Customers have been issued an urgent warning ahead of broadband hikes which will come into place over the next few days.
Financial services company Go.Compare have urged those who not tied in contracts to move as price hikes will begin as soon as tomorrow. The experts say there are millions of people who are out of contract are yet to switch into a fixed deal and so must act quickly to avoid skyrocketing bills.
From Friday, people with BT, EE, Three and Plusnet will see an average 14.4 percent increase on their broadband bills. And on April 1st, Vodafone broadband will add 14.4 percent on average to its annual bills, while TalkTalk customers will also pay on average 14.2 percent more.
Stuart Jones, broadband spokesperson at Go.Compare, said: "What many people don’t realise is that they might already be out of contract with their broadband provider – in fact, research has found that around seven million households could have lapsed broadband contracts - meaning that they could potentially avoid these price hikes by shopping around and getting a better deal.
"Many providers add a financial penalty into their contracts to stop people leaving, but you may not be aware that your contract has lapsed and that you can now shop around for broadband – and with these price increases on the cards, now is the perfect time."
Virgin Media is increasing its annual bills by an average of 13.8 percent with Shell Energy hiking theirs by 13.5 percent on average. Sky Broadband customers are also seeing average prices rise by 8 percent.
According to Uswitch, those who switch to Vodafone, Virgin Media, Shell or TalkTalk in March won't be impacted by April 2023 price rises.
Go.Compare carried out research last month which found that some 54 percent of 2,000 people that were surveyed were bartering on Broadband and TV.
Stuart added: "As our research showed, broadband is the household bill that Brits are most happy to barter on, as prices aren’t always fixed.
"Many broadband providers expect you to negotiate with them, so if you are out of contract, it is definitely worth a go."
Separate research from Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert found that Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Three and o2 were among the top 10 firms to haggle with.
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