ISP Origin Broadband Preps UK Price Hikes for March 2021
Customers of UK ISP Origin Broadband have been notified of a forthcoming price hike to their broadband and phone services, which is due to be introduced from 1st March 2021 and will see prices increase by 4.2%. The change is calculated using November’s CPI rate of inflation (0.3%) + 3.9%.
The change will impact Origin Broadband’s main packages, monthly call plans, anonymous call reject, call barring, call diversion, choose to refuse and static IP products/services. However, pence per minute call charges, Supersaver (pay in advance) broadband packages and Origin TV prices are NOT affected. The table gives an example of the impact on their most popular packages.
| Broadband Package | Example Price Per Month | New Price From 1st March | Monthly Price Adjustment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin Broadband | £19.99 | £20.83 | £0.84 |
| Origin Fibre | £20.99 | £21.87 | £0.88 |
| Origin Superfast | £23.99 | £25.00 | £1.01 |
| Origin Max Fibre | £27.99 | £29.17 | £1.18 |
The changes will be made to accounts automatically and will show on the bill they send in February for your March payment. In a brief statement the ISP said: “As inflation causes the cost of running a business to increase, we reluctantly have to pass some of this cost on to our customers. We need to invest in new technology and our networks to continue to improve the services we provide. We work hard to keep our costs down so we can minimise the impact on our customers and this means that the majority of our customers will only see an impact of less than 5p per day to their broadband package.”
Ofcom does have a rule against mid-contract price hikes that go above-inflation, which means that existing customers may be able to exit their contract penalty free (you need to do this within 30 days of receiving the notification letter/email). Just remember that other major ISPs will also be increasing their prices in 2021, although this is often mitigated by special offers when you switch provider.
Alternatively, customers could try contacting the operator directly and haggling for a lower price (Retentions – Tips for Cutting Your Broadband Bill), although as a smaller ISP we don’t know how willing Origin would be to engage in this. Credits to OriginBroadbandComplaints on Twitter for spotting the change.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Not sure the money will go into investment. Heard it all before. When you read stories about customers chasing refunds that never arriveand then price rises i do worry.
Also nothing in their terms about mid term price rises only for customers on rolling 30 day terms.
Never does go into investment these days, does it. Always goes into some “slush fund” and the top brass get good pay-outs year on year regardless of company performance.
I’m surprised this ISP still exists. I was with them for less than a year and couldn’t stand them. So many issues with congestion at peak times that just don’t exist on other ISPs. In some cases I’d completely lose my IP address and wouldn’t be able to connect to the internet.
Looks like they are milking it , just before they pull the plug , worst broadband company in the world.
Had to pay early exit fee £380 just to get away from origin worse broadband supplier I’ve ever known reimbursed me £50 a couple of months later for all the inconvenience I was caused
I joined origin in March 2020 with their max fibre deal, after 3 months of continuous drop or even loss of service, speaking to them online showing proof of only receiving 1.6mbps or 1.3 mbps in some occasions, nd constant complaints about the service and bad customer service I had enough and left agreeing no penalties, so I wouldn’t slander their name, I then recieved a letter saying I had to pay them £540.00 to cover the rental for the rest of the year, the early termination fee and for not keeping to my contract, this company should not exhist they are disgracefully only interested in getting what they can out of you, no interest in providing a decent service.
I tried cancelling due to they are putting the price up mid contract and they said i’d have to pay a cancellation fee due to in contract still.
Told them that it above the cpi (adding 3.9% on top of it) and they saying that the prices aren’t fixed.
The only thing i can think of, within the terms it states that a increase of 10% can be applied without them needing 31 days notice.