Sky bills are rising again in March – here’s how you can avoid the price hikes
Customers who are affected by the changes will see bills rise by £36 a year - but there’s a way to beat the increases
SKY customers face paying more for their broadband, TV and home phone bills after the telecoms giant confirmed a slew of price hikes.
Bills for affected customers will rise by around £3 per month - adding £36 per year to costs, the firm said.
It confirmed that line rental is increasing from £17.40 to £18.99 per month - adding £19 a year to bills.
Non-broadband customers (who opt out) will not see their landline costs rise.
Sky did not confirm how many of its 12 million customers would be affected by the changes but said that the “vast majority of TV customers will not see their bills go up”.
Some of the affected customers are on so-called "legacy tariffs" and the increases will bring them into line with current pricing.
Landline phone package costs are will not go up but customers not on a Sky Talk plan will see an increase in call rates.
It is contacting customers from today via letter or email to inform them of the changes.
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Sky said that the changes reflect an “ongoing investment in our screen line up, technology and customer services”.
A spokesperson said: “There are no changes to our existing headline pricing for Sky TV bundles and the vast majority of customers will see no change at all to the cost of their TV package.
“We are also keeping line rental prices at their current level for customers who only take a landline from us.”
The last time Sky put up prices was in June last year when it pushed up TV costs. It's last line rental increase was in December 2015, going up from £16.40 to £17.40.
It comes less than a week after BT announced a raft of price hikes for millions of its TV, broadband and home phone customers - adding around £36 a year to bills.
How you can beat the hikes
If you're a Sky TV customer and outside the minimum term of your contract then you can cancel penalty free by giving 31 days' notice.
Sky broadband and Talk customers who are not in their minimum term can cancel penalty free at any time by giving at least 10 days' notice.
If you're a broadband or phone customer and are within the minimum term then you can cancel but you may have to pay a fee.
If you're unhappy about the increase but don't want to leave Sky then you can try calling up to haggle.
Telecoms firms don't wan't to lose customers so its worth seeing if they can do you a better deal.
The best way to do this is by finding a better deal than you're already on. Then calling up Sky and say you'd like to leave.
You'll usually get pushed through to the "rententions" department who have the power to cut your bills.
Ask if there is any way they can cut your bills. If they refuse, then ask if there are any free extras that they can throw in.
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