Dozens of savvy readers have shared their tips for fighting back against the mid-contract broadband and phone price racket. Last week we called for an end to the extraordinarily unfair mid-contract price hikes that will see millions of households face inflation-slowing increases of 13 or 14 percent in the coming weeks.
Customers of BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Three, O2, Virgin Media and Vodafone will see their broadband and telephone bills increase.
Hundreds of readers have reached out to show their support for our campaign. Many agree that households should not allow their broadband and telephone bill prices to rise in the middle of the contract, by an amount they do not know when they make a deal. Most have been told by their providers to expect double-digit increases in their bills in April and May.
But amidst this frustration, scores have also shared ingenious tips and tricks to beat the price surges. Here are some of the best.
We’d love to hear your success stories – with these techniques and your own.
In touch: Plenty of savvy readers have shared their tips for fighting back against the mid-contract broadband and phone pricing racket
Request a social rate, says Rosalyn
Reader Rosalyn Paine suggests that low-income people look at social rates.
‘My mother had a BT Basic fare and found it very useful,’ says Ros. “It certainly reduced her phone bills and allowed us all to stay in touch with her.
“She also had cheap Wi-Fi, which I could use when I was with her to order her groceries.”
Most broadband and telephone providers have special rates for low-income earners.
Providers may not always go out of their way to advertise these, but connoisseurs can save hundreds of dollars.
For example, BT’s Home Essentials phone tariff offers unlimited calls to UK landlines and mobiles for £10 a month for those who qualify. It also has a broadband deal for £15 a month.
EE and Vodafone have basic broadband deals for £12, while Virgin Media’s is £12.50.
People with universal credit qualify for these rates. Some providers also accept customers with other benefits, including a pension discount. The table on the right summarizes some of the most popular deals and who they are for.
If you think you qualify, contact your provider and ask about their social rate, or contact an alternative provider if their deal suits you better.
Switch to Freeview, says Martin
When Martin Window received a letter from Virgin Media saying his bills were going up by £15 a month, that was the last straw. He was already paying £125 a month for phone, TV and broadband.
“In my opinion, it’s pure greed to charge anything for that,” he says. So Martin, 69, from Waterlooville in Hampshire, has decided to drop the TV package and opt for Freeview instead.
“I started paying attention to what we were looking at,” he says. ‘With Virgin TV it seems like we have hundreds of channels but a lot of them are duplicates and there’s rarely anything we really want to see.
“We mainly watch stuff on the BBC, Channel 4 and 5, so I don’t think we’ll miss it – and we’ll save a lot of money.”
Threatens to cancel, says Lisa
Lisa James, 79, was shocked to receive an email from Virgin Media saying her bills would rise to £151 a month from April.
“It’s greed,” she says. Lisa phoned to complain and was offered a deal at £100 a month.
Still dissatisfied, she told Virgin Media she would switch to BT and was put through to the cancellation department. That’s when their tone changed.
‘I finally spoke to someone who offered me 18 months at £69 a month,’ says Lisa. “I felt like saying no, but accepted it. It was the thought of all the hassle of changing everything – when you’re older it’s so hard work.
“So I took the deal, but we shouldn’t mess around like this every year or two.”
Switch to a smaller supplier, Susan and Trevor say
Reader Susan Bowley, 77, has switched to Lebara for her mobile phone plan, paying just £4.90 a month. She also has free roaming in the EU and some other countries, and 100 free minutes per month to call 42 other countries.
‘I used to be with Sky but they started charging roaming charges so I decided to look elsewhere,’ says Susan, who lives near Bristol. ‘Lebara uses the Vodafone network and I have excellent coverage.’
Trevor Heel, 62, from Bournemouth, has a mobile phone contract with smaller supplier ID Mobile, which uses the Three network.
‘I started my contract a little over three years ago at £5 a month, and I’m still paying that amount,’ he says. “I get 500 minutes and 1 GB of data, which will roll over for a month if I need it.”
Look around for a new deal, says Derek
Derek de Vere, 63, from York, was fed up when TalkTalk said it would raise its bills again in March. He was initially attracted to TalkTalk’s £27.50 a month deal.
“But I’ve seen two increases since then, to £41, then to £43.50 – and it went back up to £53.50,” says Derek. ‘So I’m switching to Sky and paying £29 a month for unlimited calls and broadband.
“The broadband will be a little slower, but will still be more than adequate for my needs.”
Keep good records, says Paul
PAUL Law has been promised that his Virgin Media bills will not be affected by the price hikes in April. But he kept a record of his conversations just to be on the safe side. “I was offered a new package this month and challenged the seller several times whether my bill would increase in April,” says Paul. ‘They promised not to, but I won’t know for sure until I get my bill. So for my peace of mind I recorded the conversation.’
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