Millions of mobile phone and broadband customers will see their bills increase from today thanks to mid-contract price hikes as ‘Awful April’ begins.

A typical household in Britain will lose out on an estimated £80 a year thanks to rising prices across their contracts which come into force this month.

Some mobile and broadband customers will see rises in line with inflation, while others may face fixed hikes depending on when they signed up or upgraded.

Big providers such as BT, Virgin, TalkTalk, EE and Three raise prices every year –with customers able to check the increase in a new tool from money-saving tool Nous.co.

The scale of the rise depends on when contracts were taken out, the level of monthly bills, and the company’s policies.

New rules mean those who took out contracts in the last few months will see bills increase by a fixed amount, set out in pounds and pence, in their original contract.

As a result of the policy brought in by regulator Ofcom, some customers with cheaper bills will end up paying far more than they did under the previous system.

Those with older and more expensive contracts will see the steepest increases.

For example, a BT broadband customer who took out a contract after April 10, 2024 will see their bills rise by a flat rate of £36 a year.

But a Virgin Media customer with a typical £45 a month broadband bill, who took out their contract before January 9, 2025, will see their bills rise by £48.

This is because older contracts are still subject to inflation-linked price rises.

Virgin Media also uses the controversial Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation – which is higher than the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) level – to calculate price rises.

Household finance expert Greg Marsh, chief executive of Nous.co, told MailOnline: ‘Broadband and mobile companies are taking us for a ride – saddling us with cynical and unfair price rises for another year.

‘Most of the big suppliers slip these price hikes into contracts and then charge extortionate exit fees for customers who want to leave. Inflation-linked increases have at least been banned going forward, but the rules don’t apply to older contracts

‘And for people on cheaper deals, their bills will actually increase far more than they would have under the old system. It’s clearly not fair.

‘Navigating this confusing and sneaky pricing is difficult, stressful and time-consuming. No wonder so many of us let things slip.’

It comes as households are facing across-the-board increases in their bills as ‘Awful April’ takes effect.

Research by Nous found a typical household will be £450.75 worse off as a result of energy, water, council tax, mobile, broadband and entertainment subscriptions all going up on the same day.

Meanwhile, Uswitch said that for those on inflation-linked contracts, broadband prices will rise by an average of £21.99 annually, with some newer plans seeing increases of up to £42 a year.

Mobile users face similar increases, with an average increase of £15.90 for inflation-linked contracts, and up to £48 for newer deals.

Broadband customers should check their contract status to see if it is possible to switch without incurring a penalty.

Switching to a new broadband deal after the initial contract has ended could save up to £180 a year.

Vodafone, Virgin Media and Community Fibre are some of the providers freezing prices until 2026 for those who switch before the April increases.

Mobile customers can text INFO to 85075 to check the status of their contract and any exit fees, or consider lowering their data plan to save money.