Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at investment platform AJ Bell, comments on Ofcom’s changes to how broadband, TV, mobile and phone contracts that come into place 15th February:
“The changes are intended to stop people sleepwalking into paying far higher charges once their broadband, TV, mobile and phone contracts have ended. Ofcom estimates the move could help the more than 20 million people who are currently out of contract and likely paying over the odds. The scale of the problem is clear, with 40% of people with a combined phone and broadband service, or combined phone, broadband and TV service out of contract, while almost 90% of those with a landline-only service are out of contract
“Providers will now have to tell customers that their contract is due to come to an end, how much their costs will rise by and the best deals available if they sign up to a new contract. This will act as a good prompt for lots of people to avoid the impending price rises. While many intend to switch once their contract is up, most forget to make a note of the date they’ll come out of contract and only discover months later that their costs have shot up.
“Most people can reduce their costs if they call their current provider and haggle on the price, but you can save even more if you shop around other providers and switch. However, both these options mean signing up to a new contract, for 12 or 24 months, so you need to be comfortable with that.”
