, we have contacted them to clearly set out several options. Any former customers who do not wish to move to the new service are free to download and transfer their data.”