Broader-band: Comparison site warns customers to prep for April price hikes

With price hikes expected across broadband packages in the next few weeks, Go.Compare broadband is warning customers to review the terms and conditions of their current agreements, to see if they can negotiate a better deal. 

The average price rise expected this April is 7.7%, with some broadband providers increasing their tariffs by up to 8.8%. The increases come into force every year and in 2023, some households faced annual increases of 14.4%. 

The comparison site has provided a breakdown of the top five providers and their expected price increases in April 2024:

• Sky and NOW: 6.7% average increase across some broadband, phone and tv packages.
• Virgin Media and O2: 8.8% increase (New customers who joined after Feb 8th, 2024, are exempt until April 2025).
• Vodafone: 7.9% increase.
• BT: 7.9% increase.
• TalkTalk: 7.7% increase.
  
  

Virgin Media is the only provider in the top five who has increased its prices based on inflation (RPI) + 3.9%, where others base the price increase on Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 3.9%.   There are exclusions on all of these price increases, which will depend on the broadband package and when customers started their contract. 

There are also a number of providers who are offering a fixed price guarantee, meaning that they have committed to not increase their prices rises within the initial term of the agreement. These include Zen Internet, Cuckoo, Zzoomm, Hyperoptic and Trooli.

Catherine Hiley, broadband spokesperson at Go.Compare, said: “While the price hikes expected this April aren’t as high as those we saw in 2023, these increases are still a difficult pill to swallow when consumers are facing increased energy bills, mortgage payments and other outgoings.”

The comparison site is now encouraging anyone who is out of contract with their current provider to review the market and see if they can find a better deal elsewhere: Catherine continued: “Anyone who is out of their contract with their current provider can switch easily, and without being penalised. These bill payers could already be paying a lot more than they should be for their broadband, even without the additional hikes so it’s absolutely worth doing a comparison to see how your current deal stacks up.

“For those who are still in a contract, price increases are unfortunately written into broadband agreements. But we would still recommend reviewing the terms of your existing agreement and if you’re unhappy, contact your provider as you may be able to haggle on the price rise, or ask about an early termination fee amount.  Many providers add an early termination fee into their contracts to stop people leaving providers, but even with this fee, it may still be worthwhile to pay this and switch to a better deal.”

In fact, recent research from Go.Compare* has found that broadband and TV packages were the most popular bills to barter with 59% of those who currently barter on their bills saying that they like to strike a deal with their broadband provider. 

For more information about broadband packages and how to shop around for them, visit:  https://www.gocompare.com/broadband/how-to-avoid-broadband-price-increases/.