EE to increase pay-monthly mobile prices by 2.7%

The telecoms firm is contacting monthly contract customers to tell them their costs will be going up in line with December's Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation figure from Saturday 30 March. 

The increase will affect pay-monthly mobile customers (including those on Sim only contracts), but not pay-as-you-go customers.

Many major mobile firms increase costs each year in line with published inflation figures, and more price rises are set to be confirmed on Wednesday 13 February, and over the coming weeks.

For more help on cutting your mobile bill, see 30+ Cheap Mobile Tips. 

I'm mid-contract – can I leave penalty-free?

Unfortunately you're unlikely to be able to. Mobile firms CAN increase prices mid-contract in line with inflation without you being able to leave penalty-free, as long as they include a warning about this in their terms and conditions. So you can't just up and leave.

A rule from telecoms regulator Ofcom means you can escape your contract penalty-free if you can successfully prove you've suffered "material detriment" as a result of a price increase – but it would be very hard to prove an RPI increase had caused this.

Make sure you note down when your contract is due to end, and start looking for new deals about a month before.

Out of contract? Try to haggle or switch 

If you're out of your minimum contract term you can leave without paying any penalty, and there's a good chance you can save by switching to a better deal – especially if your original contract involved paying for a handset.

Most should NEVER pay over £10/month for mobile use, particularly given over two-thirds of mobile users consume less than 3GB/month. See our Mobiles section and Best Sim only Deals guide for full help on finding a cheaper deal elsewhere.

Alternatively, if you're willing to stick with your network, this is a chance to haggle a better deal – especially as you have the right to leave penalty-free. See our Mobile Haggling guide for more.

'Mid-contract price rises should act as a wake-up call'

Megan French, assistant news and features editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "Price rises from the big firms are pretty much an annual event now, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't act as a wake-up call for users.

"Customers who are in contract are normally still tied in after a hike, and so while they can't do anything immediately they should make sure they move to a cheaper deal at the end of their contract.

"Those out of contract, however, are likely paying lots more than the best deals and can do something about it now. Our data shows many mobile phone customers use less than 3GB of data a month, and so really shouldn't pay any more than £10 a month for a Sim only contract."

What does EE say?

An EE spokesperson said: "Like many service providers, our pay-monthly plans increase by RPI annually, and this year customers on our most popular plan will typically see an increase of 60p a month.

"We're currently contacting our customers to remind them this will take effect from 30 March 2019."