Warning issued to O2 and Virgin Mobile customers ahead of price hike
O2 and Virgin customers have been warned after contracts are set to rise by as much as £48 from April.
The cost of living has been rising due to soaring inflation costs, and wallets are set to be hit further for customers of the two phone providers.
Both networks, which merged in 2021 as part of a £31 billion tie-up, are set to raise prices for some of their pay monthly customers by as much as 11.7 per cent.
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It is calculated based on the retail price index (RPI) rate of inflation - currently standing at 7.8 per cent - with an additional 3.9 per cent added on top of it.
The price rises are coming into force from April 1, 2022, but what your bill will end up at depends on which network you're with, as well as what type of contract you're on and when you joined O2 or Virgin, the Manchester Evening News reports.
An O2 spokesperson said: “We recognise price changes are never welcome, and always balance keeping our prices competitive with the need to continue investing in the services that our customers use and love.
“For most customers the price increase only applies to the airtime part of their bill and with our most popular tariffs costing from as little as 33p per day for superfast data with unlimited minutes and texts, our customers receive incredible value as well as extra perks such as Priority.”
O2 price hike - how it affects you
O2 customers that joined after March 25 last year will see the full 11.7 per cent price hike - which will add as much as £48 a year to your bill.
But, if you have been with the provider since before March 25, 2021, your price increase will be capped at the rate of RPI inflation, which stands at 7.8 per cent.
For any customers on an O2 Refresh tariff - where you have separate device and airtime bills - you will only see the hike added to the airtime part of your plan.
An example of this change means a deal using their most expensive phone package, the iPhone Pro Max 5G with unlimited data on a 24-month contract, will no longer cost £89.75 a month.
The £35 airtime portion of the bill will increase by £4.01 a month, equal to £48.12 a year, which is in line with the planned 11.7 per cent rise.
O2 told The Mirror its customers don't have a right to cancel as a result of this price change - as it was outlined to them at the point of sale.
Virgin Mobile price hike - how it affects you
Unlike O2, Virgin Mobile customers will see their bills rise by 11.7 per cent, regardless of when they signed up.
It will only affect your airtime tariff - your device plan will remain unaffected.
As an example of the changes, someone with an airtime tariff that costs £7 a month would be charged an extra 82p per month, working out at £9.84 annually.
Virgin Mobile has said it wrote to customers in January to warn them about the price hike. This was a change to the terms and conditions of contracts with customers, so they were allowed the right to exit the deal without a penalty.
How to cut your phone bill and avoid increased costs
If your phone is out of contract, you should compare phone deals to maker sure you're getting the best one.
You can do this by using a variety of comparison websites, including CompareTheMarket.com, Confused.com, MoneySupermarket.co.uk or Uswitch.com.
If you spot a better deal and you're out of contract, you should be able to switch providers for free.
But if you're locked into a service or don't want to leave your current provider - another option is to try and haggle with the company.
Haggling is not guaranteed to work, but if could leave you with huge savings if you pull it off.
You start by calling up the customer service centre for your current mobile phone provider. You then give them the details of the cheaper deal you've found, and ask if they can match it.
If you are told they can't match it, you can then try telling them you're considering changing your provider to see if that has more sway.
Those that are still in contract and are desperate to leave should check with their provider how much they'd have to pay if they leave early, as you may still save money in the long run if the new deal is substantially cheaper.
As an example, if you have to pay £50 to leave your current provider, but a new deal would save you £400 a year, then it's definitely worth paying the exit fee.
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