BT and EE to hike prices by up to £48/yr from March for out-of-contract customers – check NOW if you can save

These price rises apply to BT and EE broadband, landline, mobile and TV customers who last took out a new deal before 10 April 2024 and haven't switched or upgraded since. Your exact price rise will depend on the service you have – we've more on the price changes below. Plus, we've full help on what to do below for mobile, as well as broadband, landline and TV customers.

If you're mid-contract, separate price rises will take force from 31 March – however, these were already written into your terms and conditions when you signed up, so you CAN'T leave penalty-free as a result of them. Instead, note when your contract ends so you can compare deals closer to the time.

Unhappy? Check NOW if you can ditch and switch to save

The providers, both part of the BT Group, wouldn't tell us how many customers are affected in total, but did confirm that everyone impacted is out of contract and can therefore leave penalty-free at any time – so you can take advantage of this to slash your costs.

Mobile cost-cutting

If you want to leave, you've two options:

1. Find the cheapest Sim deal on any signal. Use our Cheap Sim Finder tool to compare current deals, and see if you can beat your new price. The cheapest Sim deals currently start from around £3 a month. Before you leave, get your 'Porting Authorisation Code' by texting PAC to 65075. You can then give this code to your new provider so it can transfer your number.
   
   Top current deals: 5GB of data for '£3.20 a month' with Lebara (uses Vodafone's network) on a monthly rolling contract. Or, if you need more data you can get 35GB of data for '£3.70 a month' with Lebara on a monthly rolling contract. Alternatively, if you know Vodafone isn't good in your area, then you can get 50GB of data for '£3.80 a month' on a 12-month contract with iD Mobile (uses Three's network).

2. Find the cheapest Sim on the same signal it uses. 1pMobile, Ecotalk, Mozillion, Spusu, Talk Home and The Phone Co-op pay EE to piggyback on its signal. Our Cheap Sim Finder comparison tool lets you filter to see the cheapest deals on the same signal – the cheapest deals using EE's signal start from £4.50 a month. Double-check the features though (for example, Wi-Fi calling); don't assume they stay the same. As for how good piggybackers are, there's no noticeable difference for most.
   
   Top current deals: 5GB of data for £4.50 a month on a 1-month rolling contract with Spusu or if you need more data you can also get 20GB of data for £6.90 a month with Spusu.

Broadband, landline and TV cost-cutting

We've full step-by-step help in our Cheap broadband and Digital TV guides, but broadband, landline and TV deals are postcode dependent, so to see the best deals available in your area and across all speeds, enter your postcode on our Broadband and TV comparison tool.

Most broadband deals come with a landline bundled into the price, but some don't, so if you'd like a broadband and line deal, you can select this when you do the comparison.

Want to stick with BT/ EE? Try to haggle down the cost

If you'd rather stay with BT/ EE but still want to save, haggling is worth a try – a MoneySavingExpert.com poll conducted last year found:

• 70% of mobile customers who haggled with EE were successful in negotiating a better deal.

• 62% of broadband or TV customers who haggled with BT were successful in negotiating a better deal.

• 60% of broadband or TV customers who haggled with EE were successful in negotiating a better deal.

If you're looking to haggle, it's best to call up your network directly and tell it (politely!) that you're after a better deal. See our Mobile phone haggling guide, BT haggling and Broadband haggling guides for success stories and more specific tips on getting your bills down.

If you're still not happy with your tariff after haggling, simply ask to leave.

Why BT and EE out-of-contract prices are changing

From 1 March this year, BT and EE are shifting their out of contract customers to 'pounds and pence' price rises, where your bill rises by a specified cash amount each year. This replaces the old 'inflation-linked' approach, where your prices went up by the rate of inflation plus an additional amount on top. Pounds and pence rises are already in place for those signing up or switching deals on or after 10 April 2024.

The only exception are those on BT's 'Home Essentials' broadband social tariff, as this doesn't have annual price rises.

If you're out of contract, you'll see the following bill hikes from March 2026 (price changes for in-contract customers from 31 March can differ):

• BT and EE home broadband plans (including line): +£4 a month (£48 a year).

• EE mobile handset plans: +£4 a month (£48 a year).

• EE mobile Sim-only and airtime plans: +£2.50 a month (£30 a year).

• EE TV: +£2 a month (£24 a year).

We've asked if home phone-only customers will be affected and we'll update this story when we know more.

Those on the cheapest plans will be worse off

Because the new increases are a flat amount regardless of how much you normally pay, those on cheaper plans will see a bigger proportional rise versus those on more expensive plans. The old inflation-linked rises worked the opposite way – those on more expensive plans saw bigger hikes.

Under the previous formula, the price rises for 2026 would've been 7.3% (December's Consumer Prices Index rate of inflation of 3.4% + 3.9 percentage points on top).

So whether this new move leaves you better or worse off depends on what service you have and how much you currently pay. As a rough guide:

• BT and EE home broadband, or EE mobile handset plans: those paying about £55 or more a month will be better off.

• EE mobile Sim-only plans: those paying about £35 or more a month will be better off.

• EE TV: those paying about £28 or more a month will be better off.

But remember: even if you're technically better off under the new price rise structure, you may still be overpaying, so it's still worth following the steps above to check if you can save.