{"id":374385,"date":"2026-01-17T02:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/374385\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T02:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:09:16","slug":"bt-and-ee-hit-out-of-contract-customers-with-new-price-rise-personal-finance-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/374385\/","title":{"rendered":"BT and EE hit out-of-contract customers with new price rise | Personal Finance | Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

BT<\/a> and EE have announced a price rise for out-of-contract customers from March.<\/p>\n

Last year, Ofcom<\/a> introduced new rules which meant that mobile and broadband firms must give customers a \u2018pounds and pence\u2019 figure at the outset of a contract for any price rises mid-contract, or give customers 30 days to cancel instead.<\/p>\n

Customers who signed up to deals before the new rules were still left on the old system, which usually saw a percentage based increase each year.<\/p>\n

Now, BT<\/a> says it is going to move the out-of-contract customers across to the new system of pounds and pence price increases.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cWe will be initiating our 2026 price change for these out of contract customers from 1st March. The date when this price change will apply will be confirmed in each customer\u2019s price change notification.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear these customers moving to pounds and pence terms are outside of the minimum term of their contract with us and will not be entered into a new minimum term contract. We are also not adjusting the annual price change for customers within the minimum term of their contract, something that has been heavily scrutinised recently. We will be contacting customers in the coming weeks with specific information relating to their pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the affected customers are no longer in contract, they will be free to move to another supplier to avoid the increase if they so wish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Broadband Genie, the change will mean an extra \u00a34 added to customer bills.<\/p>\n

Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie, said: \u201cWhile the \u2018pounds and pence\u2019 flat fee may sound more straightforward, it has a disproportionate impact on customers with lower monthly bills, meaning many will actually pay more under this structure than before.<\/p>\n

\u201cBT and EE customers won\u2019t be entering into a new contract, so we advise out-of-contract customers to review their options and look for a cheaper alternative. While price rises may be unavoidable for many, switching can will reduce your overall monthly bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need Ofcom<\/a> to revisit these regulations. Providers are taking advantage of consumers and failing to recognise the financial pressure many households are already under.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only real way to protect customers is to ban these absurd mid-contract price hikes altogether. Some providers already offer fixed-price contracts, so why can\u2019t those with the biggest customer bases do the same?\u201d<\/p>\n

BT<\/a>, which also owns mobile firm EE, added in its message to customers: \u201cWe invest billions of pounds in our networks, our products, our services and customer support. We have won RootMetrics\u00a0 UK\u2019s Best Network 12 years in a row, achieved through continued investment and innovation in EE\u2019s mobile network. Likewise, our full fibre broadband network offers ultra-fast gigabit speeds and ultra-reliable connections for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added: \u201cWe are committed to keeping our customers and the UK connected, with affordable options for their mobile and broadband services. At a time when household finances are under pressure from rising costs of living, it is vital that consumers can interact with the digital world we live in. Our commitment ensures they have access to the most reliable and innovative mobile and broadband network technology, with clear and predictable pricing and best in class customer support satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BT and EE have announced a price rise for out-of-contract customers from March. Last year, Ofcom introduced new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4286,142554,28940,142551,84,142553,142552,59,16506,81101,142555,35920,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-374385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-broadband","tag-bt-and-ee","tag-bt-broadband","tag-bt-group","tag-business","tag-ee-limited","tag-ee-network","tag-gb","tag-ofcom","tag-ofcom-regulations","tag-out-of-contract-customers","tag-price-rise","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}