← All Washington benefits
otherstate
Walk Away From the Phone, Internet, Gym and TV Contracts on Orders — No Fee, No Lost Deposit
On permanent change of station orders, or deployment orders of at least 30 days, a service member may terminate or suspend a telecommunications, internet, health studio or subscription television contract by written notice — email counts — with no penalty, fee, loss of deposit or other additional cost. A separate section lets a spouse leave an employment contract on relocation orders.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
On permanent change of station orders, or deployment orders of at least 30 days, a service member may terminate or suspend a telecommunications, internet, health studio or subscription television contract by written notice — email counts — with no penalty, fee, loss of deposit or other additional cost. A separate section lets a spouse leave an employment contract on relocation orders.
What it's worth: No penalty, fee, loss of deposit or other additional cost on the covered contracts
- The four covered categories are telecommunication services from a telecommunications company, internet services from an internet service provider, health studio services from a health studio, and subscription television services from a television service provider. Anything outside those four is outside this section.
- The trigger is orders for a permanent change of station, or deployment for a period of at least thirty days.
- A termination or suspension is effective on the day written notice is given, and the customer is not liable for payment for services after that effective date.
- The saving cannot be quantified because it is whatever the counterparty’s early-termination fee and deposit would have been, and those sit in private contracts.
- The spouse’s employment route applies only to an employment contract entered into on or after 23 July 2023, and does not disturb an existing collective bargaining agreement.
Who is entitled to it
- You are inside the window the state civil relief act protects.
- The service member who received the orders may terminate or suspend the covered service contracts.
- A spouse may terminate an employment contract on the member’s permanent change of station orders.
- Your home is in Washington.
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: On receipt of the orders- 1Send written notice — the statute says written notice including electronic mail, so an email is enough. Keep the sent copy.
- 2Attach written proof of the official military orders, or send it within 90 days afterwards if circumstances at the time of notice prevented you from providing it.
- 3Say whether you are terminating or suspending. Suspension is in the statute alongside termination, and reinstatement afterwards may not be charged for either.
- 4Diary the effective date. The termination or suspension takes effect on the day written notice is given, and you are not liable for services after that.
- 5Refuse the early-termination charge in writing if one appears. A service member may not be charged a penalty, fee, loss of deposit or any other additional cost because of the termination, suspension or reinstatement.
- 6If you are a spouse leaving a job on the member’s relocation orders, give the employer written notice including email plus written proof of the orders, and check the contract date — the protection covers employment contracts entered into on or after 23 July 2023.
- 7If the company will not honour it, remember the remedy sits in the same chapter: RCW 38.42.130 allows a civil action with costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees, and RCW 38.42.140 allows the attorney general to act.
- Form
- Written notice to the company, with a copy of the orders
- File with
- The telecommunications, internet, health studio, television or employment counterparty
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe contract section runs to the service member, not to the family. A spouse cannot use RCW 38.42.160 to leave the household internet or gym contract in their own name — the section names the service member as the person who may terminate or suspend. The spouse’s own protection in this chapter is the employment-contract section, which is a different thing entirely.
Worth knowingSuspension is the option people forget. A member deploying for eight months can suspend the internet or the gym rather than terminate it and pay to sign up again — and reinstatement may not be charged for either.
Worth knowingProof can follow the notice. If the orders cannot be produced on the day, the notice still stands so long as written proof arrives within ninety days — which protects a member who gives notice from the field.
Known gapThe section carries exceptions inside the telecommunications definition that were not read line by line this session. A member terminating a bundled phone contract should ask the company which limb of the definition it says applies.
Sources
- authority · statuteRCW 38.42.160 — termination or suspension of contracts upon receipt of military service orders (a service member who receives orders for a permanent change of station or for deployment for a period of at least thirty days may terminate or suspend a contract for telecommunication services from a telecommunications company, internet services provided from an internet service provider, health studio services from a health studio, or subscription television services from a television service provider; termination or suspension is by written notice, including electronic mail, with written proof of the official military orders provided with the notice or within ninety days afterwards where circumstances prevented earlier provision; a termination or suspension is effective on the day written notice is given; a service member may not be charged a penalty, fee, loss of deposit, or any other additional cost because of the termination, suspension, or reinstatement, and is not liable for payment for any services after the effective date)
- operating · statuteRCW 38.42.170 — termination of employment contract upon receipt of military service orders, spouses (the spouse of a service member who receives military relocation orders may terminate an employment contract, meaning a contract establishing terms of employment and excluding an independent contractor agreement, on written notice including email to the employer together with written proof of the official orders showing the permanent change of station; the employer may not impose any penalty for termination, meaning any fee or cost or liability for breach of contract or any other adverse consequence, other than what is required by state or federal law; the section applies only to employment contracts entered into on or after July 23, 2023, and does not affect existing collective bargaining agreements)
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.