Copyright dailyrecord
A new warning has been issued to millions of people with a monthly mobile phone contract with Virgin Media O2 - formerly known as O2. Martin Lewis warns that up to 15 million customers could see their monthly bills rise by more than the network provider told them due to mid-season price hikes. In January 2025, Ofcom required mobile providers to clearly show how much bills will increase each year in pounds and pence, before people sign up. Now O2 has announced that from April 2026, customers will see their monthly bills increase by £30 a year - up 40 per cent from the £21.60 annual increase previously written into their contracts. The founder of MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE.com), said: "This move feels to me a bit like it makes a mockery of Ofcom’s new 'pounds and pence’ consumer protection regime, which came in at the start of this year.” The financial guru continued: “It was the regulator’s solution to hideous above inflation mid-contract price hikes was that on sign-up firms should tell you in advance, in pounds and pence, the price hikes you’ll face during the contract period. "Sky has side-stepped this from the start by saying it wouldn’t tell customers of the rises before they sign up, but instead when it does annual price hikes it will allow them to leave penalty free. "Now O2 is also dancing away, increasing contracts by more than it said it would when people signed up. And while that means all its impacted mobile customers can leave penalty free - and many should - we know few will, most will likely just have to suck up a rise that was more than they were told when they signed up. "The worry is now O2 has opened the door to this behaviour and other mobile firms will feel less worried about following suit. It’s a great regret that when Ofcom consulted on these changes it didn’t listen to the proposal I and others made to simply ban above inflation mid-contract price rises (or any mid-contract rises).” Martin added: “It’s worth noting the rises O2 had told customers of in advance were already usually far above inflation, but now will typically be at least 7 per cent and up to 30%. And all this adds more inflationary pressure to the economy in its own right." The consumer champion also appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, raising awareness about the upcoming price hikes. He told presenters Charlotte Hawkins and Ed Balls: “It’s absolutely ridiculous, O3 should be hanging its head in shame and I say most of its customers should be out there now - because you can leave penalty free once you’ve been notified of this - checking if you can get a cheaper deal elsewhere.” He also urged Ofcom to put “some proper regulations in to protect consumers. Martin added: “This is absolutely outrageous, people were told when they signed up they would get a price hike, they were told the amount and now their prices are being hiked more and the company can just shrug its shoulders and say ‘you can leave penalty free’ - but they won’t.” In response to Martin’s concerns for consumers, the regulator Ofcom told GMB: “Our new rules are all about protecting consumers from volatile inflation and making sure they can shop around with confidence. Ofcom has never restricted how much providers can raise prices, that’s because the UK has a competitive telecoms market.” A statement from O2 said: “We continue to represent excellent value. Customers on our social tariffs continue to be exempt from any price changes and customers are being given the right to exit contracts without penalty.” MSE.com has a full guide to the O2 price hike and who may be affected and what to do if the costs will be too much, you can view this guide in full here. MSE.com said: “Almost all O2 customers on both mobile and Sim-only contracts will see their bills rise by £2.50 a month from April 2026, regardless of whether they're mid-contract or out of contract at the time.” The one exception is O2's 'Essential Plan' - a social tariff for those getting certain benefits. If you're on this, your monthly bill won't rise. MSE.com added: “It's also worth noting that, if you're paying O2 for a handset, that is usually billed separately and it won't be impacted.” This is because the rise only applies to your 'airtime' plan for calls, text and data. MSE.com has approached Virgin Media O2 to find out how the rise will work if you took out a contract bundle through a third-party reseller and will update the website with any new details. You can follow this story on MSE. com.
