Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Virginia benefits
otherstate

Cancelling Phone, Internet, TV, Gym, Satellite and Alarm Contracts on Orders — Spouses and Dependants Too

On permanent change of station orders, or temporary duty orders over three months, the member — and expressly the spouse or dependant — may terminate six named kinds of service contract without penalty. A provider that refuses commits a Virginia Consumer Protection Act violation, which is the leverage most people never use.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

On permanent change of station orders, or temporary duty orders over three months, the member — and expressly the spouse or dependant — may terminate six named kinds of service contract without penalty. A provider that refuses commits a Virginia Consumer Protection Act violation, which is the leverage most people never use.

What it's worth: The early-termination penalty on six kinds of contract, cancelled outright

  • The saving is whatever early-termination fee the provider would otherwise charge across up to six contracts, which we cannot know for your household.
  • The statute says "terminate without penalty". It does not say the provider must refund sums already paid for service already delivered, and it does not forgive equipment you have not returned.
  • The six categories are exhaustive as listed: telecommunication services; internet services; television services; athletic club or gym memberships; satellite radio services; and service for an alarm system as defined in §15.2-911.

Who is entitled to it

  • The section runs to a member of the United States Armed Forces or the Virginia National Guard, and to their household.
  • The statute names the member, "his spouse, or his dependent" as people who may terminate.
  • Your home is in Virginia.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Any time before the conclusion of the period of service
  1. 1Check the trigger first. It is permanent change of station orders, or temporary duty orders in excess of three months’ duration. A shorter temporary duty assignment does not open this section.
  2. 2If you are the spouse or the dependant, cancel in your own name. The statute reads that the member, "his spouse, or his dependent may, at any time prior to the conclusion of his period of service, terminate without penalty" — the household is inside the provision, not merely mentioned by it.
  3. 3Name the category. The six are telecommunication services, internet services, television services, athletic club or gym memberships, satellite radio services, and service for an alarm system as defined in §15.2-911.
  4. 4Put §44-102.1 B in the cancellation letter, in writing, with the orders attached. Retention departments do not volunteer this.
  5. 5If the provider refuses or bills a penalty anyway, say the next sentence out loud: the statute makes it "a violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (§59.1-196 et seq.) for a service provider to fail to comply with the provisions of this subsection". That is a different and much sharper conversation than a customer service dispute.
  6. 6Guard members should also read subsection A. Any right, benefit or protection accruing under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act on a Title 10 call-up is extended to a member of the Virginia National Guard called to active duty under Title 32, or to state active duty by the Governor, where the orders are for 30 consecutive days or more.
  7. 7On a Governor-ordered state active duty call-up, ask your employer about coverage continuity. Subsection A directs that the employer ensure the member has the option of continuing, at the member’s own expense, health care coverage, life insurance, or long-term care insurance.
Form
A written cancellation to the provider, with the orders attached
File with
The service provider — escalating to the Attorney General’s consumer protection route if refused
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe spouse and the dependant hold this right themselves. Providers routinely tell a spouse that the account holder must be the servicemember. The statute lists the member, his spouse, and his dependent as people who may terminate.
CorrectionThe Consumer Protection Act sentence is the enforcement mechanism, and it is in the same subsection. A refusal is not merely a breach of contract argument — the statute characterises it as a statutory violation.
Worth knowingAlarm system service is defined by cross-reference to §15.2-911, which was not read this session. If a provider disputes that its product is an alarm system, that definition is where the argument will be settled.
Worth knowingSubsection A is a separate and broader protection: it pulls federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act rights across to Title 32 and Governor-ordered state active duty of 30 consecutive days or more. Guard members on long state missions are frequently told they have no such protection.

Sources

Why only one source type: The obligation falls on private service providers rather than on an agency, so no administering body publishes an operating page for it. The section was read in full in the article text as well as on its own page.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.