Hyperoptic has developed a free online calculator to show families how much extra they will have to pay for their broadband over the next two years as a result of mid-contract price rises imposed by the major broadband providers. Data from the ONS says that, on average, households will see a rise of £11.25 per month after the 14.4% price rise in April.
Broadband customers are set to add around £1.4 billion to the coffers of the UK’s major broadband providers as a result of price rises in April, in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis. Broadband providers are hiking their charges by the rate of inflation plus 3.9 per cent on top in the middle of contracts, without giving the customer the right to exit the contract.
This April, with the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation at 10.5% per cent, this will take bills up by 14.4 per cent. Research from Hyperoptic finds that 60% of people are unaware that their monthly charge for their broadband contract will change; 80% don’t know that CPI relates to price; and less than a quarter can work out the pounds and pence impact of a price rise when given the numbers.
Hyperoptic has developed a free online calculator that will show broadband users how much more they will have to pay to their current provider. The calculator shows how much more monthly charges will be, and how much more a customer is going to pay across the life of their contract – with shoppers who bought in Black Friday or New Year sales likely to be hit by two price rises on the same contract.
With the average cost of broadband at around £40 a month it means millions will be paying more than £100 more than they had bargained for during their contract.
Hyperoptic’s Chief Customer Officer Lutfu Kitapci said: “It’s unfair and misleading to let customers sign up to a contract price, only to increase that price months later – especially given the cost-of-living crisis when everyone is trying to budget.
“This is the last thing people need to contend with in these financially difficult times. Our free calculator will allow people to find out exactly what extra charges they will be hit with from April onwards, so that they can plan for that – and choose a different provider when their contract expires.
“Hyperoptic has never hiked prices mid-contract. And we are continually campaigning at the highest levels to get this unfair practice changed – if a provider chooses to hit its customers with a mid-contract price rise, then those customers should be free to switch.”
