Millions of BT customers to be hit with price hikes of up to £53 – how to avoid it

MILLIONS of BT customers face paying higher bills next year, but there are ways you can avoid it.

Households face higher bills from next spring when the broadband provider hikes its prices.

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It comes after BT, which runs mobile operator EE, revealed its first sales growth for five years.

Chief executive Philip Jansen told The Times, that the bill increase will “absolutely go ahead” in April.

BT customer contracts state bills go up every year with inflation, plus 3.9pc.

Inflation to expected to stand at around 9pc early next year, meaning customers face a rise in their bills of 13pc.

This would add about £53 per year to the cost of a typical BT Fibre Essential package.

The price increases apply across the company’s broadband, EE mobile and BT Sport packages.

It’s a further blow to families who are already facing soaring energy bills, food costs and tax rises.

Thousands of BT and Openreach workers are also set to strike today in a dispute over pay.

Earlier this year the telecoms giant increased bills by 9.3%, which added an average £3.50 to customer’s monthly bills.

How to avoid a broadband price rise

Price rises could prompt you to consider switching to a cheaper company, but make sure you check your contract first.

If you do decide to switch, comparison websites such as Compare The Market and Moneysupermarket can help you to find cheap deals.

The comparison site on Uswitch.com will also let you search for alternative broadband packages.

When you’re switching, you’ll need to choose your contract length and the speed, but it should all be obvious as you’re taken through the process.

Before signing up to a new contract, you should also consider what you’re willing to pay every month – most broadband contracts last for 18 or 24 months, so you’ll need to plan ahead and make sure you can afford the price over that time period.

You’ll usually need to give a month’s notice to your current provider to cancel your deal, and you’ll need to think about when the new service should be installed and set up.

This could take roughly six weeks to be up and running.

But this can all differ depending on who you’re with, so it’s best to call up your new provider and see when you can be connected.

If you want more tips on how to save money on your broadband deal – you can read handy tips here on how to save up to £170 a year.

And if you want to avoid haggling with your provider to look for reductions, here’s a handy way to save you £200 on your bill.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk