OFCOM

Broadband, mobile and pay TV firms will no longer be able to hit customers with inflation-linked price hikes mid-contract from January 2025, regulator Ofcom has confirmed. But, as MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis has warned, the new rules will still allow for above-inflation price rises.

If you took out a broadband, landline, mobile or TV plan with EE or Plusnet since 17 June 2022 but left your contract early and got charged exit fees, you may now be due a refund. Others who are still with EE and Plusnet may also be offered the chance to leave their contracts penalty-free. It comes after the firms failed to give 1.1 million customers key information about their contracts when they signed up.

Broadband, mobile and pay TV firms will no longer be able to hit customers with inflation-linked price hikes mid-contract, under proposals put forward by the telecoms regulator. But while MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis has welcomed the move, he has also called on Ofcom to ensure any rises are never above inflation.

Broadband and mobile firms should be banned from hitting their customers with unpredictable mid-contract price hikes, consumer group Which? and charity Citizens Advice have said. The organisations have urged the telecoms regulator to stop these "unjust hikes" to ensure people are given certainty about how much their contract will cost when they sign up. 

If you're a Shell Energy broadband and home phone customer, you should urgently check you're not overpaying, as the provider has been fined £1.4 million by the regulator for failing to notify around 65,000 customers that their contracts were ending. The firm has also refunded more than 6,000 customers who were overcharged after being quoted the wrong price in their end-of-contract notifications.

Mobile providers will be forced to send mandatory roaming alerts to travellers under new plans outlined by telecoms regulator Ofcom today. MoneySavingExpert.com has repeatedly called for consumers' roaming rights to be increased after protections ended following Brexit – and we now want to see these new rules brought in as quickly as possible.

Virgin Media is being investigated by telecoms regulator Ofcom, after the watchdog received a worrying number of complaints from broadband, home phone and TV customers who said the firm had made it too difficult to cancel their contracts.

A review into mid-contract price hikes on mobile and broadband bills has been launched by the telecoms regulator, amid concerns that providers aren't being clear enough about what customers can expect to pay during the full length of their contract.

Sky TV customers should check their bills NOW as millions are still not being told their contract is coming to an end. The telecoms giant is adamant it doesn't need to send end-of-contract notifications to its TV customers, despite being told to do so.

Mobile and broadband customers should find it easier to cancel penalty-free if their provider makes detrimental mid-contract changes that were not agreed to when they first signed up to the plan.