MILLIONS of households will be hit with a huge bill hike next year as major film reveals plans to increase broadband and TV bills.
Sky said this morning that the average customer will pay an additional 6.7% from April.
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The announcement comes as Brits are struggling with the rising cost of living, with energy prices, food and tax bills all remaining at sky high levels.
Sky is the latest company to announce bill increases, with mobile, TV and broadband customers all affected.
The firm said that “it doesn’t take these decisions lightly”.
The change will depend on the Sky products you have and when you signed up.
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If you currently pay £39 a month for Sky TV, Netflix and superfast broadband, you will pay an additional £2.61 taking it up to £41.60.
Customers who are impacted will be contacted by the end of February to let them know how the changes impact their products.
If you’re on a broadband and mobile social tariff, you won’t see an increase to your bills because Sky has frozen its tariffs.
Social tariffs are broadband and mobile phone packages available to people on certain benefits
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It comes after Sky announced that the average out-of-contract mobile customer will see their monthly bill go up by 3%.
While price rises are never welcome, Sky’s increase falls below the level broadband firms are allowed to hike their bills by.
Providers usually increase their prices annually based on the rate of inflation plus an extra 3.9%.
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The consumer price index (CPI) stood at 4% in December, so broadband bills could increase by as much as 7.9% in April.
Uswitch calculated that the increase could cost the individual consumer around £27.19 more a year for broadband.
BT, EE and Three are among the firms which have confirmed to The Sun they will put up bills by up to 7.9%
Ofcom is currently reviewing inflation-linked, mid-contract price rises but is yet to publish its final decision on its proposals to ban the practice.
A survey by Which? found that 78% of consumers believe that mid-contract price hikes are always unfair.
Alex Tofts, broadband spokesman at Broadband Genie, said: “Each provider determines their price increase based on their chosen metric.
“In recent years, the unpredictable and volatile nature of inflation means broadband customers are in the dark about future price rises before signing up to a contract.”
Last year, Sky hiked it’s bills by an average of £67 after an increase of £43 the year before.
How much will my bill increase by?
Your internet provider or mobile network should contact you to let you know how much your bills will increase in April.
There’s also an easy way to work out how much more you’re set to pay.
Just find out what percentage increase of your current monthly bill is – you can use an online percentage calculator to work that out.
Then add those two figures together – this will give you your new monthly payment.
To find out your annual cost, times that total figure by 12.
If you’re not happy with the rise, then you could try and haggle a cheaper deal
You may be able to leave without paying a fee, even if you’re mid-contract, so it’s worth checking.
If you think your bills are too high and want to pay less, the first thing to do is find out what the cheapest deal on the market is.
You can use this rate as a bargaining tool to get a better offer from your provider.
Get in contact with your provider to see if they can match this rate – if not, you might want to switch instead.
If you’re mid-contract though and wish to leave, bear in mind that you could face an exit fee so check with your provider for any charges.
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Plus, it could be harder haggling with these prices as they come most years from all providers.
For more ways to cut your phone bill, we’ve got eight tips for slashing costs.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
