Uswitch responds to January’s consumer price index (CPI)
Richard Neudegg, director of regulation at Uswitch.com comments:
“As the majority of broadband and mobile providers base their annual price rises on December’s inflation rate plus an additional 3.9%, today’s figures show that UK consumers will likely pay out an estimated total of £85.5 million more on their broadband and mobiles per month from April this year.
“In real terms, this could cost the individual consumer around £27.19 more a year for broadband and £24.23 for mobile bills on average.
“This rise of up to around 7.9% follows the sky-high above-inflation price rises that consumers faced last year, which for many reached 17.3%.
“There is hope on the horizon, with Ofcom currently weighing up a new ban on inflation-linked and percentage-based price hikes. BT yesterday committed to introducing clearer pricing plans for the summer, but crucially, April’s inflation-linked rises will still go ahead as planned which is a further blow to those already financially stretched.
“All mobile and broadband customers should check to see if they are in or out of contract, and consider switching to a cheaper deal as soon as they are able to prevent overpaying. This is especially true for anyone who hasn’t moved in the past 18 or 24 months as you’re very likely to be at or nearing the end of your contract and significantly cheaper options will be out there.
“According to Ofcom, 26% of broadband customers and 34% of mobile customers are out of contract, so now could be a good time to switch to cheaper deals and offset the April price increases. Even if you still face a price rise elsewhere - you’ll still pay less than if you do nothing.
“It’s also worth looking into those who don’t partake in mid contract price rises – including mobile networks like Giffgaff, Smarty, VOXI, Lycamobile and Lebara, as well as smaller, alternative broadband providers like Hyperoptic and Zen.
“Our own data shows that broadband customers can save an average of £179 a year by switching their provider, while mobile customers at the end of a 24-month handset contract switching to a SIM only contract (and keeping their existing handset) could save as much as £360 per year.”
Notes to editors
Methodology (calculation) - total mobile and broadband increase
Total UK broadband and mobile bill increase per month = total broadband increase + total mobile increase.
Total broadband increase per month = (average monthly bill from Uswitch data (£29.47) x (CPI figure + 3.69%)) x number of broadband customers on contracts with price rise increase (based on 11 million). 3.69% refers to average ‘extra cost’ of 12 broadband providers (including Sky, Virgin Media, BT, Plusnet, Vodafone and TalkTalk)
Total mobile increase per month - (average monthly bill from Uswitch data (£21.30) x (CPI figure + 3.9%) x number of mobile customers on contracts with price rise increase (based on 30 million)
For total individual cost per month = (total broadband increase/11 million) + (total mobile increase/30 million)
About Uswitch
Uswitch is one of the UK’s top comparison websites for home services switching, including energy, broadband and mobiles.
More people go to Uswitch to switch their energy, broadband and mobile than any other site, and we have saved consumers over £2.7 billion off their bills since we launched in September 2000.
Free mobile app Utrack also helps households manage their home energy usage and make potential savings.
Uswitch is part of RVU, a group of online brands with a mission to empower consumers to make more confident home services, insurance and financial decisions.