TalkTalk customers to be hit with price hikes of up to £36/yr - what you need to know

Customers the provider deems vulnerable, which could be due to their age or because they have a disability, won't be hit by the rise (see the TalkTalk website for more info on how it determines vulnerability) - but for everyone else here's what you need to know. 

TalkTalk is hiking broadband and landline bills by up to £36 a year from 1 April

TalkTalk has been sketchy about what info it's giving us as the news is still fresh, but here's what we know so far:

• Many broadband customers will be hit by price hikes of £2 a month (£24 a year). This will affect all broadband customers except the following who won't face any rise: 

  - Customers who took out a Fibre 35 or Fibre 65 tariff between 10 November 2020 and 1 March 2021.

  - Customers on TalkTalk's 'Fixed Price Plus' tariff.

  In addition, other broadband costs may rise - such as certain bolt-on features - but TalkTalk hasn't given full details. 

• Some landline customers also face rises if they have certain 'add-ons' but it's unclear how much by. TalkTalk has given little info about which add-ons will increase in price and how much by, but they could be features such as call divert and anonymous caller reject.

While it's hard to work out exactly how much all bills will rise by given the lack of info, TalkTalk says it's capping increases so customers won't face more than £3/month rises (£36/year). It's yet to confirm how many customers are affected. We've also asked TalkTalk to confirm if mobile and TV prices are affected and we'll update this story as soon as we know more. 

When will I know if I face a rise and how much it'll be?

TalkTalk adds that customers will be told exactly how their bills will rise when it sends letters or emails out, but it hasn't said when that'll happen.  

You can cancel penalty-free as a result of the hikes

If you're unhappy about the price hike there's no point leaving in a huff if your current deal is still the cheapest out there – so check rival providers' prices using our Broadband Unbundled tool, and remember other firms also increase prices from time to time. In the past few months we've seen increases from BT and EE, Sky, and Virgin Media. 

If you still decide you want to leave, you can do so penalty-free as a result of these hikes - you just to need to tell TalkTalk within 30 days of receiving notification about the increase. You'll be given the contact details needed to do this when you're notified, but TalkTalk's general customer service number is 0345 172 0088. 

Alternatively, if you're willing to stay with TalkTalk, you can try to haggle your bills down (and use the fact it's increasing prices as haggling ammunition). See our Broadband Haggling guide for tips. 

The provider blames the price rises on a 40% increase in broadband use over the past year, which it says means it needs to invest in its network. 

TalkTalk to change the way price hikes are calculated from next year

Separately, TalkTalk is also contacting all of its existing broadband and home phone customers to notify them that prices will rise next April (2022) by December 2021's consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation (as announced in January) + 3.7 percentage points.

The only exceptions to this are those who signed up to TalkTalk's 'Fixed Price Plus' tariff and vulnerable customers. Unlike this April's price increase, you won't be able to escape the hikes in April 2022 penalty-free. That's because TalkTalk is letting customers know of the change to its terms and conditions now. These new terms will also apply to all new customers from 1 March 2021 onwards.