A friend had a formerly subscribed Sky digibox (FTA/FTV channels only).
A week or 2 ago, they lost the FTA channels (BBC, ITV etc.) - it seems the card had been totally deactivated.
I told them to apply for a BBC/FTA card - and within a couple of days, it arrived, and needed to be activated (call application line again).
Since their normal signal is a bit ropey, they were well pleased to get the normal channels back on.