Changing from Business phone to personal phone and keeping my number

[MMetcalf-Rigby]

Hello, 

I have a phone and number that is provided by my employer, the contract is on EE. I am leaving the company soon and they have agreed I can keep the phone number and take it to my new job. 
I wish to stay with EE as it has the best network coverage in my area. I understand that you cannot move an EE number to another EE contract (which I find crazy but there we are) and I need to transfer the number to a PAYG sim, then transfer it to a new EE contract. (Have I got all that right?)

What I need to know is what order should I do things in and how long do they take. 

Is my best course of action to

1. Order my new phone on a contract (which will come with a new number)
2. Port my current number to another network on a PAYG sim
3. Then port the number to the new EE contract. 

Is this the quickest way to do it?

Can I port the number to the new EE contract and thus changing the number on the contract and nothing else?

Or should I order the new phone once I have a PAC code from the PAYG network?

I am hoping the latter option there isn't the case as I don't want to be on a PAYG network. I use my phone a lot for work and this will likely disrupt this. 

Will the PAYG sim work in my new/old EE phone or do I need to buy another cheap phone to be able to ask for the PAC? 

Can you port a number onto the contract if it is an eSIM? 

Sorry for the endless questions but it is difficult to find this information. And I can't call Customer services using 150 as the phone is a business phone, it puts me through to the business line who won't talk to me as I don't own the contract. 

Thanks for any help. 

[Michael_D · Accepted solution]

Hi @MMetcalf-Rigby 

Welcome to the community.

Don't worry about all of the questions, I can appreciate you want to get it right.

The first thing is that you shouldn't need a PAC, that would only be to transfer the number to another network, so if you are staying with EE, we can rule that out.

From my experience, you shouldn't need to move to pay as you go either, there is a process called a change of ownership, that changes the ownership of a contract, in this case from the business to you personally. 

This would mean that you don't need to order a new contract and arrange transfers, it would be moved to you, then you'd be able to upgrade (assuming it is out of contract). It also rules out having time on pay as you go.

It may be best to speak to our business team who can let you know if this is an option, as it will depend on the business account type, and if it is take it from there with you. 

Michael

[Chris_B]

@MMetcalf-Rigby  Is the  company allowing you to keep the phone also ?  If not then a change of ownership isn’t something I would recommend.   As the contract you’ll be taking over includes the phone also.   If it’s a sim not contract the yes a change of ownership is perfect. 

[bristolian]

Regardless of whether you're keeping the phone or not, the Change of Legal Ownership seems the best route here. It would need to be instigated by the donor account holder though, so your current employer should contact CS/account-manager - and provide your details.

Sometimes your employer may give you their CS-contact to instigate the process with their consent.

From distant memory of doing the same thing with a previous employer, EE offered the choice of taking the existing line as a SIM-only plan initially, to avoid complications over the device.