Broadband deals ‘penalise’ loyalty

BROADBAND customers are paying a penalty for their loyalty, with providers increasing bills by more than £100 a year when initial deals end, Citizens Advice has warned.

Analysis of the cheapest broadband deals from the five largest suppliers found bills soared by more than 40% on average at the end of the fixed contract period.

Researchers found more than a third of broadband customers were unaware they could face additional costs when staying with a provider when their deal ends.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, called on the Government to subject broadband firms to the same level of scrutiny as energy providers.

“Loyal broadband customers are being stung by big price rises once their fixed deal ends,” she said.

“People often choose their broadband deals based on the price that works for them — but our evidence shows that many do not realise the price will rise after the end of the fixed deal.”

Citizens Advice compared the cheapest basic broadband deals from BT, Virgin Media, Talk Talk, Sky and EE.

At the end of the contract period, researchers found the BT deal rose by 67%, the Sky deal increased by 53%, the EE deal went up by 36% and the Talk Talk deal rose by 28%.

There was no increase when the Virgin Media deal ended.