Email account fees

[I like Skol]

Not sure where to put this, but as it has possible financial implications will start with 'Money Matters'....

Swapped broadband providers six months ago from TalkTalk to BT (now broadband only as have decided to give up the landline at this switch).

Now getting emails from TalkTalk threatening to delete any old email accounts linked to their domain name unless we pay a fee of £5pcm or £50pa to maintain them. There are two TalkTalk.net emails and a much older Tiscali.co.uk address that has also continued to function for over a decade since we were last a customer.

I'm thinking this may just be a bluff to get us to cough up and in reality the emails will continue to function, ad infinitum, regardless.

Trouble is these emails are linked to numerous financial & official accounts (Banks, Pensions, HMRC, NHS etc) and multiple forum and app log-ins. The list is almost endless!

I ain't paying, period! In fact, it may even be a scam as the emails don't contain any personal identifying info, but that's irrelevant as I am not paying anyway.

I know the obvious answer is to create a non-ISP related email such as xyz@outlook.com and then set about ploughing through every account I have records for and swapping them to the new address. Problem is this will not be an easy or insignificant task and I am sure to miss one or two important ones or even be unable to do this for what I can see to be a myriad of identity problems.

So, Cyclechat hive mind, what do I do?

 

[icowden]

Now getting emails from TalkTalk threatening to delete any old email accounts linked to their domain name unless we pay a fee of £5pcm or £50pa to maintain them. There are two TalkTalk.net emails and a much older Tiscali.co.uk address that has also continued to function for over a decade since we were last a customer.

It's a sort of bluff...
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and...rges/why-broadband-providers-charge-for-email

You can access your e-mail for two years after you leave without having to pay after which they *could* delete it at any time. They don't have to though. That should be enough time to set up a gmail account (other providers are available, but gmail is pretty good) and transfer all of your security stuff. You should also be able to set up a redirect on your talktalk so that your emails get passed to the new e-mail address.

The Tiscali one is probably OK. I have a Tiscali e-mail that I set up before TalkTalk bought Tiscali (so around 20 years ago) and it still works fine. I never use it - but it's there!

 

[Dadam]

Not much you can do really apart from move your accounts. They're under no obligation to maintain a service for you if you're not paying for it.
I'd move the important ones now, and pick up the others like forums ad-hoc. If you're like me there's probably a bunch you haven't logged into in a few years. I'd also make sure your primary email is in Google or MS Outlook or someone big enough not to disappear. I'd also create another one on a different platform and use it for the recovery email of other accounts. Alternatively you could pay a small sum to register your own domain name and create whatever accounts you want.

I do feel your pain though. My main email is a hotmail but it's linked to probably around 200 accounts and as I've had it 20 years it's a bit of a spam farm.

 

[T4tomo]

That's why generic outlook / gmail accounts are better. its a pain switching over but its the best way.

like @icowden i still have a tiscali account (that I never use) that works even though they said it wouldn't.

 

[I like Skol]

Probably not a bad thing for me to tidy up to a single, non-ISP linked email address and kill off the deadwood. Maybe having my hand forced like this is the kick I needed? I even have an email called xxxxspam that was always intended to be burned once it became too heavily known, but never actually got around to ditching it. Ah well, onwards and upwards, better start the ball rolling. This may take some time.....

 

[OldShep]

Just like moving house you’ve to change your address for all the important places. As above move to a generic account. I run a gmail and an iCloud account.

 

[fossyant]

I have an email account & domain with Fasthosts. I have myname@mydomain.net. Doesn't matter who I'm with. Costs about £50 a year, but that's for upto 10 main accounts (so you could move the family over).

 

[I like Skol]

Costs about £50 a year

I'll punch you in the gob next time you suggest I waste money like that!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I even have an email called xxxxspam

I used to do similar, using throw-away email accounts for various purposes but that became a bit cumbersome. Instead you can have just one account but use the + separator to use one inbox for all your stuff. For example, if your new email address is Skol@gmail.com and you don’t want eBay or Amazon to have your true address, you use Skol+eBay@gmail.com or Skol+Amazon@gmail.com. That way, if you start getting spam at least you know whose system leaked it, and it makes it dead easy to set up filters. As far as I know it works with all email providers. (I use it on Outlook too.)

 

[fossyant]

I'll punch you in the gob next time you suggest I waste money like that!

I'm sure you are from Yorkshire !

 

[fossyant]

The answer is gmail and slowly move important stuff over, and then forget the rest ! Think of all that spam you'll save.

 

[Pblakeney]

This got me thinking so I checked. Yes, I still have an active AOL account. Not that it has been used for 20 years but it's still there.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I recently set up a password manager (Bitwarden in my case, other password managers are available) and if you haven't already I'd recommend do so as you switch across to the new email. If nothing else, you'll have a record of which ones you've done.

 

[si_c]

£5 a month is a steal to maintain several email addresses - I'd highly recommend it for at least a year, similarly to postal redirects.

My Dad has a BT Internet address he's had for a long long time and pays the fee to maintain access. Similarly to @fossyant I have several domains with fasthosts and pay them to manage my emails instead. It's quite a bit more than TalkTalk are asking.

That being said I've had those email addresses since the 90s and use them as it's no guarantee that free email providers such as yahoo or google will continue to run a service.

 

[I like Skol]

I used to do similar, using throw-away email accounts for various purposes but that became a bit cumbersome. Instead you can have just one account but use the + separator to use one inbox for all your stuff. For example, if your new email address is Skol@gmail.com and you don’t want eBay or Amazon to have your true address, you use Skol+eBay@gmail.com or Skol+Amazon@gmail.com. That way, if you start getting spam at least you know whose system leaked it, and it makes it dead easy to set up filters. As far as I know it works with all email providers. (I use it on Outlook too.)

I like the theory, but in reality I have received minimal spam in the last 10yrs. I think the ISPs have got pretty good at filtering it out so I am not offered cheap viagra, or dates with hot russian babes, or even many offers for amazing PC virus protection, like there used to be in the bad old days. I'm naturally lazy so will do the work once now to wipe the slate clean and maybe start moaning in 10-15yrs time if/when I have to repeat the process....

That said, There has been an upsurge in the 'claim your M&S steak hamper' or 'you've won this amazing Halfords tool chest' please just complete the survey type emails in recent months.... I wonder if TalkTalk are letting all the junk through again now I'm not a paying customer?

I'll give the new email a couple of months to settle then just log out of the old accounts and leave them dormant to wither and die....