By In the UK, mobile networks and broadband providers often increase the cost of your plan each year. Find out more about mid-contract price rises.
In the UK, most mobile networks and home broadband providers now increase the cost of your plan each year. This means your monthly bill will go up every year, sometimes by as much as 3.9% above the rate of inflation (CPI+3.9%).
These annual price rises can add substantially to your bill. In 2022, we’re currently forecasting an annual price rise of around 8% on many major providers. This is equivalent to an extra 80p/month on a £10/month bill, an extra £1.60/month on a £20/month bill, or an extra £4/month on a £50/month bill.
In this article, we’ll look at mid-contract price rises on UK mobile networks and broadband providers. We’ll also look at top providers that don’t have a price increase every year.
Contents
Annual Price Rise: By Provider
In the UK, most mobile phone and home broadband plans now have an annual price increase built-in.
Most commonly, annual price rises are linked to CPI inflation (the Consumer Prices Index). However, it can also be linked to RPI inflation (the Retail Prices Index). Alternatively, a fixed percentage increase may apply to the cost of your plan each year.
If you’re still tied in to a contract when prices go up, you may not be able to cancel it without paying a penalty. However, if you’re out of contract or on a contract-free plan, you can switch mobile networks or change broadband providers to save some money.
The following table shows a summary of the annual price rise you can expect on each UK provider:
| Provider | Annual Price Increase | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
| BT | CPI+3.9% | 31st March |
| EE | CPI+3.9% | 31st March |
| giffgaff | No automatic price rises (no contract) |
|
| Honest Mobile | No automatic price rises (5% yearly reduction with loyalty discount) |
|
| John Lewis Broadband | CPI+3.9% | 1st March |
| Hyperoptic | Fixed price during contract | |
| iD Mobile | RPI | 1st April |
| Lebara Mobile | Fixed price during contract | |
| NOW | No automatic price rises (30 day cancellation applies for price change) |
|
| O2 | RPI+3.9% | April |
| Plusnet | CPI+3.9% | March |
| Shell Energy | CPI+3% | 1st April |
| SMARTY | No automatic price rises (no contract) |
|
| Sky | No automatic price rises (see notes†) |
|
| Talkmobile | CPI+3.9% | April |
| TalkTalk | CPI+3.7% | April |
| Tesco Mobile | Fixed price during contract | |
| Three | 4.5% | April |
| Virgin Media | No automatic price rises (30 day cancellation applies for price change) |
|
| Vodafone | CPI+3.9% | April |
| VOXI | No automatic price rises (no contract) |
|
† Sky doesn’t have any automatic price rises built in to their plan. However, they reserve the right to increase your Sky TV bill by up to 10% per year without offering penalty-free cancellation. For Sky Talk and Sky Broadband price rises, you’ll have 30 days to cancel without penalty.
At the time of writing (November 2021), the rate of CPI inflation is 5.1% and the rate of RPI inflation is 7.1%. This means you can probably expect an annual price rise of about 8% in 2022 (this is based on the CPI+3.9% increase applied by many major providers).
- If you’re currently paying £10 per month, an 8% increase will see your bill going up to £10.80 per month.
- If you’re currently paying £20 per month, an 8% increase will see your bill going up to £21.60 per month.
- If you’re currently paying £30 per month, an 8% increase will see your bill going up to £32.40 per month.
- If you’re currently paying £40 per month, an 8% increase will see your bill going up to £43.20 per month.
- If you’re currently paying £50 per month, an 8% increase will see your bill going up to £54 per month.
If you pay for a device on a separate repayment plan from your airtime tariff (e.g. on O2 Refresh and Vodafone EVO plans), the annual price increase will only apply to the airtime element of your plan. There are no changes to the cost of your device plan as this is structured as a loan repayment.
Fixed Price Providers
If you’re looking a mobile network provider where the price is frozen for the length of your contract, we’d recommend getting a plan from Tesco Mobile or one of Lebara Mobile’s 12-month SIM-only deals.
It’s also possible to consider a flexible no-contract provider such as giffgaff. Although there’s no guarantee they won’t increase their prices, they’ve tended to do the opposite in the past by increasing data allowances over time. On giffgaff, you’ll also have the flexibility to leave or to change your plan at anytime (e.g. in case they change their prices).
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a broadband provider that with a fixed monthly price, there are currently very few options to choose from. You can consider Hyperoptic’s full fibre broadband if it’s available where you live. Alternatively, your best bet would probably be to choose a provider such as NOW Broadband. They offer 12-month plans without any automatic price rises (giving you the flexibility to cancel without penalty if they choose to increase their prices).
Discounted Plans
One area to watch out for very closely is the issue of discounts that are applied to your plan. This is because the underlying cost of your plan will increase every year, whereas the discounts applied to it typically won’t increase.
To give an example, a £10/month plan could be structured as a £20 plan with a £10 discount. The price increase will then be applied to the £20 figure, whereas the £10 discount may remain the same. Assuming an 8% price rise, the underlying plan will go up to £21.60 per month. With the £10 discount, this is reduced to £11.60 per month. In this case, your monthly bill has actually gone up by 16% (twice the expected increase of 8%).
These larger-than-expected price rises are often seen on discounted contracts that are offered through customer retentions or those that are purchased during a sale. It may also occur when you add a student discount or staff discount to your plan.
Legislation
Ofcom (the UK’s regulator for telecommunication services) legislated in January 2014 to protect consumers against “unexpected mid-contract price rises”. At the time, many people had expected this to mean the end of mid-contract price rises. However, Ofcom’s legislation left the door open for mid-contract price rises providing they are notified to customers in advance before they sign up.
In October 2018, Ofcom made it a legal obligation for all mobile networks to offer a spend cap on their contracts. This spend cap only applies to out-of-allowance charges and does not stop the monthly cost of your plan from going up.
More Information
For more information about the price rises that apply on your provider, please refer to their official website and their terms detailed in your contract.
The BBC News website has some further information about how inflation is calculated. You can also see the latest inflation-related news and predictions.
Martin said:
I was searching if it was possible to leave BT Broadband contract mid-term because of price rises and discovered this Which article.
It seems to imply customers can leave penalty-free if the increases exceed RPI, even if notified of price rises in the contract T&Cs. I cannot find verification elsewhere.
BT’s rise of CPI+3.9% certainly exceeds RPI for the same period, but my request to leave on this point was rejected by BT call centre agent. Regardless Ofcom need to sort it outhttps://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/my-broadband-provider-has-raised-its-prices-do-i-have-to-pay-avVbN8s316P8
Michael Flynn said:
I was about to take out a broadband contract with BT when I spotted at the last minute the price would rise in March giving me barely a month at the agreed price followed by two years at an increased price. This is downright dishonest, My business has gone elsewhere.
Hello said:
So I take it that its best to buy in April (or March for some suppliers) & only go for 12 month contract because of this mid contract increase.
The UK is a mockery of justice & fairness.
Dave L said:
Ken, would you be able to add a table near the top of this page summarising the position of each operator?
Include a column for the exact date (or month if the date isn’t stated) that it is said the increase will occur and an explanation of what it is, RPI, CPI, percentage etc. I like your tables which summarise the information, such as plans/bundles by price and by data allowance and so on, and I think a similar one here could help.
In terms of my observations and thoughts on mid-contract price rises, those renewing their contract or changing provider just after the increase will have almost a full year at the advertised price. Conversely, those renewing or signing up just before will have to pay the increased amount for pretty much all of the term. The former being on a 12 month contract will pay almost no increased price and will be free to go elsewhere once/shortly after the increase has occurred.
Anyone just out of contract and looking to renew or change provider now (December) may prefer to move to a pay as you go service with a bundle until the increase in April, should they not wish to stay with what they have now.
There is the (rhetorical) question of what will happen to the price of the offerings for new customers/contracts, or at least what tends to happen in practice, even if we can’t say with any certainty? The prices for plans, barring odd exception, are all set to the nearest whole pound. Will it be the case that they won’t go up but existing customers, tied into contracts, will have their monthly charge increased?
I think that as the providers have the customers locked in for a period they should not be allowed to increase prices mid-term. This is to have one’s cake and eat it. The customer agreed not to leave early (or else pay early termination fee), meaning if a better deal where to come along he/she would be unlikely to go for it (during the term). For fairness, the provider should have to set the price at the beginning of the term such that it hedges its bets in it being high enough to cover its costs and generate a profit.
As a result of the allowance by the regulator of mid-term price increases are we seeing more 24 month contracts? I know that EE has only 24-month contracts openly displayed on its website, while the 12-month contracts are hidden, leaving the savvy to seek them out. I suggest if this is not uncommon in the market then it is a reaction to price increases being permitted during contract. I submit, if they could offer 36 month contracts, they would! Forgive my cynicism there. It is food for thought, though, in terms of what the knock-on effects on the market are of providers being allowed to do this.
The Three Price Guide for Advanced Plans says that the annual increase is 4.5% – it’s a set percentage, not related to RPI or CPI.
Perhaps you might like to bring up-to-date anything else on this page which has changed.
P.S. Is it just me or is the Three website unsecure http? I see your hyperlinks to it are http, not https.
Ken replied:
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, things have changed quite a lot since I published this guide in 2019! It’s definitely on my list of things to review & update when I get a chance, and will definitely take the suggestion to add a table onboard as well.
In terms of your observations, you’re absolutely right. The price increase normally only applies to existing customers, whereas they’ll often keep the new customer price exactly the same (if anything, the prices might even go down, given the pricing trends & competition in this area). You also make a really good observation in that it’s disadvantageous to sign up just before an annual price increase as you’re pretty much on the increased rate straight away. Some providers even market this in pretty disingenuous ways (e.g. with 3 months free or 6 months half price, followed by an advertised price – knowing that the price will have gone up by some ~8% by the time that offer ends)!
And yes, you’re right… the Three website is still using non-secure http!
Ken
Ken replied:
Hi Dave,
Thanks again for your suggestion above – I’ve just updated this guide and added a comparison table as you suggested. Sadly, it looks like many people are going to see a price increase of around 8% next year, due to the recent spike in inflation and the CPI+3.9% policies 🙁
Ken
Rk said:
Foolishly took out a new 18 month contract from 02 in march, meaning that I got hit with the RPI increase the next month! But as it’s in the small print nothing I can do as they were at pains to point out
Derek Hume said:
Hi,
I almost signed up to a 24 month contract with the 3 network until the agent slipped in about it being subject to a fixed rate annual RPI increase of 4.5% . The contract was due to commence on January 28 2021. This meant that i would incur 2 x 4.5% increases within the contract. They said that they fixed the rate at 4.5% to create pricing transparency to the customer ( nothing to do with it being twice the current RPI rate ). I received a 0% wage increase in 2020 due to the pandemic so RPI is not a true indicator of the consumers ability to pay. This is surely blatant profiteering by the networks and a total lack of respect for the consumer in my opinion.
Graham said:
The mobile networks seem to be a national disgrace and seem to be acting as a cartel over this rpi increase loophole (apart from Tesco and Sky). It feels a very anti competitive action and anti bringing prices down. Makes Ofcom look ineffective as a regulator in delivering reasonable cost mobile networks for the consumer. This article shows how quickly a good price contract will soon become a poor price contract. Best to have a short contract timed with the rpi apply month and change at the end, or not change if you have an old contract not subject to rpi clause
Stephen said:
It’s funny how all the other mobile networks raise their monthly tariffs every year yet I am with Tesco mobile (who still won’t raise your tariff mid contract) on a 12month sim only tariff and every year I have renewed I either get more data for same price or same data for less. If Tesco can lower their prices when the rpi/cpi has gone up, why can’t the others?
Barrie Dixon Cullen Esq said:
It’s a disgrace for any mobile phone company to increase a tariff by 2.5 % and use the RPI as an excuse to implement the increase. The RPI is not law to increase prices, considering the global epidemic, it’s clear profiteering and Vodafone should be named and shamed
jason said:
If only there was a legislation in place for all workers to get a pay rise in line with inflation …
Who pays us when they deem it acceptable to hike a price when they feel like it just because it’s inline with inflation?? Shame i am not in the house of Lords eh? Could cover the costs with my £323 daily allowance…Capitalist BS as always…
MARTIN JONES said:
hi,
I signed a 12 month sim only contract with three in march 2018 which specifically stated no annual inflation increases.Received a text this week saying three were increasing my monthly bill by 2.5 rpi. I have spoken to three and they say as this is a change to terms and conditions i can cancel without the thirty days notice but the inflation increase will otherwise be applied.I have another option of signing a new cheaper12 month contract with annual rpi increases specified. Three seem extremely anxious to remove customers from inflation freecontracts.
Danny butler said:
I’m extremely confused by this rpi price rise can someone explain to me what the cost to the networks is ?? I mean if our price is going up then surely that’s because this rpi is costing the network money or are they just putting price up because they can …I’m on my first contract sim only with three and always assumed the price can’t go up during contract this is all confusing and no amount off Google is helping :/
Mrs Greenwood said:
Hi, interesting article! My 24-month mobile contract only started in Nov- and now in less than 4 months, I received a price hike notification. I signed up over the phone and there was no mention of this policy of annual price hikes. The tariff rate was quoted to me as though it would stay the same for the duration of the contract: £12.99 pm for 24 months. The confirmation email did not mention it, and I did not receive a copy of their T&C’s in the post either.
In this case, the mobile company has not sought out my consent to their T&C’s during the entire sales process. I just made a complaint to the company out of principle, as I do strongly believe that customers should have been told -explicitly- that prices are adjusted annually. For instance, instead of selling the contract as X pounds per month for 24 months, it should say it will be X pounds per month for 24 months, subject to an annual adjustment per our T&C’s.
Mrs Greenwood said:
Hi, interesting article! My 24-month mobile contract only started in Nov- and now in less than 4 months, I received a price hike notification today. I signed up over the phone and there was no mention of this policy of annual price hikes. The tariff rate was quoted to me as though it would stay the same for the duration of the contract: £12.99 pm for 24 months. The confirmation email did not mention it, and I did not receive a copy of their T&C’s in the post either.
In this case, the mobile company has not sought out my consent to their T&C’s during the entire sales process. I just made a complaint to the company out of principle, as I do strongly believe that customers should have been told -explicitly- that prices are adjusted annually. For instance, instead of selling the contract as X pounds per month for 24 months, it should say it will be X pounds per month for 24 months, subject to an annual adjustment per our T&C’s.
Ken replied:
Hi Mrs Greenwood,
Thanks for your feedback on the issue. I agree, and I’d strongly support you here in making the case against your mobile network for providing poor information at signup (especially over the phone). I’ve encountered similar situations myself, and I don’t think the networks are doing a good job of this. It may also be worth dropping a note to Ofcom so they’re aware of your feedback as well.
Ken
Mrs Greenwood replied:
Hi Ken, many thanks for your supportive reply!
Indeed. I’ve now also filed a mis-selling complaint to Ofcom. Their prompt reply back was understanding and stated that they would be using consumer complaints data to inform future investigation/regulations. Like you, I do strongly advocate transparency in pricing information- particularly when entering a fixed-term contract which can’t be easily terminated without penalty. Consumers really should be given information to be as well-informed as possible regarding the lifetime costs of their contracts.
These mobile contracts are in reality fixed-term but variable rate agreements, and they must be sold as such. Our finance and energy sector are doing a relatively better job at pricing transparency, our attention must turn next to the telecom sector!
P.S. Sorry for yesterday’s double-posting as I wasn’t sure if the first one was logged properly.
Steve Begg said:
Price hiking mid-contract is dirty trading as far as I am concerned. Yep, I am sure that buried in the T&C’s the contract does say that they can increase prices within the RPI – but EE were more concerned with winning my trade than pointing out this part of their terms. All I can say is that I will move to a new provider at the end of my contract out of spite. So the extra £1 per month that they are legally taking from me will be peanuts compared with loss of business in a year or so. Well done EE – very clever !!
James Smith said:
In my last comment, I said that 3 now charges RPI for SIM-only contracts from 13th December 2018.
This is confirmed at the bottom of Page 30 of the following PDF document:
http://www.three.co.uk/termspdf/Advanced_Plan_Price_Guide_201218.pdf
Please advise all readers and update tyour information and recommendations accordingly. Thanks again for a great site!
Ken replied:
Hi James,
Thanks a lot for the heads up about this! You’re right… this blog post is currently a bit outdated, having been written all the way back in 2014. I’ll put it on the list for a future update. Thanks also for letting me know about the changes from Three… it looks like this has become a rather commonly used tactic for the mobile networks to sneakily increase their prices without changing the headline amount!
Ken
James Smith said:
This is a great blog Ken and I can see all the effort that has gone into it. Stumbled across it while Googling about RPI price rises on mobile contracts. I’d really apreciate an update on the situation with regards to RPI. Also, could you separate out pay monthly from SIM only? Finally, I read some small print yesterday that said that 3 now charges RPI on SIM-only contracts effective from 13th December 2018! Just a week ago! I didn’t hear anything so I don’t think it was publicised. It’s getting ridiculous. Anyway, an update to this page is long overdue and I and many others would welcome the clarity and be very grateful 🙂 Thanks!
Brian R Bird said:
I have now had 2 price rises on Vodafone in the last 10 months, due to RPI, & I’m on pay monthly. I’ve just contacted them abut this & was told it’s due to RPI. This time it was £1.04 previously .90pence clearly I need to follow this up.
Maggie said:
When calculating RPI, isn’t communication weighted very low?
Was RPI declared no longer an official statistic by Gov, as it did not meet accuracy standards.
If RPI not statistically accurate how can communication companies continue to use this?
Ken replied:
Hi Maggie,
Agreed – some of the 2018 price rises have been huge 🙁 It would be great if they switched to CPI which is a lot fairer (or even better, if they stopped the price rises altogether). They’re clearly choosing to use this measure just because it normally gives a higher number, and allows them to remain under the pretence that prices haven’t changed in real terms.
Ken
SANJAYA said:
Hi,
Very useful info.
If RPI is negative, will they reduce the price?
Ken replied:
Hi Sanjaya,
I don’t believe mobile contract prices have ever come down due to negative RPI. The mobile networks are usually very carefully with their wording e.g. they “reserve the right” to apply a RPI correction. Hence, if RPI were negative, they don’t have to exercise that right and they’d be able to keep prices at the same level as before.
Ken
Richard said:
I’ve just upgraded to a new phone on the 3 network, and they do now mention yearly increases in line with RPI.
Simon Scott said:
The thing that bothers me about this is, aren’t mobile phone services included in the RPI basket of goods, under 08.2/3? It must cause problems linking any of the prices in the RPI basket to RPI itself, surely?
Ken replied:
Hi Simon,
I believe they are. Many other industries also link prices to RPI (e.g. the rail industry) but I don’t think there’s a circular cause-and-effect here. The mechanism will probably just dampen changes in the rate of RPI, if this is even a measurable effect.
Ken