BBC expert says every O2, Virgin, Vodafone and EE user to see change in two days

All mobile operators including O2, Virgin, Three,, Vodafone, EE and BT are being banned from using mid-contract price rises - but experts say a third of people need to change

Mobile phone users are being alerted to a significant shake-up in their contracts this week, with a warning that a third of people are 'out of contract' and overpaying by about 25 per cent. Ben Boulos, speaking on BBC Breakfast, stressed the urgency for customers to take action.

Starting this Friday, mobile operators such as O2, Virgin Media, Three, Plusnet, Vodafone, EE, and BT will be prohibited by Ofcom from implementing mid-contract price hikes tied to inflation. January is a prime time for upgrading phones, noted Mr Boulos, with approximately 1.6 million mobile phone contracts set to end this month.

He continued: "And those affected are joining a pretty big club because more than a third of all mobile phone users are actually out of contract, and a similar number of broadband customers are in the same situation. Now if that's you, your bills are on average around 18% higher than those who've signed up to a new deal or perhaps even switch provider when the initial deal ended."

Ernest Doku from Uswitch advised: "12 months or 24 months is a lifetime, and so when you reach the end of your contract, the mobile market has changed dramatically. So being armed with that information in terms of what you're paying at the moment and when your contract ends, re-engaging, checking on comparison sites to see what the deals are available in the market, even going back to your existing supplier, a lot of these providers do offer really strong retention deals to keep you, just really the the key message is re-engaging with the market as soon as it's possible to do so."

Mr Boulos added: "Now, this next bit is quite important to know because from Friday, mobile and broadband providers will be officially banned from surprise price rises in the middle of a contract. You know those ones where they take the inflation rate and then add 3.9%. Just for good measure. Well, they'll need to tell you at the time you take out the contract, at the very beginning, exactly what those increases will be in a clear and comprehensible way. Basically telling you in pounds and pence so you can budget for any monthly cost increases.", reports Lancs Live.

"So the overall advice is shop around for the best deals, keep an eye on your contract, and make sure you act before it expires." Broadband and mobile companies were previously allowed to increase prices mid-contract every April in line with inflation, plus up to 3.9% extra on top of this. This saw millions of people hit by bill rises of up to 17.3% in 2023, after inflation surged to a 41-year high that year.

However, speaking on his Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV, the consumer expert explained how this only applies for new contracts and renewing contracts - and said households could still end up being subject to big future price rises. Martin said: "It still allows them to do above-inflation increases because as long as they tell you what it is, they can put it up £20, but it is an improvement in terms of transparency."

He added: "If they don't tell you the pounds and pence figure, you can leave when they announce a price rise. You can breach your contract, you've got 30 days to go. If you do want to leave them, or if you want to haggle to stay, that is your opportunity."