100,000s of TalkTalk TV customers face £48/yr price rise

At the moment, TalkTalk's TV service is free to its broadband customers, but there is a £4 a month charge to use the multi-room service, which allows you to watch TalkTalk TV on two screens in separate rooms at the same time.

But from next month, multi-room will be included in all TV customers' packages as standard, so customers will pay an extra £48/year – even if they don't have screens in multiple rooms and so won't be able to use the feature.

If you don't want to pay the fee, TalkTalk says you can opt out now, or at any time after you start paying with a month's notice, and you'll instead be able to access Freeview via your TalkTalk TV box. But if you opt out you'll no longer have access to buy extras, such as Sky Sports. 

What is TalkTalk's TV service?

TalkTalk TV is a TV and on-demand video service. Customers are given a TalkTalk box and can pause and rewind live TV, as well as rent movies and watch on-demand content.

In addition to the basic service, customers can also pay extra for add-ons – known as 'Boosts' – such as Sky Sports or Sky Cinema.

TalkTalk TV is provided at no extra charge for TalkTalk broadband and fibre customers, but they must opt into it. 

If customers decide to keep TalkTalk TV after 1 February and pay £4 a month, they'll be given a £5 TalkTalk TV voucher, which can be used to rent films on the service.

If you want to get an additional box for multi-room, there's a £50 fee – a £25 fee for the box plus a £25 installation fee.

How do I opt out of the service?

You can opt-out of paying the £4/month fee by calling TalkTalk's customer service team on 0345 172 0088 by the end of January.

You can also opt-out at any time after you start paying – you're not tied in to a fixed-term contract.

If you do choose to opt out of the new service, you will still be able to use your box and TV service to watch Freeview, pause and rewind live TV, watch on-demand content such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix, and to rent movies.

But you won't get multi-room or the £5 TalkTalk voucher. You also won't be able to get add-ons such as Sky Sports, which TalkTalk calls 'Boosts'.

See Digital TV Deals for how to pick the best package if you do opt-out of TalkTalk TV.

Want to keep the service but not pay? Try haggling

If you do want to keep the full TalkTalk TV service, but don't want to pay the full £4/month extra, you could try haggling, especially if you're near the end of your broadband or fibre contract.

Customers who opt for multi-room are also currently charged £25 if they want an extra box, plus a £25 installation fee, so you would again want to factor this in when haggling. 

In a recent MoneySavingExpert.com survey, TalkTalk was one of the companies our users had the most success haggling with.

Use our Haggle with TalkTalk guide for full info, but in brief: 

• Benchmark the best deal you can find elsewhere and use it as a bargaining chip.

• Get through to the retention department.

• Don't say yes to the first offer they give you.

What does TalkTalk say?

A TalkTalk spokesperson said: "We've been investing heavily in our TV service over the past two years to deliver large-scale tech updates and product innovations that bring real benefits to the customer experience, as well as adding more great content."