Mid-contract Price Increase

Drewsus_7

I joined Earth Broadband on 9 July 2025 on a 2 year contract at £44.99 per month. on 12 august 2025, they emailed me letting me know that the price increased by £5 to £49.99 per month. The price increase came 34 days after signing a 730 day contract. They say that if I leave, I am liable to pay out the rest of my contract, i.e. 23 months x £44.99. 

Are they right? 

When they announce a change to the contract, do I have a window of opportunity to leave?

visidigi

What did the original contract you signed state? 

edit: https://earthbroadband.com/terms-and-conditions

10. Early Termination of the Agreement

10.1 Once the Cooling-off Period has concluded, you may terminate the Agreement at any time by providing thirty (30) days' notice. You can do this by contacting us on live chat by visiting https://support.earthbroadband.com/

10.2 If you decide to terminate the Agreement after the Cooling-off Period but before the Fixed Term ends, you will be required to pay Early Termination Charges along with all outstanding Charges on your account. For instance, if you terminate in the tenth month from Go-Live and are paying thirty pounds (£30) per month, you must pay for the remaining two months if the Fixed Term is twelve months—totalling £60—plus the Cease Charge and any other Charges outlined in clause 5.3. If you terminate in the eleventh month, you would typically owe £30 for one month; however, fifty pounds (£50) is payable, plus the Cease Charge, as we must compensate our supplier.

10.3 You may terminate the Agreement by giving us a minimum of thirty (30) days' written notice to coincide with the expiry of the Fixed Term or a subsequent thirty (30) day period as noted in clause 10.11. No Early Termination Charges will apply in these circumstances, but you must settle any outstanding Charges, the Cease Charge, and any Charges mentioned in clause 5.4, where relevant.

10.4 We may terminate the Agreement or suspend Services to you immediately if:

• You fail to pay any Charges within five days after we have sent a payment reminder;
• You become bankrupt, enter into arrangements with creditors, or face legal action against you or your property;
• We suspect you have provided false or misleading information or are using our Services fraudulently;
• You are abusive, become a nuisance (as per our reasonable opinion), or act inappropriately towards our personnel or contractors;
• You are in material breach of the Agreement and fail to remedy it within seven days of notice from us;
• There is a breach under clauses 7.4 and 7.5.

10.5 You may terminate the Agreement:

• With at least thirty (30) days' notice to coincide with the expiry of the Fixed Term;
• Within ten (10) days of receiving notice of changes under clause 13.3 that negatively impact you;
• If we are in material breach of the Agreement and fail to remedy it within seven days of notice from you.

10.6 If we terminate the Agreement due to your fault under clause 10.4, you will be responsible for the Early Termination Charges.

10.7 If you terminate the Agreement due to our fault under clause 10.5, you will not be responsible for Early Termination Charges but must pay all outstanding Charges up to the termination date.

10.8 We may temporarily suspend Services or part thereof immediately if we need to:

• Conduct maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or emergency work;
• Take measures to protect our network's security.

10.9 If we suspend Services under the Agreement, we will provide as much notice as possible, minimise the suspension's impact on your use of Services and Equipment, and restore Services as soon as possible.

10.10 You may be required to pay the Charges you owe us during any temporary suspension.

10.11 At least thirty (30) days before the end of the Fixed Term, we will email you a notice confirming the termination date and any new offers available. If you wish to renew the Agreement on the basis of new Services and/or Charges, it will automatically continue for thirty (30) day periods. You may terminate the Agreement with thirty (30) days' written notice to coincide with the expiry of the Fixed Term or any such period. If you do not wish to renew, you may terminate it in accordance with clause 10.3.

10.12 Upon termination, you will be charged the Cease Charge to disconnect the Service. You must return the router to us within seven (7) Working Days, at your expense, in its original box with all cables in good working order. Attach your full name and address to the parcel without damaging the box, and contact us on live chat by visiting https://support.earthbroadband.com/
Returns Address:

And 

13. Changes

13.1 We reserve the right to modify this Agreement and the associated Service.

13.2 If any changes are made, we will inform you in writing or by posting the revised Terms and Conditions on our website. You will receive notification of the proposed changes at least thirty (30) days before they take effect. Your continued use of the Service after this notice period will signify your acceptance of the changes.

13.3 We will provide at least thirty (30) days’ notice before implementing any changes to the Agreement, except in the following circumstances:

• Changes that are solely for your benefit.
• Changes that are administrative in nature and have no adverse effect on you
• Changes directly mandated by law or our suppliers.

In these cases, you will not have the right to terminate the Agreement without incurring Early Termination Charges. However, if any changes we notify you about have a materially adverse impact on you, you may terminate the Agreement within ten (10) days of receiving such notice without being liable for Early Termination Charges.

13.4 We may increase the Charges outlined in this Agreement after the Fixed Term has concluded. Any increase will be in line with the consumer price index rate of inflation plus an additional 3.9%.

Ectophile

Have they actually changed the contract, or did you not read the small print?

Most broadband companies these days have yearly price increases written into the contract.  The price you are quoted is only the price at the start of the contract.

Some companies (such as Sky) don't have price increases in the contract.  With them, if they put up the price mid-contract, then you can leave without penalty.

visidigi

I bolded the last bit - it seems there is no clause to cover 'fixed term' pricing changes (not that I saw on quick glance). But have a full read through the link and check it as if they aren't allowed to increase in term then they are in breech of their own contract.

As a result you could argue these charges materially impact you as you've only just started the term and there's plenty to go.

Drewsus_7

In relation to Ectophile's post at 2:02 - I don't know whether they changed the contract - how can I find out? I simply got an email telling me that they were putting the monthly price up by £5 per month. I have tried speaking to them but they don't advertise a contact us number and their Live Chat is permanently closed due to "high volume" - I don't know what I am supposed to do.