Post Office phone customers face price hikes of up to £42/yr

Its evening and weekend and anytime call plans will be increasing by up to £3/month from Monday 2 November, with the price of some legacy call plans and packages also set to rise by up to £3.50/month. And the price of calls to UK landlines and voicemails will also be going up – you can see a full breakdown of the changes below.

If you have a Post Office fixed-price broadband package, your monthly rental price on that part of the deal won't change.

The Post Office has already started telling affected customers about the change by letter, leaflet or email. If you're a customer and are unhappy with the hikes, you CAN leave penalty-free.

Use our Broadband Unbundled tool to find the best deals.

What's changing with my Post Office phone package? 

The price increases affect several call plans, including some legacy plans which are no longer sold to new customers:

Some call charges and features will also be going up in price at the same time: 

As part of further tweaks to its broadband and home phone T&Cs, it will cap spending on premium rate calls at £40 per call and £240 per month.

As well as these price changes, the Post Office is also removing some of the services which are currently available through 'My Account'.

From Monday 2 November, you'll no longer be able to use 'My Account' to:

• Add or change 'Loved Ones' numbers.

• Check the remaining allowance on your call plan.

• View unbilled call details since your last bill.

• Make one-off payments towards your bill.

These features will only be available by calling the Post Office call centre on 0345 600 3210 and selecting the relevant option when prompted.

Can I avoid these price rises?

If you do nothing, the price hikes will affect you from Monday 2 November, assuming you have a call plan, or use a Post Office landline to make outgoing calls. But there are a couple of things you can do to avoid the price increases:

Beat the hikes 1 – leave penalty-free

If you're affected by the hike, you can leave penalty-free as long as you tell the Post Office within 30 days of receiving the notification about your price increase.

Remember to compare prices elsewhere before leaving to make sure you can get a cheaper deal. Our Broadband Unbundled tool lets you compare broadband, phone line and TV deals.

Beat the hikes 2 – haggle, haggle, haggle

If you're willing to stick with the Post Office, this is a chance to haggle a better deal – especially as you'll have the right to leave penalty-free if it doesn't give you one. You can call 0345 373 0042 (though bear in mind that while this is free from an active Post Office home phone, you'll need to pay if you're calling from a phone with another provider).

See our Haggle with Service Providers guide for detailed tips, but for starters here are a few...

• Benchmark the best deal elsewhere. This helps you ask for a realistic discount.

• Use charm and be friendly. Aggression or anger will just put their back up.

• Don't panic if they call your bluff. If they say they'll disconnect you, regard it as a way to negotiate further. If you really don't want to leave, tell them you need to discuss it with a family member or friend and that you'll call them back.

• Problems mean discounts. If you've had issues with the Post Office in the past – eg, slow broadband – politely tell it when you haggle.

• Never go with the first offer. Chances are it's not the best deal. Remember, be firm.

• The salesperson may push you to agree because it's a 'limited-time offer'. Don't feel pressured into agreeing to the new price or deal unless you're certain.

• Vote with your feet. If you don't get what you want, you should seriously consider leaving.

What does the Post Office say?

An update about the price increases on the Post Office website reads: "We've always done everything possible to give you great value for money and to help keep your bills down. However, we've had to make a few changes to some of our call rates, features and call plans in order to continue offering all the great benefits that are included within our packages.

"Although some prices have increased, you'll see that our prices and call charges are still very good value for money, especially when you compare them to other service providers."