VIRGIN Media is set to introduce mid-contract price hikes starting from today.
New and re-contracting broadband customers will be subject to a £4 price rise to their monthly bill midway through their contract.
PA:Press AssociationVirgin Media is raising its mid-contract price hikes to £4 for customers joining from today[/caption]This is up from the previous £3.50 mid-contract price hike.
Customers who sign up from October 2 onwards will be hit with the price increase next April.
Ernest Doku, Uswitch broadband expert, said Virgin Media customers will be hit twice with the annual price rise by 2027, given the firm’s shift to 24-month minimum contracts earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the provider has refreshed its line-up, including offering Netflix with ads as standard on its plans over 500Mbps and faster speeds with TV bundles.
He added: “For customers considering taking out one of these more premium plans, this added value may offset the £48 yearly price rise.”
However, if you’re considering one of its broadband-only packages under 500Mbps, you won’t benefit from these changes and will still be subject to the £4 per month price hike.
A Virgin Media spokesperson told The Sun: “Customers taking one of our latest packages, which offer fantastic value including Netflix as standard on all TV bundles and Sky Sports in HD at no extra cost, will see their prices rise by £4 a month each April.
“No prices are changing now and no changes are being made to existing customer contracts.”
They added: “This 13p a day rise represents excellent value for connectivity customers use more than ever and is greatly outweighed by the £5million we invest every single day into our networks and services to ensure we continue to provide the fast, reliable connectivity our customers expect and rely on.”
The move comes as BT and EE have previously announced similar bill hikes back in July.
New BT and EE customers who sign up to a broadband package are also subject to a £4 price rise per month midway through their contract, up from the previous £3 mid-contract price increase.
Plusnet also hiked its mid-contract price rise to £4 from August 5.
Mobile plans are also subject to mid-contract price rises for BT, EE and Plusnet customers.
Anyone on Sim only and Flex Pay plans will see their contracts go up by £2.50 in April, while bundled handset and airtime plan customers will face a £4 bill hike.
The changes come after telecoms firms were ordered by Ofcom to display mid-contract price increases in the form of pounds and pence from January 17.
Prices are usually hiked in April in line with either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Retail Price Index (RPI) measures of inflation plus up to 3.9%.
Under the new rules, customers must be shown by their broadband or mobile provider exactly how much their bill is going up by in April.
This is so customers know exactly how much their contract will go up by before taking it out, rather than it being linked to future inflation, which can go up or down.
How to save more on your broadband bill
Shopping around for a better deal can often be the best way to cut down on mobile and broadband costs.
Switching to a new service isn’t necessarily needed, if you’d rather stay with your own provider.
Haggling for a new offer is the best starting point for cutting down your broadband bills.
The first thing to do is to find out what the cheapest deal on the market is, which you can use as a bargaining tool to get a better offer.
Visit comparison sites like Uswitch.com or Moneysavingexpert.com to do this, and find the best deals on the market.
You can then use this knowledge to negotiate a better deal with your current provider.
How to save on broadband and TV bills
HERE'S how to save money on your broadband and TV bills:
Audit your subscriptions
If you’ve got multiple subscriptions to various on-demand services, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Sky consider whether you need them all.
Could you even just get by with Freeview, which couldn’t cost you anything extra each month for TV.
Also make sure you’re not paying for Netflix twice via Sky and directly.
Haggle for a discount
If you want to stay with your provider, check prices elsewhere to set a benchmark and then call its customer services and threaten to leave unless it price matches or lowers your bill.
Switch and save
If you don’t want to stay with your current provider check if you can cancel your contract penalty free and switch to a cheaper provider.
A comparison site, such as BroadbandChoices or Uswitch, will help you find the best deal for free.
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