Martin Lewis issues warning over your phone contract and broadband bills

Martin Lewis is at it again with another cost saving warning as he keeps his eye on keeping cash in our back pockets.

It feels like the Money Saving Expert founder is here every single day with fresh offers and advice to keep us savvy with our money.

This week has seen Lewis dominate headlines with his campaign to put billions back in the pockets of millions who bought a car before 2021.

It's seen more than 131,000 motorists come forward within the first day of his campaign, which formed the majority of his The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV1 this Tuesday night just gone (6 February).

He and his MSE team have also looked at ways you can make sure you get accepted for a mortgage if you want to buy a house.

They cover pretty much everything and that includes the latest warning when it comes to your mobile phone contracts and broadband bills.

It's going to be a tough spring for anyone who has either - so pretty much everyone in the modern world - with prices set to go up by a whopping 7.9% for a tonne of customers.

Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

This is after increases of 17.3% in 2023 during a deep and harshly felt cost of living crisis.

"That means someone on a standard two-year contract paying £20 a month at the start of 2023 could soon be paying over £25 a month," his MSE team said.

So who is impacted? BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Three, Shell, Sky and Vodafone customers are the ones that will pay more.

You'll have to start paying more from the end of March and in to April.

Lewis has campaigned against above-inflation, mid-contract rises for a long time. In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer last month, he said: "While Ofcom is consulting on proposals to only allow mid-contract rises laid out in pounds and pence in advance, that still allows above-inflation rises. Whereas best practice, if rises are to be allowed, is to have that system, but with an override saying it cannot be more than inflation."

Lewis and his MSE team have issued urgent advice over the price rise, saying if you're out of contract, you don't have to accept any price hikes.

They said: "As these hikes only affect people who are in contract, if you're out of contract you're free to leave without having to pay any fees or penalties – so it's worth checking if you can save £100s by switching.

"Remember, newbies tend to get the best deals."

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If you don't want to leave your provider, Lewis says haggling is your best bet.

And if your provider wont budge? Switch, even if you don't want to. The money talks.

Unfortunately, the vast majority can't cancel part way through your contracts without an additional cost.

But if you're a Sky customer, broadband and home phone customers can leave fee-free within 30 days of being notified of a price increase – even if they're mid-contract.

"However, this doesn't apply to Sky TV customers, including users with Sky Stream or Sky Glass. If you've got a package that includes both broadband and TV, you can only cancel the broadband part penalty-free," the MSE team says.