Price
In-contract rises, in pounds and pence
From 17 January 2025, a new broadband, mobile or pay-TV contract must not hide a future rise behind inflation or a percentage you cannot calculate yet. Any planned rise has to be set out in pounds and pence, with when it happens, before you agree. That is a disclosure rule. It is not a ban on rises.
Reviewed 5 November 2026 · 6 min read · Independent · Not a price list
The rule, without the slogan
Ofcom’s change is about uncertainty. A clause that said the price would rise by inflation plus a fixed percentage left households unable to know the second year’s bill when they signed. For contracts entered from 17 January 2025, a planned rise has to be a cash amount on a stated date. You should be able to write the later price down before you agree.
Providers can still increase the price during the minimum term if they told you the cash amount and the timing up front. A contract that says the monthly price will go up by a stated number of pounds on a stated date is using the new style. Whether that rise is attractive is your judgement. The rule does not make it small.
A rise that was not in the contract, or that is larger than the contract stated, is a different case. Ofcom’s rights material says the provider must give you notice and a chance to leave without penalty in that situation. A rise that was written in cash, and then happens exactly as written, does not by itself open that door. Read which kind of letter you have received.
Contracts signed before the change
If you signed before 17 January 2025, the old wording can still govern that contract until it ends. An inflation-linked clause you already agreed is not rewritten by the later rule. When you take a new contract, the new rule applies to the new contract. Switching is often the moment the wording changes. It is also the moment an exit fee on the old contract becomes real.
Do not assume your current bill’s rise formula is the one a new offer will use. Ask the new provider to say the opening price, the later price, and the date of any stated rise, in cash. If they answer with a percentage of an inflation figure that does not exist yet, stop and ask them to restate it. For a new contract they should be able to.
Out-of-contract prices are another path. When a minimum term ends, the price can move to a higher rolling rate even if no “rise clause” fires. That is not the same letter as an in-contract rise. The end-of-contract notice is the document that should show where you are heading.
Where the rise sits in the sum
A known scheduled cost is the opening monthly price times the months it lasts, plus the later monthly price times the remaining months of the minimum term, plus any upfront cost. Add a stated rise only in the months it actually falls inside the term. Do not add a rise nobody has shown you. Do not spread one annual rise across months that are still on the opening price.
Do not subtract cashback you have not been paid. Do not subtract a gift card. Do not treat an unknown exit fee on the service you are leaving as zero. Put that fee beside the sum. If the fee is larger than the difference between staying and leaving, staying to the end date is usually the cheaper path. You can still leave. Do not call it a saving.
We do not print each provider’s current rise in this library. Those cash amounts are marketing that changes, and a table of them goes stale. The provider’s order is the source. Our provider guides tell you the questions. They do not invent the answers.
Questions
- Are price rises banned?
- No. For new contracts from 17 January 2025, a planned rise has to be shown in pounds and pence, with when it happens. Hidden inflation clauses are the thing that changed.
- Does this apply to my old contract?
- Only if that contract is a new one from that date, or has been replaced. Older wording can still bind the contract you already signed.
- Can I leave for free if the price rises?
- If the rise was set out in the contract and happens as stated, not automatically. If it was not, or it is larger, Ofcom’s notice-and-exit rules are the ones to read.
- Should I include the rise in the total?
- Yes, if it falls inside the minimum term and they have stated the cash amount. No, if you are guessing an inflation rate they did not lock.
- Do you list each brand’s rise?
- No. That table would pretend to be current. Take the cash figure from the order.
- Is a percentage ever acceptable on a new deal?
- Not as the way of stating a planned in-contract rise on a new contract. Ask for the pounds and pence and the date.
Social tariffs and the rise rule
A social tariff is an eligibility-tested product. It is not the same thing as a commercial discount, and it is not automatically exempt from every charge in the rest of the market. Ask the provider whether the social tariff they offer has a stated in-contract rise, and what happens if you stop qualifying.
We do not print social-tariff prices. They change, they depend on eligibility, and a stale figure on an affordability page does harm. Confirm the current product, the eligibility test and the price with the provider who can serve the address.
Leaving a commercial contract to take a social tariff does not, by itself, cancel an exit fee. Ask the provider you would leave. Get any waiver in writing before you treat the fee as gone.