Sky Sports set to end subscription 'pause' for customers next month

Sky Sports customers who have "paused" their subscription during the coronavirus pandemic are set to be billed from Friday 19 June, if moves to kick off live sport again go ahead as planned.

Those with Sky Sports have been able to pause their subscriptions since March, which means they don't have to pay but can still access all 11 Sky Sports channels.

But as lockdown is eased, and with plans in motion for some sports to resume, Sky has now set a provisional date of Friday 19 June to "un-pause" subscriptions and start billing customers again.

For full info on the help available for your bills during the coronavirus pandemic, including sports refunds, see our Coronavirus Finance & Bills Help guide.

How is Sky planning to end its subscription 'pause'?

The plans emerged after a Sky employee posted a message in the Sky Community Forum informing customers that the TV giant is "in the process of un-pausing Sky Sports as we see more live sport return during June".

She added: "Some of you will have noticed that we'll be restarting subscriptions from 19 June and we'll be making more information available shortly."

A Sky Sports spokesperson confirmed that customers who have paused their subscriptions are set to start paying again on Friday 19 June, but stressed this would only happen if live sport has resumed by then.

The spokesperson added: "We are beginning the process of returning paused sport customers to billing, which requires sufficient time to communicate and implement fully. Should the live sport schedule change significantly, then we will absolutely look at alternate plans – no customers will be charged until mid-June at the earliest."

The Premier League – which is a major attraction for many Sky Sports subscribers – is currently planning its return, with Friday 19 June one of the target dates that has been floated.

I've paused my Sky Sports subscription – what do I need to do?

If you've paused your Sky Sports subscription, Sky will start billing you again automatically when live sport returns – it should contact you to let you know when it'll start charging.

If you're paying for an individual sports pack – for example, just to watch cricket or Formula 1 coverage – you won't start being charged if that sport hasn't resumed yet.

Can I still apply to pause Sky Sports if I've not yet done it?

If you've not paused your subscription, you can still request this via the Sky Sports website – though it's not possible to pause your subscription retrospectively.

What if I pay for Sky Sports via Virgin Media, TalkTalk or BT?

If you have a Sky Sports subscription with Virgin Media or TalkTalk, it's also possible to have paused it – we're checking with Virgin Media and TalkTalk what their plans are to end the pause and what, if anything, you need to do. We will update this story when we hear back.

If you pay for Sky Sports via BT, you can get a bill credit for the duration of the pause. Again, we're checking with BT when this may end and what you need to do, and will update this story when we know more.

What about BT Sport subscriptions?

BT Sport customers have also been able to apply for bill credits on their subscriptions while live sport is cancelled.

It says it hasn't yet made a decision on whether to offer bill credits on June's subscriptions, and expects to make an announcement at the end of the month once there's more certainty about when the Premier League will return. We'll cover the latest in our Coronavirus Finance & Bills Help guide.