Be broadband barter ready – as price hikes of up to 14.4% are due in April
- Increases to broadband packages come in on March 31st or April 1st
- Around seven million households* could be out of contract and free to move tariffs
- New Go.Compare research finds that broadband and TV packages are the most popular products to haggle
Mid-contract price hikes on broadband packages are expected on March 31st or April 1st, with some households facing annual increases of 14.4% on their WiFi bills, warns Go.Compare broadband.
Many providers are using December’s CPI inflation base rate of 10.5%, plus the price increases specified in their contracts to calculate these new price rises. For some customers, this means they will see the biggest ever price hike on their broadband bills.
From March 31st, many BT, EE, Three and Plusnet broadband customers will see an average 14.4% increase on their broadband bills.
And on April 1st, Vodafone broadband will add 14.4% on average to its annual bills, while TalkTalk broadband customers will also pay on average 14.2% more for their bills. Virgin Media is increasing its annual bills by an average of 13.8% with Shell Energy hiking theirs by 13.5% on average. Sky Broadband customers are also seeing average prices rise by 8%.
There are exclusions on all of these price increases, depending on the broadband package householders have in place and when they started their contract.
In light of these price hikes, Go.Compare is reminding customers to read the small print on their broadband contracts to see if they are free to shop around and potentially get themselves a better WIFI package.
In fact, recent research from the price comparison site found that broadband and TV packages were the most popular bills to barter, with over half (55%) of the 2000* surveyed saying that they like to strike a deal with their broadband provider.
Stuart Jones, broadband spokesperson at Go.Compare, said: “What many people don’t realise is that they might already be out of contract with their broadband provider – in fact, research* has found that around seven million households could have lapsed broadband contracts - meaning that they could potentially avoid these price hikes by shopping around and getting a better deal.
“Many providers add a financial penalty into their contracts to stop people leaving, but you may not be aware that your contract has lapsed and that you can now shop around for broadband – and with these price increases on the cards, now is the perfect time.”
Stuart added: “As our research showed, broadband is the household bill that Brits are most happy to barter on, as prices aren’t always fixed. Many broadband providers expect you to negotiate with them, so if you are out of contract, it is definitely worth a go.”
For more information about broadband packages and how to shop around for them, visit: https://www.gocompare.com/broadband/unlimited/
-Ends-
Contact Information
Rosie Johns
Notes to editors
Notes to editors:
*https://www.themoneypages.com/household-bills/household-bills-why-overlooking-broadband-could-prove-costly/#:~:text=The%20advice%20comes%20after%20research,which%20carried%20out%20the%20research.
**On 27th-30th January 2023, a survey of 2057 randomly selected Great British adults was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.1%. The results have been weighted by age, gender, region and social grade to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
For further information please contact:
Lynsey Walden on lynsey.walden@futurenet.com, or Kath Chadwick on Kathryn.chadwick@futurenet.com.
About Go.Compare
Go.Compare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
It does not charge people to use its services and does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. Go.Compare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. It is this approach to comparing products that secured the company an invitation to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) in 2008, and it is still the only comparison site to be a member of this organisation.
Go.Compare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest and works with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
Go.Compare is part of Future Plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
More information can be found here go.compare or here https://www.futureplc.com/brands/.