Sky to increase prices again in 2025; what, if anything, can you do about it?
Millions of Sky broadband customers, as well as Sky TV customers, will see their bills rise from April – but if you're affected, you may be able to leave penalty-free or haggle down your bill.
Sky has revealed that beginning April 1, 2025, the cost of its TV and broadband packages will rise by an average of 6.2%. This means that if you pay approximately £40 monthly for a package that includes broadband and TV, your annual bill might increase by £29.76. It's not unusual to receive an annual price rise, of course; Sky increase prices every year, and most entertainment services announce annual price rises, often due to rises in inflation, increasing external costs and the cost of maintaining their infrastructure, but it is, of course, a monthly increase is not good news during a cost of living crisis!
If you're out of your entertainment or broadband contract, the price increase will be the same in terms of a percentage; however, as I learned from experience, the cost of Sky services, outside of being in a contract, is much higher, so this price increase will make the customer's bill even higher, many out of contract customers will be paying 30 to 40% more than those currently in a contract!
Therefore, it's always worth looking to see if you can find a much better deal by taking out a new contract with Sky or the other major providers supplying the same services. You could save hundreds of pounds by switching; you need to consider that moving to a new contract will normally tie you into a supplier for a minimum term of at least one year, most likely 18 months or more.
Can I cancel my Sky TV contract if they increase the price?
Can I cancel Sky if they increase prices? If you're not happy with the price hike, it doesn't mean you can simply cancel your subscription. This is because all of Sky TV's current contracts have similar provisions that say that your monthly price during your minimum term – though not in the first 60 days and by no more than 10% or inflation each year (whichever is higher); so that means they've covered themselves for increasing your tv and sky broadband price, so you can't just exit your contract with Sky without early exit fees, and even if you could leave, mid-contract, there's no point just leaving if your current deal is still the cheapest out there! Competing providers like BT, EE, O2, Three, Virgin Media, and Vodafone also implement annual price increases, reaching up to 8.8%. Virgin, however, will not raise their prices until April 2026. Therefore, switching your TV or broadband services to another provider might not save you money and could even result in higher costs. Additionally, other providers may not offer the same features or services as Sky, so leaving Sky might not lead to a better deal.
Cancelling Sky TV and broadband might not be possible, but if you want to reduce your costs, you are likely to be able to reduce your packages/subscriptions with Sky if you contact them. You may not be able to cancel entirely, but reducing the services you use, e.g. cutting out movies/sports packages will reduce your monthly costs.
The grass isn t always greener on the other side as some Sky packages offer discounted Netflix packages and free access to channels such as Paramount+ and Discovery, which can add up in price if you pay for these separately. Also, benefits such as two free cinema tickets a month via SkyVIP if you subscribe to Sky Movies are nice little add-on benefits to subscribers.
Broadband and home phone customers can leave fee-free within 30 days of being notified of a price increase – even if they're mid-contract. However, this doesn't apply to Sky TV customers, including Sky Stream or Sky Glass users. If you have a package that includes broadband and TV, you can only cancel the broadband part of your supplied services penalty-free.
End of contract haggling!
At the very least, make sure you use the price rise as extra haggling ammunition when you come to the end of your contract. Remember, if you're out of contract, you can always leave penalty-free, or at the very least, call them and tell them you intend to leave. They don't like to lose subscribers, and having been in this situation at the end of last year, I managed to haggle several hundred pounds worth of discounts by combining my threat to leave with taking up one of the Black Friday deals being offered! They say Sky prices are set in stone, but they aren't, there is always wiggle room!
Research broadband prices and TV package deals with Sky's competitors, grab your latest Sky bill, preferably one from the last month, and then call Sky and tell them you are leaving, as you've found these better deals elsewhere. The customer service agent will likely try to match the deal or at least bring down your bill. It's likely that this won't be the best deal you can get.
Ask to speak to the disconnection department. This will put you through to Sky's retention department, and this is usually the last line of defence for Sky to try to offer you a better deal. This department will typically be able to offer the most significant discount to keep loyal customers.
Often, they can decrease your monthly costs or at least reduce the impact that the annual price hike will make on your bill. This will result in you needing to take out a new contract, tying you into a minimum 18-month contract. Still, you should have a better monthly price than you would have done, often mirroring the deals usually only available to new customers.
Sky Social Tariffs;
If you are claiming any of the following benefits, you may be able to get your Sky broadband services at a reduced price:
Universal Credit (UC)
Pension Credit (PC)
Income-based Employment Support Allowance (I-ESA)
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (I-JSA)
Income Support (IS)
The Sky Broadband Basics offer is only available if you already have Sky Broadband. If you do, you can get the basic package added to your account, which costs £20 a month for 18 months, and this includes Sky Broadband Superfast 35, which has an average download speed of 36Mb/s, or if fibre isn’t available where you live, Sky Broadband Essential Plus has average download speeds of 11Mb/s.
This special package's cost will remain unchanged when Sky raises prices in April, so it won't affect your broadband bill if you are already on this tariff.
Are you not already with Sky? If you want to join Sky, use our referral link to earn up to £125 for switching. The price may increase, but I think that Sky still offers decent value for your entertainment and broadband needs.