Survey Finds Confusion Over UK Broadband and Mobile Contracts
A new Opinium survey of 2,003 UK adults, which was commissioned by Uswitch.com, has found that average monthly bills for broadband ISP bundles and mobile phones have increased by £18.50 and £9.50 (per month) respectively this year. Despite that, 27% of broadband and 22% of mobile users still do not know when their contracts end.
The survey, which was conducted during mid-April 2023, also found that over a quarter (28%) of respondents are “angry” about the rising bills and over a fifth feel worried (21%) about the issue – hardly a surprise, given the cost-of-living crisis.
Respondents who didn’t know when their contract ends were also asked why this was the case, which saw 20% of respondents say it was because they now relied on reminders from providers to pay bills or renew contracts, while 19% said their contract automatically renews itself.
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The top reasons time-poor Brits admit to not knowing when their contracts are up for renewal include having too many bills or contracts to keep on top of (16%), not being good at keeping track of dates (15%) and finding it difficult to keep on top of life admin (15%).
At this point it’s worth noting that the regulator, Ofcom, expects providers to have implemented End-of-Contract Notifications (ECN), which requires them to issue such notifications to existing subscribers at the end of their term (sent by text, email or letter) and the regulator doesn’t allow longer contracts to auto-renew. ECNs are also designed to help keep customers informed about the best available deals and to encourage switching.
The flip side of this survey is of course that most people are aware of when their contract ends, which is a good thing. But we agree with Uswitch that any mid-contract price increases to the main rental fee should enable customers to switch providers without penalty.
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 X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Doesn’t this just show that people don’t have a clue what they pay for their broadband? According to the survey people thought their fixed broadband bill had gone up by £18.50/month. But most broadband providers put their in-contract prices up by CPI+3.9%. For that to result in an increase of £18.50 would imply an average monthly broadband bill of £100+!
See the VM thread in the forums. VM put their pricing up based on your out of contract price which is always absurd (£100+ is easy) rather than your contracted price (This is listed as having a discount against it). High VM user could skew this.
Also age demographic or people who not / have not changed product in years “because it works” will be paying a very uncompetitive price.
People here generally overestimate how interested in broadband the public are.
“People here generally overestimate how interested in broadband the public are.”
Well, I’m not sure we do, but your underlying point that most people are not interested in the detail of broadband or indeed anything is true. That perhaps is the British disease, to put no thought or effort into their purchasing, and then complain because they feel ripped off and demand somebody else should do something about it.
When my Virgin contract for broadband only ran out it increased by 125%. (I told them I was leaving, waited for them to call and when they rang me got it £2 a month more for another 18 months instead.) Honestly, OFCOM should grow some teeth and sort it out.
I had 2 separate letters from BT this year telling me of the price increase in March.
One letter stated it would be going up ~£4, meaning a price of ~£59 a month. The other said it would be going up ~£8 to ~£63 a month.
Guess which was correct? Neither.
My bill came through at £74 a month. When I questioned it, I was advised it’s because the letters don’t take into account out of contract price increase