How much will it cost on average to break a verizon cell phone contract?

[Katie R]

My husband and I realized that really dont use our cell phones anymore, and were wondering how much it is going to cost to break the contract. We have two cell phones.... One main one and the other is an added line. Is the added line going to cost more as well? Thank you for helping!

[robtheman]

That's a hard question. The beginning early termination fee (ETF) is $175 per line. The ETF was recently changed to being prorated though. Depending on when you originally signed up, you may have to pay $175 or you may have to pay the prorated ETF. If you qualify for the prorated ETF, that means the $175 drops by $5 every month that your contract has been active. So if you've had your phones active for 5 months, for example, then ETF would be $150 per line instead of $175.

The best way to find out is to call customer service and ask them. They will know if A) you qualify for the prorated ETF, and B) how much that prorated fee would be.

No matter what the ETF is, you will have to pay that amount for each line.