MILLIONS of Sky broadband and TV customers will see their bills rise by an average of £67 a year from April.
The increase will add 8.1% to bills annually, the telecoms giant said.
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Broadband customers will be able to leave for free if they are unhappy with the rise, while TV customers will have to pay a fee if they are still inside the minimum term of their contract.
Broadband customers have 30 days to leave penalty-free.
The amount bills will increase depends on how much you pay.
Sky is contacting customers to inform them of the rise from February 16 via email or letter.
A Sky spokesperson said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly.
“We have tried to minimise the impact to customers with an average price increase across all our broadband and TV customers of 8.1%, which is below levels of inflation again this year.”
Millions of telecoms customers are hit by inflation-linked price hikes, as firms battle rising costs.
Last month Virgin Media revealed bills will rise by £50 a year for millions from April 1 or May 1.
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BT, EE and Three are among the firms which also confirmed to The Sun they will put up bills by up to 14.4%.
Sky recently upped its prices for 1.3million mobile customers too.
It comes just days after NOW TV, which is owned by Sky, said it is increasing the cost of its Sky Sports package.
However, firms have been blasted for not properly informing customers about mid-contract rises by the regulator Ofcom.
It is currently investigating firms as it has concerns that customers are not told clearly how much they can expect to pay due to inflation-linked rises.
Inflation peaked at 11.1% in October, before dipping to 10.5% in December.
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.
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]
