Mid-contract broadband price rises: the rules have changed and you can now leave for free

Millions of broadband and mobile customers are discovering this autumn that the price they agreed to is not the price they are paying, as providers push through mid-contract rises of £2 to £4 a month. The good news is that the rules on what they can do about it have changed, and for many the answer is simple: leave.

Since January 2025, Ofcom has banned providers from linking mid-contract increases to inflation plus a percentage, the formula that produced rises of 14% and more in 2023. Any price change during a contract must now be set out in pounds and pence at the point of sale. A provider that wants to raise prices by any other amount, or by an amount it did not state at the start, must give at least 30 days’ notice and let you leave without an exit fee.

“The rule is clear and the problem is that most people do not know it,” said Tariq Mahmood, telecoms expert at the consumer group Which?. “If your contract says the price will go up by £3 in April and it goes up by £3 in April, you are stuck. If it goes up by anything else, or at any other time, or the increase was buried in terms you were never shown, you have 30 days to walk away for nothing. Providers are relying on people not checking.”

The first step is to find your original contract, which will be in the email your provider sent when you signed up, and check whether it states a fixed increase. Contracts signed before January 2025 may still contain the old inflation-linked clause, which remains enforceable for the rest of that term, but Ofcom has said providers must still tell customers clearly when the rise is coming and what it will be.

If you have the right to leave, use it as leverage even if you do not want to go. Providers typically offer existing customers a retention deal within minutes of a cancellation request, and in Which?’s latest survey 61% of customers who threatened to leave got a lower price. The best new-customer deals for full-fibre broadband at 150 megabits per second are currently about £24 a month from Fibrelink and Vantage, against an average of £38 paid by customers who are out of contract.

A second check worth making is whether you are out of contract at all. Ofcom estimates that about 8 million broadband customers are paying a standard price after their initial deal expired, often £10 to £15 a month more than they need to. Providers are required to send an end-of-contract notification, but these are easily missed.

If you are on a low income, every major provider now offers a social tariff, typically £15 to £20 a month for a basic fibre service, available to anyone receiving universal credit, pension credit or certain other benefits. Take-up is below 10% of those eligible. Social tariffs have no exit fees and no mid-contract increases.

Finally, if a provider refuses to let you leave when you believe you are entitled to, ask for a deadlock letter and take the case to the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS, depending on which scheme your provider belongs to. Both are free and the provider is bound by the decision.