Every provider put prices up this spring. Only two of them had to let you leave.

The rule that decides whether you can leave

Ofcom's consumer rules say that if a provider changes your contract in a way that was not set out in it, including a price rise that was not in the contract or is larger than the contract stated, it must tell you at least 30 days before the increase and give you 30 days to exit. In Ofcom's words, you can “switch to a new provider without paying any exit fees.”

The flip side is in Ofcom's own guidance: where the rise is written into the contract in pounds and pence, “providers are not required to give customers a right to exit their contract without additional charge when the price uplift takes effect.” The same goes for the CPI or RPI plus 3.9% terms in contracts signed before 17 January 2025. Those terms were banned for new contracts from that date, but an existing contract runs out on the terms it started with.

The question to settle is whether the rise matches your contract. Find the price-rise clause in your order confirmation or welcome email and compare it to the notice. Anything above the clause is your exit, or your refund.

What each provider added in 2026

Monthly figures, read from each provider's own price-change page unless noted. Where a provider has several contract generations, the amount depends on your join date.

Sky's 2026 broadband and TV amounts come from its January 2026 customer notices as reported by MoneySavingExpert; Sky Group's own site carries the mobile figure and the exit right. The 7.7%, 7.3% and 7.1% legacy outcomes are the January 2026 inflation figures applied to each provider's formula, as calculated by Uswitch; the formulas themselves are on the providers' pages.

The new system costs most people more

• Ofcom's own range.Its Pricing Trends report for 2025 says in-contract rises announced for 2026 “range from between £1.80 and £2.50 for mobile services and £2 and £4 for fixed broadband.” On a £30 broadband deal, £4 is 13%. The CPI figure the older contracts used, published in January 2026, was 3.4%.
• MoneySavingExpert's count. Across 47,000 tariffs analysed in June 2026, “three in four were worse off under Ofcom's new system than they would have been under the previous inflation-linked approach.” MSE has asked Ofcom to ban above-inflation rises outright.
• Who was affected.Ofcom said that as of April 2024 “around six in ten broadband and mobile customers were on contracts subject to inflation-linked price rises”, and that more than half of them did not know what CPI or RPI measure. The fix was transparency, not a cap.

When the provider gets it wrong: O2 and Sky

O2 told customers in October 2025 that airtime plans would rise by £2.50 in April 2026, where the contracts they had signed said £1.80. Ofcom's response the same week: “We are disappointed by O2's decision. This goes against the spirit of our rules.” Because the rise exceeded the contract, O2 had to give everyone 30 days from the notice to leave without exit fees. If you missed that window, the extra 70p a month is still a rise above what you agreed to, and a complaint asking for it to be refunded is well founded.

Sky is the other way round. It has never put a price-rise term in its contracts, so each rise triggers the Ofcom exit right; Sky Group says customers “have the right to cancel your broadband, satellite pay-TV or mobile package without paying early termination fees, as has always been the case at Sky.” That right runs for 30 days from the notice, and it is the reason Sky customers can use a rise as a lever for a better price where BT or Virgin customers cannot.

The free route

1. 1Find your contract start date and the price-rise clause. It is in the order confirmation or the terms linked from your first bill. Note the exact wording: a pounds-and-pence figure, a CPI or RPI formula, or nothing.
2. 2Compare it to the rise you have been charged. A rise that matches the clause is contractual: your options are to see out the term or negotiate. A rise that is not in the contract, or exceeds it, gives you 30 days from the notice to leave free, and the excess back if you stay.
3. 3Write to the provider, not the app chat. Quote the clause, quote the rise, cite Ofcom's General Condition on contract changes, and say what you want: the exit without early termination charges, or a refund of the excess plus a correction going forward. Give 14 days.
4. 4If you are out of your minimum term, do not negotiate at all. Use One Touch Switch: sign up with the new provider and they handle the rest. Ofcom's 2025 pricing data put an out-of-contract broadband, landline and TV bundle at £78 a month against £69 for the same bundle in contract.
5. 5No result? Complain formally, then go to the Communications Ombudsman or CISAS. Since 8 April 2026 you can escalate six weeks after your complaint, or straight away with a deadlock letter, and you have 12 months to do it. Both are free.

Provider guides

• Sky broadband price rise: cancel or reclaim
• Cancel Sky and get a refund
• Virgin Media refund after cancelling
• Cancel Vodafone broadband early
• Dispute a Vodafone bill
• Dispute an EE bill

FAQ