How to choose and switch broadband: contracts, price rises and your rights

Step 1: find out where you stand

Before comparing anything, establish three facts about your current service.

Are you in or out of contract? Broadband contracts have a minimum term, usually 12, 18 or 24 months. Inside it, leaving early normally costs an exit fee. After it, you are free to go, and you are probably paying more than you need to. Check your provider's app, your online account or your original confirmation email.

Providers must tell you when the end is approaching. An end-of-contract notification has to reach you between 10 and 40 days before your minimum term finishes. It must show the end date, what you will pay if you do nothing, and the provider's best current deals. If you stay on out of contract, you should then receive a reminder with best-tariff information once a year.

What are you paying, and for what? Note the monthly price, the speed, and whether a landline or television is bundled in.

What technology are you on? Your contract should say full fibre, part fibre, cable or copper. If the terms are unfamiliar, full fibre broadband explained sets out the differences.

If you are out of contract and happy with your provider, a phone call asking for its best new-customer price is often worth making. Ofcom's advice is that out-of-contract customers can save simply by agreeing a new deal with their current provider. You will usually be asked to commit to a new minimum term.

Step 2: know what you can get

Your options depend on which networks reach your home. Some addresses have three full fibre networks and dozens of providers. Others have one. Check by full address, using Ofcom's checker and the networks' own tools. Who provides fibre broadband in the UK explains how.

Then decide how much speed you need. Most households are well served by 50 to 150 Mbps. Our guide to broadband speeds shows how to work it out for your own home, so you do not pay for capacity you will never use.

Step 3: compare deals on the things that matter

Contract length

Think about how long you will be at the address. If you may move within the term, ask what happens before you sign. Policies differ: a provider may transfer the contract to a new address it can serve, but if it cannot serve that address you may face exit fees.

The price, including the annual rise

This is where most comparisons go wrong.

Until 2025, many contracts allowed the provider to raise prices each year by the rate of inflation plus a fixed percentage, which nobody could predict in advance. Ofcom banned that for new contracts. Since 17 January 2025, any price rise written into a phone, broadband or pay-TV contract must be set out in pounds and pence, prominently, before you sign, along with the date it applies.

The rule made rises predictable. It did not make them small. In its 2026 pricing report, Ofcom recorded in-contract rises for fixed broadband of between £2 and £4 a month. The figures applied by the largest providers in spring 2026 were:

Figures as reported by price-comparison and news sources in 2026 and checked on 13 November 2026. Providers can change the amount for new contracts at any time. The figure that binds you is the one in your own contract summary.

Some points to understand:

• A flat cash rise hits cheaper packages hardest. £4 on a £25 package is a 16% increase. The same £4 on a £50 package is 8%.
• Older contracts follow older rules. If you signed before your provider moved to pounds-and-pence terms, your rise may still be calculated from inflation plus a percentage until that contract ends.
• Some providers do not write the amount into the contract. Sky is the main example. When such a provider raises prices mid-contract, it must give you 30 days' notice and allow you to leave without penalty.
• Some providers promise no in-contract rise at all. Several smaller full fibre networks and some fixed-price plans from larger providers work this way. The headline price may be higher, but it does not move.
• Social tariffs are generally exempt from annual rises.

In February 2026, BT, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneThree, Sky and TalkTalk signed a voluntary government Telecoms Consumer Charter, promising clear up-front pricing and no unexpected rises mid-contract. Ofcom is also reviewing how the 2025 rules are working, with a full review due in 2027. So this area may change again.

A worked example: the cheapest headline price is not always the cheapest deal

You are choosing between two 24-month full fibre deals, starting on 1 December 2026.

Deal A: £30 a month, rising by £4 every April.

Deal B: £33 a month, fixed for the term.

24 months at £33 comes to £792.

Deal A looks £3 a month cheaper in the advert. Over the contract it costs £40 more, and by the final months you are paying £38 against £33. The timing matters too: sign up in March and the first rise arrives within weeks.

To compare properly, add any set-up or delivery fee to each total and subtract any genuine cash reward.

Bundles and the landline

• Do you need a landline? Ofcom found that standalone broadband typically costs about £7 a month less than broadband with a landline, and that 70% of households buying both made no outgoing calls in a year.
• Television and mobile bundles can save money. Ofcom puts the saving at £26 to £48 a month against buying the same services separately. But a bundle also makes it harder to switch one part later, and the contract end dates may differ.

Everything else

• Set-up costs. Installation, activation and router delivery fees.
• The router. Whether it is included, how recent it is, and whether Wi-Fi extenders are offered.
• The speed estimate for your address. Providers signed up to Ofcom's speeds code must give you a minimum guaranteed speed before you buy.
• Customer service. Look for independent survey results and complaints figures, which are a more reliable guide than adverts.
• The contract summary. Before you commit, you must be given a short document setting out the price, the length, the speed, the technology and any price rise. Read it and keep it.

Step 4: switch using One Touch Switch

One Touch Switch works for moves between any providers and networks, including to and from Virgin Media and the smaller full fibre companies. It replaced an older system under which you often had to cancel with one company and order from another yourself.

How it works

1. Contact the new provider online or by phone. Give your address, the name of your current provider and the services you want to move.
2. Your current provider sends you information automatically. This covers anything you need to know before going ahead, including any early exit charge and what happens to other services you have with them.
3. Confirm with the new provider if you are happy. They set the switch date, which can be one you choose, and tell you whether an engineer needs to visit and what equipment will arrive.
4. On the day, the new service starts and the old one stops. You do not need to cancel anything. Set up the new router and reconnect your devices.

What the rules guarantee

• Your old provider cannot charge you for a notice period running beyond the switch date. You do not pay for two services at once.
• Any loss of service during the switch should last no more than one working day. If it lasts longer, or something else goes wrong, the providers must compensate you.
• You have 14 calendar days to cancel the new contract. If the service has already started you may have to pay for what you have used and any installation, and your old service will not be restored automatically.

What it does not sort out

• Email addresses from your old provider. Ask whether you can keep the address and at what cost. If not, set up a new one and move your accounts across before you switch.
• Television and other bundled services. If you are keeping or dropping pay-TV, you may have to arrange that with the old provider yourself.
• Your landline number. You can usually keep it, but tell the new provider you want to at the point of ordering.
• Telecare and alarm devices connected to the phone line. Tell both providers before the switch.

If the switch involves moving to full fibre for the first time, a new cable has to be brought into your home. Our installation guide explains what to expect.

You can still arrange a switch yourself if you want the two services to overlap, for instance to test the new one first. In that case One Touch Switch protections do not apply, you must cancel the old service yourself, and you will pay for both during the overlap.

Leaving a contract early

Inside the minimum term you will normally owe an early termination charge, usually based on the months remaining. Your current provider must tell you the amount during a One Touch Switch, before you commit. Some new providers offer a contribution towards it.

You can leave without penalty in these situations:

• Your minimum term has ended.
• Your provider raises the price in a way your contract did not specify. You get 30 days' notice and the right to leave.
• Your speed falls below the guaranteed minimum because of a fault on the provider's network, and it is not fixed within 30 days. This applies with providers signed up to Ofcom's speeds code.
• You are within the 14-day cancellation period of a new contract.

A rise that was set out in pounds and pence when you signed is not grounds to leave.

Social tariffs: cheaper broadband for people on benefits

Social tariffs are discounted packages for households receiving certain benefits. The service is the same as the standard product. Only the price differs.

Who qualifies. According to Ofcom:

• anyone on Universal Credit can choose from any of the tariffs
• all the major providers also include Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support
• some include Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance
• the person receiving the benefit must be the main name on the contract

What they cost. Ofcom's list, when we checked on 13 November 2026, showed prices from £10 to £25 a month, with most between £12 and £20. A selection of the nationally available ones:

Source: Ofcom social tariffs page. More than 30 tariffs are listed in all, many from regional full fibre networks. Availability depends on your address, and prices and eligibility change, so check Ofcom's list before applying.

How to get one. If your current provider offers a social tariff, ask to move to it. Your provider may let you do so without an exit fee, though Ofcom's guidance does not guarantee this. If it has none, you can switch to a provider that does.

Take-up remains low. Ofcom counted 532,000 customers on social tariffs in June 2025, and a National Audit Office report found that only 34% of eligible broadband customers knew about them in April 2026. Ofcom has previously estimated that an eligible household could save up to £220 a year.

If you are struggling to pay but do not qualify, contact your provider early. Under the 2026 charter, the large providers have committed to letting customers in financial difficulty move to cheaper plans without penalty and to agreeing manageable payment plans.

Your rights when things go wrong

Automatic compensation

Providers that have joined Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme must pay set amounts, without you having to claim, when specific things go wrong. The amounts rise each April with inflation. From 1 April 2026 they are:

How it works in practice:

• Payment is normally a credit on your bill, due within 30 calendar days.
• For a fault, the clock starts when you report it, so report promptly and note the date and time.
• If broadband and landline fail together, you receive one payment, not two.
• You are not covered if the problem is caused by equipment or wiring inside your home, or if you delay the repair, for example by turning down the first appointment offered.
• After 30 days of payments, a provider can give notice that payments will stop after a further 30 days.

The scheme is voluntary. When we checked, Ofcom listed these signatories: BT, EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet, Sky (including NOW Broadband), TalkTalk (with restrictions for customers not on the Openreach network), Utility Warehouse, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Zen Internet. If your provider is not among them, ask what its own compensation policy is before you sign.

An example. Your broadband stops on a Monday morning and you report it straight away. The provider has until the end of Wednesday, two full working days, to fix it. It is finally repaired the following Monday. You would be due roughly £41: £10.34 for each of the four full days, Thursday to Sunday, that the service stayed broken after the deadline. The exact count depends on the times of the report and the repair, and the credit should arrive without you making a claim.

The speed guarantee

Providers signed up to Ofcom's speeds code must tell you a minimum guaranteed speed before you buy, and release you from the contract if they cannot meet it within 30 days of you reporting a problem. The speeds guide explains how to test your line properly before you raise it.

How to complain

1. Contact your provider and explain the problem. Keep notes of dates, names and reference numbers.
2. Make a formal complaint if it is not resolved, following the complaints procedure on the provider's website.
3. Go to an independent dispute resolution scheme if the complaint is still unresolved after six weeks, or sooner if the provider sends you a "deadlock" letter saying it can do no more. The waiting period was cut from eight weeks to six for complaints raised on or after 8 April 2026.

There are two Ofcom-approved schemes, the Communications Ombudsman and CISAS. Every provider must belong to one. They are free to use and independent of the provider, and can order it to put things right or pay compensation.

Ofcom itself does not resolve individual complaints, but it records them to spot patterns.

A worked example: coming to the end of a contract

A family's 24-month part-fibre contract ends on 20 January. In mid-December an end-of-contract notification arrives. It says the price will go from £32 to £41 a month if they do nothing, and lists the provider's current offers.

What they do:

1. Check their address. Full fibre from two networks is now available.
2. Work out their needs. Two home workers and two children: a 150 Mbps full fibre package is comfortable.
3. Compare three options over 24 months, including the annual rise in each contract summary: their current provider's full fibre offer, a different provider on the same network, and a provider on the second network that fixes the price.
4. Check the extras. None of them uses the landline, so they choose broadband only.
5. Order from the chosen provider in early January, asking for a switch date of 21 January. The new provider arranges an engineer visit, because a fibre cable has to be installed.
6. Do nothing about the old service. It ends automatically when the new one goes live.

They never phone the old provider, pay nothing in exit fees because the minimum term has finished, and avoid the £9 a month increase that staying put would have brought.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources accessed 13 November 2026.

• Switching broadband provider — Ofcom
• Simpler broadband switching is here — Ofcom
• New Ofcom research reveals how to cut phone and internet bills — Ofcom
• Protecting consumers from uncertain and volatile inflation — Ofcom
• Ofcom bans mid-contract price rises linked to inflation — Ofcom
• Pricing and consumer engagement: trends in the UK communications sector, published 26 February 2026 — Ofcom (PDF)
• Ofcom find 532,000 UK consumers taking social broadband and mobile tariffs — ISPreview
• How to avoid broadband price increases — Go.Compare
• Broadband price rises 2026: every provider explained — Broadband Picker
• Broadband price rises — Simple Broadband
• Ofcom broadband price rise rules 2026: what changed — BroadbandSwitch.uk
• Mid-contract broadband price rises explained — Switch My Broadband
• Uswitch commentary on 2026 price rises, including Community Fibre — via CB Insights news feed
• End to surprise phone and broadband bill hikes to help with cost of living — GOV.UK
• Telecoms: UK Regulatory Outlook January 2026 — Osborne Clarke
• Helping consumers get better deals: statement on end-of-contract notifications and annual best tariff information — Ofcom (PDF)
• Ex-post evaluation of end-of-contract notifications — Ofcom (PDF)
• Social tariffs: cheaper broadband and phone packages — Ofcom
• Regulating water, energy and broadband to protect consumers in vulnerable circumstances (summary), 10 June 2026 — National Audit Office (PDF)
• Automatic compensation: what you need to know — Ofcom
• Broadband speeds code of practice — Ofcom
• Quicker complaints resolution for telecoms customers, under new Ofcom rules — Ofcom
• Consumer wait time reduced — Communications Ombudsman

General information for UK households, not legal or financial advice. Facts checked on 13 November 2026; prices, coverage and rules change, so confirm details with a provider before you sign up.