CPI Increase on new contract

alibean121

Hi - I'm coming to the end of my 3 contract and am happy with my phone. I want to swap onto a sim only plan. While I would consider moving supplier, 3 are willing to match the best deal I can find on comparison sites that suits my usage and I'm happy to stay with them on this basis.

I am hugely confused about when the CPI increase would apply. I was 95% of the way through of doing the upgrade on the phone with them but then it looks like my plan will increase 14.4% in just 2 months time which I do not believe is reasonable. I would only be paying 1 month at the agreed rate if this were to happen.

Does anyone know a cut-off date after which, if I enter into a contract, this year's increase won't be applied?

flaneurs_lobster

Unless you are moved onto an expensive rate when your agreement expires, just let it ride until late April when the new rates will apply for the next 11.5 months. 

SaverRate

Have a look at the MSE sim only comparison page on the main MSE site. 

You can get deals as low as 1p or 99p a month depending on your usage and provider. 

Some of the providers on there dont do price increases yearly - Lebara for example dont. 

Switching is easy so if you want to avoid price rises then switch unless 3 can guarantee there wont be any. 

alibean121

I have high usage and need unlimited minutes - I can use over 1000 per month up to 3000 in a high usage month. I also use a lot of data and would like at least 20GB. I understand this seems like a lot but I am disabled and sometimes need to spend a lot of time on hold to various organisations or in hospital so being relaxed about usage improves my quality of life a lot.

I’m being offered this for £7 which is a price I’m happy with and seems competitive - I’ve had a look and I can’t find something to beat it.

I just would like to understand if I need to wait a bit to enter into the contract or when I can do it. The written t&c make no mention of this. I thought someone here may know.

SaverRate

alibean121 said:

I have high usage and need unlimited minutes - I can use over 1000 per month up to 3000 in a high usage month. I also use a lot of data and would like at least 20GB. I understand this seems like a lot but I am disabled and sometimes need to spend a lot of time on hold to various organisations or in hospital so being relaxed about usage improves my quality of life a lot.

I’m being offered this for £7 which is a price I’m happy with and seems competitive - I’ve had a look and I can’t find something to beat it.

I just would like to understand if I need to wait a bit to enter into the contract or when I can do it. The written t&c make no mention of this. I thought someone here may know.

It depends on the company. You would need to ask 3 directly it should be a simple question for them to answer. 

On the MSE comparison site you can get unlimited calls, texts and 20GB for:

3 - £8 a month and £48 cashback 
Talkmobile - £7.95 a month and £25 cashback
ID Mobile - £7 a month 

Looking at that page it seems 3 are still rising prices in April to new contracts. 
ID Mobile are not rising prices in April for new contracts (this is stated on their website) and they use the 3 network
Not sure about talkmobile. 

alibean121

Many thanks for your reply - it looks like you agree the £7 I’m being offered is a competitive price.

3 have told me that new contracts entered into after 11th Feb will first see an increase in April 2024. I’ve got this in writing from them so am confident I could now get the money off them from a complaint if this turns out not to be the case. Hopefully this helps anyone else looking into this issue.

flaneurs_lobster

If that 11 Feb date is generally true for Three (and it's not just a renewal sweetener for @alibean121) then that's really useful information.

philbo2

flaneurs_lobster said:

If that 11 Feb date is generally true for Three (and it's not just a renewal sweetener for @alibean121) then that's really useful information.

Do we know if the 11 Feb date is confirmed anywhere. Maybe @alibean121 can confirm?