Six of the biggest broadband providers misled consumers over price rises

Ads from BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media failed to make mid-contract prices rises clear to consumers 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media Broadband misled consumers by placing important information about price rises separately to headline prices and in areas of less prominence on their websites.

The ASA ruled the ads must not appear again and told all six providers to ensure they make sufficiently clear that their broadband contracts would be subject to mid-contract price increases, and that information about the nature of such rises is presented prominently.

The rulings are part of wider work by the regulator on mid-contract price rises and follows guidance for firms that sets stricter standards on the prominence advertisers must give to important information about future increases.

The new advertising guidance, which came into force in December after a six-month grace period, advises that information about any price increase should be ‘up front and prominent’.

Alex Neill, co-founder of Consumer Voice said:

‘This is yet another damning indictment of big broadband providers for using sneaky pricing tactics. Hiding key pricing information is clearly against the rules and it’s right these firms have been warned. Ultimately though this bad practice wouldn’t be happening if fixed did mean fixed when it came to the price of a broadband contract.’

New rules will come into force in January that force companies to tell their customers in pounds and pence about any price rises included in their contract – and they must do this at the point of sale and be clear about when any price rises will happen.

Mid-contract price rises should be clear and prominent

Advertising standards guidance states that information about mid-contract price increases should be stated ‘clearly and prominently’ to help consumers make the right choices.

The ads assessed by the ASA did not make sufficiently clear that broadband contracts would be subject to mid-contract price increases, nor was information prominently presented.

For instance, an ad from BT made the headline claim: ‘Get Ultrafast Full Fibre 100 for only £29.99 a month.’ Different broadband packages were presented and followed by statements that prices would increase on 31 March 2025. 

The ASA ruling said that ‘while we felt that consumers would understand from each individual package’s information that the monthly price would be fixed until that date, we noted that the detailed price rise information was presented at the top of the screen in considerably smaller text than the headline claim, and also it was not directly beneath the headline claim.’

‘We considered that the placement and size of the price rise information was likely to be overlooked by consumers, who would want to scroll down the page to engage with the details of the individual broadband packages on offer.’ 

Information a click away not prominent enough 

Advertising guidance also states linking pricing information more than one step away from a headline claim does not give it adequate weight.

For instance, an EE web page featured the headline: ‘Ultra reliable broadband… £29.99 monthly’ followed by a postcode availability checker. The subsequent web page, seen after a postcode had been entered, described various broadband packages alongside the corresponding price per month of each package. 

The prices seen in the individual boxes for each of the packages were followed by statements which stated that the price would increase on 31 March. 

Although consumers would likely understand that the monthly prices would be fixed until that date, the ASA ruling stated that ‘neither web page made it clear to consumers how, or by what means, the monthly charge would be affected after that date.’

Ads that asterisk important information have also been criticised. For instance, different broadband packages advertised by Virgin Media did not contain information that those prices would only apply until April 2025. 

Instead, each price was followed by an asterisk which directed consumers to further information found underneath the list of packages. The ASA ruling said: ‘the price claims and other information provided for each individual package did not state that the monthly price would be subject to an annual increase, nor the nature of that increase.’ 

The monthly prices in this instance would increase by the rate of inflation plus 3.9%, information that the ASA said ‘was material to a consumer’s decision to purchase or engage further with each of the packages.’

Ads must not appear again in current form

The ads from BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must not appear again in their current form. 

The ASA said they must ’ensure that they made sufficiently clear that their broadband contracts would be subject to mid-contract price increases, and that information about the nature of such price increases was presented prominently.’

A Virgin Media O2 spokesman said: ‘After working closely with the ASA to update our website and provide prominent advice about any price changes, we are surprised and disappointed by their ruling.

‘Consumers visiting our website are greeted with a prominent message at the top of the page explaining in large bold font how and when price rises take effect, and this explanation is also always visible when consumers scroll, ensuring they are not misled.

‘While we’re confident in the steps we’ve taken to repeatedly provide consumers with clear and easy-to-understand information about any price rises, we’ll carefully review their judgment and implement any necessary changes.’

A spokeswoman for BT, EE and Plusnet said: ‘The ASA has acknowledged that all of the relevant information explaining price increases was included on our websites, but it has asked for even greater prominence.

‘We take compliance very seriously and are now updating all of our websites in line with the ASA’s findings. We want customers to be clear about what they’ll pay throughout their contract, which is why we were the first provider to move away from inflation-linked annual price rises in favour of a simpler and more certain pounds and pence increase.’

Broadband mid-contract price increases

Many of the biggest broadband firms raise monthly bills every April during the term of contracts in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus an additional set amount of around 3% to combat rising business costs.

This usually means a price increase of about 4% to 5% each year, regardless of the original cost of the deal. However, since the inflation rate is still stabilising after a 30-year high in 2023, price hikes remain higher than normal.

As a result, many providers raised prices by up to 7.9% in April. Virgin Media increased its prices by 8.8%.

Customers wanting to avoid these hikes can be charged exit fees to leave their contract early.

This is set to change from next year after Ofcom banned broadband providers from linking their annual price hikes to inflation, meaning new customers may start to see a fixed yearly increase when they are signing up instead.