Martin Lewis issues ‘worrying’ warning to all broadband users

Consumer champion urges viewers to be prepared to haggle for better deals

Martin Lewis has warned households to watch out for mid-contract price rises in their broadband bills this spring.

The consumer rights champion cautioned viewers that telecoms companies might try to introduce hikes of up to 15 per cent, explaining that firms typically seek to keep pace with the consumer price index (CPI) or retail price index (RPI) rate of inflation, currently around 11 per cent, and could be tempted to add as much as 4 per cent on top.

“If they enact them this year, and the likelihood is they will, this could mean 15 per cent-ish hikes this spring,” Mr Lewis said.

“This usually happens in April for most of the major broadband providers, which is going to be another hit for many people.

“If you’re paying £40, that’s £6 a month extra. Even switchers’ deals will probably do this but of course, it’s £6 a month extra on £40 or if you pay £20 a month, it’s only £3 a month extra.”

In order to avoid being subjected to such rises, Mr Lewis urged his audience to check their current deals and consider switching supplier if they can, given that the most favourable deals are usually offered to new customers as an enticement to sign up.

The expert advised viewers to check prices being offered elsewhere, find the most favourable deal and then call their current provider to request that they match it – and be prepared to haggle in pursuit of better terms.

A recent poll on Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert site revealed a success rate of over 80 per cent when customers haggled with TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky.

“Switching... don’t worry about it too much – I can’t promise it will be smooth every time – it’s only two hours-ish of downtime,” Mr Lewis said on Tuesday.

“It’s your new firm who sorts it out for you and they’ll cancel your old provider. Some of you don’t want to switch, you like where you are, in which case: haggle.”

He continued: “As a loyal customer, the first thing I would do is, I’d get on the phone and I’d say: I’ve seen what you’re charging new customers.

“I’d make sure you’ve seen what other providers are charging in your area, because it’s postcode dependent… and say, ‘I’m not willing to pay that amount, can you offer me a better deal?’

“If they say no, you say I want to go through to Customer Disconnections… this is where they can do the big deals. Always be polite and if they don’t give you that price, I would be pretty annoyed and I’d want to ditch and switch and go elsewhere.”