![]() Sky has frozen its pricing for new broadband customers signing up, while full-fibre provider Hyperoptic has never enforced mid-contract bill rises. The study stressed, however, that not all companies were planning mid-term price increases. ![]() If the annual rise is linked to inflation, it is impossible to predict exactly how much this will make bills rise by.” If you are taking out a new broadband or mobile package, check for wording around annual mid-contract rises, which should be prominently shown at the point of signing up. ![]() “While annual price rises are not new, the recent unprecedented levels of inflation mean that these hikes are more painful than ever, especially during the cost-of-living crisis. “If providers cannot commit to a price for the duration of the contract, they should offer shorter contracts or the chance for consumers to leave penalty-free when prices jump. It’s time Ofcom took action to help protect customers from these rises, so they know what they’re dealing with when signing a new contract,” said Richard Neudegg, director of regulation at. “There seems to be no other industry that sees companies increasing their prices halfway through a fixed-term contract with no right to leave. This compares with the 4.5% fixed rise applied in spring 2022. highlighted the decision by Three UK, the country’s fourth-largest mobile network, to introduce inflation-linked mid-contract rises based on December 2022’s CPI rate, plus 3.9% – the same rate as peers EE and Vodafone – for all new and upgrading customers from 1 November 2022. With inflation at its highest level in decades, customers could be hit by price rises of around 14% at the end of March. Based on recent inflation rates, the survey calculated that 25 million mobile and 10 million broadband consumers are set for rises of up to 14% in April 2023. The background to the survey and to consumer anxiety is the fact that the majority of UK mobile and broadband providers link their annual price rises to inflation rates, measured by the CPI or Retail Price Index (RPI), with some including an additional price increase of 3-4% on top. The research also showed that 80% of Brits want providers to offer fixed-price deals for their broadband and mobile, with no mid-contract rises built in. The study of 2,000 UK adults in mid-October 2022 by the comparison and switching service revealed that more than a quarter (27%) of consumers regarded an increase of £5 to their monthly broadband or mobile bill as potentially causing them stress stress and two-fifths believed that mid-contract price rises should be stopped.
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