Vodafone to increase pay-monthly mobile prices by 2.5%

Costs will be going up in line with February's Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure, which was published on 20 March.

The price rise will affect all pay-monthly contracts taken out on or after 5 May 2016, and any mobile broadband contracts taken out on or after 28 September 2016 (including upgrades).

However, customers who joined Vodafone or upgraded their contracts on or after 5 February 2019 won't be affected by this year's price rise.

Vodafone says that customers will be contacted about the rise from Friday 22 March, and the new price will be applied to bills from April.

Vodafone is the latest major mobile phone company to increase contract prices, after EE, O2 and Three all announced price rises last month. EE customers saw a 2.7% increase this month, while O2 and Three customers' bills will rise by 2.5% in April and May respectively.

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 more than £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.