{"id":133864,"date":"2025-04-03T10:04:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/?p=133864"},"modified":"2025-05-02T11:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T11:22:07","slug":"annual-price-increases-your-guide-to-switching-and-saving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/annual-price-increases-your-guide-to-switching-and-saving\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual price increases &#8211; your guide to switching and saving"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Understand your rights, save money, and make informed decisions about your phone and broadband services.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Can my service provider change my contract and increase the price?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, service providers can modify your contract, but they must follow strict rules:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide at least one month&#8217;s notice before making changes;<\/li>\n<li>Send you a <a href=\"\/advice-information\/contracts\/#2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contract Change Notification<\/a>;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Automatic annual price increases in new contracts <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Many, but not all, service providers now include automatic annual price increases in new contracts. These can be calculated in different ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Using inflation metrics such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI);<\/li>\n<li>Fixed percentage increases;<\/li>\n<li>Combination of CPI and fixed percentage;<\/li>\n<li>Set monthly amount.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>When to shop for a better deal<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The best times to look for a new phone or broadband plan are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When you&#8217;re nearing the end of or after you\u2019ve completed your minimum contract period (your service provider must inform you of the end of your contractual commitment);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have received a <a href=\"\/advice-information\/contracts\/#2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contract Change Notification<\/a> with a right to exit the contract without cost.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Money-Saving tip:<\/u><\/strong> Most of these price increases happen in April. By switching to a new 12-month contract in April, your price will remain stable until April of the following year, at which point, you can switch again. If you are switching, you can check if a provider without a built-in increase has a plan that meets your needs.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Finding cheaper deals<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Not all service providers have built-in price increases;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/compare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ComReg Compare<\/a> can help, and lists plans that don\u2019t have annual increases;<\/li>\n<li>Read contract terms carefully;<\/li>\n<li>Ask providers to clarify any unclear details;<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t be afraid to <a href=\"\/advice-information\/switching-providers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">switch<\/a> if you find a better deal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>I&#8217;m still in contract &#8211; what are my options?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Before making any moves, carefully review your contract details:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Check the contract duration (most are between 12 and 24 months);<\/li>\n<li>Understand early termination charges;<\/li>\n<li>Investigate potential phone unlocking fees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By staying informed and proactive, you can save money and find the best phone or broadband plans for your needs.<\/p>\n<p>We have more information on <a href=\"\/advice-information\/switching-providers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">switching<\/a> and <a href=\"\/advice-information\/contracts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contracts<\/a> to help you, and our <a href=\"\/advice-information\/consumer-care\/contact-our-consumer-care-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consumer Care team<\/a> is also available to assist you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Understand your rights, save money, and make informed decisions about your phone and broadband services. Can my service provider change my contract and increase the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/annual-price-increases-your-guide-to-switching-and-saving\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":133863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumer-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133864"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134116,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133864\/revisions\/134116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comreg.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}