Three Mobile and Vodafone to hike bills by up to £45 a year for millions of customers
MILLIONS of Three Mobile and Vodafone customers will see their monthly bills jump by up to 4.5% from April.
Mobile firms usually increase bills for customers based on inflation, and both Three and Vodafone have confirmed they are raising prices as a result.
Vodafone will hike prices up from April, and has used the Consumer Price Index rate to calculate the jump.
Customers who signed up or renewed their mobile contract from December 9 2020 will see their bill jump by 4.5% from April.
This means if you were on a £83 monthly contract for your phone - such as for this - you would be forking out £3.74 a month, or £44.88 more a year.
It is yet to be seen how much extra customers who joined or renewed their contract before December 9 2020 will be paying, as the RPI rate of inflation for February has not been published yet.
But looking at last year, Vodafone hiked bills up by 2.5% in line with the RPI rate of inflation for February 2020.
A Vodafone spokesperson said: “We recognise no one wants to see price rises, but these are necessary for us to continue investing in our networks, products and services.”
Three Mobile is also planning to roll out price hikes from April this year based on the January RPI rate of inflation published by the ONS.
also matches buyers to the best pay-monthly deal based on their previous three months of bills.
It only works if you’re a customer of EE, O2, Three, Vodafone or Tesco Mobile and you’ll need to log in with your online account details.
There's also which has a bill monitoring feature that recommends a tariff based on your monthly usage.
If you’re happy with your provider then it might be worth using your research to haggle a better deal.
The price hike affects customers on pay-monthly contracts.
Customers who took out a new deal or renewed their contract after October 29 2020 will be hit with a 4.5% price hike in April.
So if you took out a contract for the for £76 (although the first six months are half price), you’ll be paying £3.42 a month extra, which is £41.04 a year more.
A Three spokesperson said: “Like other mobile network providers, our pay monthly plans are subject to an annual price increase.
“This year, some customers will see their monthly charge increase by 1.4% in line with the January RPI rate of inflation published by the ONS.
“We are investing +£2 billion in the UK’s fastest 5G network to ensure we have a strong network, capable of delivering better connectivity, every day, for every customer.”
Three said it would contact affected customers from March 2021 onwards.
Uswitch mobiles expert Ernest Doku said the price hikes are "more dramatic than usual".
He added: "Unfortunately, these price rises are written into your contract, so you don’t have the option to leave your deal without paying a penalty.
“If you’re not happy with the situation, ride it out and make a note to switch providers when your deal is up."
Scottish Power, EDF Energy, EOn and Npower will be hiking energy bills up by up to £96 a year.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Here's what benefits and Universal Credit can you claim - make sure you're not missing out.
Sainsbury's has raised the price of some of its products as part of its campaign to “match” rival Aldi, an investigation has found.