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New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:52:31 GMT

My virgin contract is running out in April. I would like to switch from Virgin to BT.

BT currently offer 500mb for £32. But it has listed a price increase of £3 in just 31 days time, which is awfully quick considering its a 24 month contract all in.

Is this how it is supposed to work or is there some pricing error here? I would like to join BT but ideally wait a full year before being hit with the £3 increase.

Thank you.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

jac_95 — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:59:45 GMT

Yes, for broadband, there will be an increase of £3 per month applied every 31st March

This is detailed when signing up and also detailed in the link below:

https://www.bt.com/help/account-and-billing/about-annual-price-changes

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

iniltous — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:04:05 GMT

If you don’t want to be affected by this years annual increase , wait until the end of March before joining , however it’s quite possible that by then the price will not be £32 but £35 with the £3 increase applied March 2026, so potentially little to be gained by waiting.

FYI , this is pretty much industry standard practice, most major ISPs do this annual increase , it’s not unique to BT, so joining anyone close to when they apply the annual increase will result in a change in the price paid pretty soon after joining .

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:08:43 GMT

Thanks for the information.

It makes more sense to me that prices increases be based on individual contracts, eg. £3 increase 1 year into your contract or something. It doesn't feel right to enter a 24 month contract and be hit with a price rise within 31 days.

Even the link you provided states that BT base on this Ofcoms suggestion regarding "mid-contract" price rises, which to my understanding is short for "middle of your contract". 31 days is hardly the middle, but maybe BT are using a different definition:

This approach also aligns our pricing with Ofcom’s approach recommendation on mid-contract price rises.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:12:37 GMT

The final date of my virgin contract is mid-April so I have to make a decision about my broadband 1 month prior, meaning I can't wait until after March 31st to sign up to BT.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

gg30340 — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:26:29 GMT

"Mid-contract" sounds better than "during contract every 31st March"

Ofcom does not call them Mid Contract rises. They are "rises during the contract"

"Providers may increase their prices during the contract period and the new rules do not restrict their ability to set the level of their prices. However, they will prohibit providers from including inflation-linked, or percentage-based, price rise terms that apply to the Core Subscription Price in new contracts. This will give consumers clarity and certainty about the price they will pay, helping them choose the best deal for their needs.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/bills-and-charges/review-of-inflation-linked-telecoms-price-rises

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/bills-and-charges/ofcom-bans-mid-contract-price-rises-linked-to-inflation/

What Ofcom should have done was to ban rises during the course of a contract however there is no doubt the ISP would just have loaded it at the start of the contract, increasing the cost when you start your contract or they would add it into the price when you go to renew your contract.

Either way the ISP wins.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:32:59 GMT

Might sounds better but it's not accurate. Surprised that's an official BT using wording like that instead of just following ofcams language.

Cheers for the info, that's good to know. Another possible solution is allowing customers a 1 month grace period to freely cancel their contract whenever a price rise is forced through. That used to be a thing, I don't know if it is anymore.

Anyway, I think I've got my answer now. Cheers. I abroad currently but will be ringing BT when I return home and will mention this £3 increase within 30 days of signing up. They might be understanding and waive it, who knows.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

gg30340 — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:37:29 GMT

You can no longer leave a contract because of a price rise.

This ability to do that was stopped when Ofcom introduced the above as long as the ISP told you about the price rise prior to you starting the contract.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:00:59 GMT

@boonjj

This may be of interest to you:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2025/02/isps-bt-ee-plusnet-and-vodafone-tweak-uk-broadband-pricing-policies.html

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

allanraymond — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:06:07 GMT

@iniltous

I saw information on my phone earlier today in which Martin Lewis mentioned that BT amongst others providers would not be increasing the broadband by £3 (or whatever depending on the ISP) in 31 March 2025 if the contract was set up in March. Unfortunately I can't find the information to provide chapter and verse. I wonder if any others on the forum also saw the information?

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:10:44 GMT

@allanraymond

See the info in the link I posted prior to you.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:12:14 GMT

@Anonymous Well that is freakishly good timing.

Guess I'll check the BT deals page tomorrow and hopefully see that March 2025 price increase removed! (And hopefully not see a base price increase on the current 500mb @£32 package lol...)

Thanks!!

@allanraymond Look at Paul's post above.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

allanraymond — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:21:13 GMT

@Anonymous

Thanks I hadn't seen your message when preparing mine. The detail in the link you supplied is similar to that I quickly glanced earlier today.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

garybs29 — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:14:08 GMT

On past years processes a suggestion may be worth checking again tomorrow 1st March as something may have changed or maybe not

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

edbostan — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 23:25:04 GMT

I was offered that package for £44 last month after being with BT for 46 years. Prices need to be the same for everyone.

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 10:30:59 GMT

The deal no longer states a price increase for March 31st 2025. Now it only says price increase on March 31 2026. Brilliant stuff!

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

boonjj — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 10:33:08 GMT

@edbostan New customers do tend to get better deals, yeah. I experience that with my current provider Virgin too.

Although I will point out that the contract I'm looking at is broadband only (no phone line) and 24 month (12 month contracts appear to be more expensive with BT).

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

marco806 — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 23:40:56 GMT

I had it confirmed by a BT guide that any upgrade for existing customers in March will mean that the first increase will take affect from March 26, with no increase in March 25.

Given this I upgraded from full fibre 500 to full fibre 900..

Re: New customer joins BT on March 1st. £3 price increase on March 31st??

Crimliar — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 08:36:17 GMT

If you look online at your offers, you'll now see that the first increase will now be in March 2026. Previously, the site listed increases in both 2025 and 2026.