If you’re a Virgin Media customer you can expect your broadband bill to go up in April by a considerable amount as the company prepares to roll out a new set of mid-contract price rises. It’s the first time the Internet provider will adjust its customer bills based on the UK’s Retail Price Index (RPI) rate of inflation, which today was confirmed at 4.9 percent – with Virgin set to add an additional 3.9 percent on top of that.
That means Virgin Media bills will go up by 8.8 percent across the board in April when all mid-contract price rises for broadband services are applied. Previously, Virgin calculated these rises based on your specific package and other market conditions.
It means if your broadband bill is currently £50 per month, from April 1 it will be £54.40 – £52.80 extra over the course of 12 months. The change also affects O2 customers since Virgin Media merged with the mobile provider in 2021 to form Virgin Media O2.
In emails sent to customers in September, Virgin said “We usually change our prices each year – writing to let you know how much they’re going up and giving you the chance to cancel.” It added that using the RPI to work out cost changes meant customers would know their new bill amount “will be clearer, sooner”.
It also explained the decision to increase its fees in this way on its website.
“This month’s RPI announcement will confirm the worst fears of O2 and Virgin Media customers – who now face the biggest broadband and mobile price hikes by any major provider this April,” said Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?.
“This comes on top of up to 17 percent increases last year – that’s a huge overall increase that most people would not have anticipated when they first took out their broadband or phone deal.”
Concha went on to say Virgin should “immediately scrap” the price rises.
Rival broadband firms BT, EE, Vodafone, and TalkTalk use similar methods to work out how much bills will go up by, recently confirmed at 7.9 percent, while Sky has said its customers will pay an extra 6.7 percent come April.
It means Virgin Media customers will face a steeper price increase than other providers.
“The latest inflation update will sting broadband customers as they brace for another price hike this spring,” said Alex Tofts, broadband expert at Broadband Genie.
“The kick in the teeth for Virgin customers is that even if they are mid-contract, they will have no choice but to swallow the extra cost, as leaving may come with a hefty exit fee.”
Tofts said any customers at the end of their contract can save money by switching to a new deal, with new customers seeing better prices than existing ones.
UK regulator Ofcom said in December it was opposed to all mid-contract price rises linked to inflation. It concluded that “inflation-linked mid-contract price rise terms can cause substantial amounts of consumer harm by complicating the process of shopping for a deal, limiting consumer engagement, and making competition less effective as a result.”
