In the UK, when your broadband contract is expiring, your provider must inform you of this, and offer options to renew your contract.
However, consumers often face price increases when renewing their contract, with monthly costs 20-30% higher than those offered to new customers for the same broadband service.
It is possible to access better renewal deals at a lower price by negotiating with your provider. But many are unaware of how to access these cheaper offers, and often don’t realise how much money they can save by negotiating.
Contents
The study
Here at Broadband Savvy, we wanted to find out how much money consumers can save by haggling with their broadband provider in 2026.
For each of the seven major broadband providers in the UK, we compared customer-reported renewal pricing offers on a 500 Mbps broadband-only connection, before and after negotiating for a better deal.
We found that:
- By refusing your provider’s initial renewal offer and negotiating, you can save £10.44 per month on average, or £250.56 over the life of a 24 month contract.
- Virgin Media customers can save the most by haggling – £25 per month on average, a 40% saving.
- If you renew your contract after it expires without haggling, you’ll pay an extra £5.90 per month (16%) on average for the same broadband service.
- If you renew your contract after it expires and haggle for the best price, you’ll still pay 9% more on average than a new customer would for the same broadband service.
Table
Note: data refers to monthly pricing, excluding activation, shipping, and other one-off fees, on a 500 Mbps broadband-only contract with a 24 month commitment.
| Provider | New customer price | Price at end of contract (after mid-contract price rises) | Average initial renewal offer | Average negotiated renewal offer | Average % saved by negotiating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT | £30.99 | £38.99 | £50.59 | £33.49 | 34% |
| EE | £30.99 | £38.99 | £48.99 | £40.99 | 16% |
| Virgin Media | £29.99 | £37.99 | £62.00 | £37.00 | 40% |
| Sky | £30.00 | £33.71* | £40.50 | £32.50 | 20% |
| TalkTalk | £30.00 | £38.00 | £31.95 | £31.95 | 0% |
| Plusnet | £28.99 | £36.99 | £33.99 | £31.00 | 9% |
| Vodafone | £26.00 | £33.00 | £31.00 | £19.00 | 23% |
*Estimate, assuming a 6% annual price increase, as Sky does not publish mid-contract price rises ahead of time.
**Data based on online user-reported contract renewal offers posted in 2024 and 2025.
Virgin Media customers are highly recommended to negotiate when renewing, in order to save as much money as possible.
Plusnet stands out in that it generally does not negotiate with existing customers looking to renew, or only offers small discounts.
TalkTalk is unique in that it tends to offer the same deals to both new and existing customers.
What to do if your broadband contract is expiring
“If your broadband contract is expiring, the first thing to do is find the cheapest similar deal with another provider, available at your address,” said Tom Paton, founder of Broadband Savvy.
“Whether you really want to stay with your current provider or not, you need this information to arm yourself for negotiation. The key is to tell your provider’s retention team that you’ve found a better deal, and plan on leaving.”
“Often, consumers find the best renewal prices by placing an order with another supplier. This often prompts a last-ditch phone call from your current provider, offering their best possible price. If you’d like, you can then cancel the new order within the cooling-off period, and stay with your current company.”
“However, even if you do haggle, you often won’t get as good value for money compared to switching to a new provider. With the exception of TalkTalk, the prices that major broadband providers offer to new and existing customers are generally very different.”
“If possible, we recommend changing broadband providers every time your contract expires. Apart from helping you save money, this will also help to ensure you’re always using the latest WiFi tech, depending on the provider that you choose.”
Methodology
For each broadband provider in the UK with at least one million residential subscribers, we collated data on their new customer and renewal pricing on their broadband-only tariff with a 500 Mbps advertised download speed. In Virgin Media’s case, we chose their M500 tariff, which offers a 516 Mbps download speed.
We chose to assess pricing of 500 Mbps broadband-only deals because this represents a middle-of-the-road option, with a large range of datapoints available from different customers reaching the end of their contract.
Many consumers choose slower 150 and 300 Mbps plans, but often add on extra services such as phone lines and TV bundles, pushing their average monthly fee up in line with what a 500 Mbps broadband-only deal typically costs.
To assess renewal pricing before and after haggling, we used user reports from real customers of each provider attempting to renew or upgrade to a 500 Mbps broadband plan. We assessed user reports made in 2024 and 2025.
Pricing data for new customers and mid-contract price rises was sourced in January 2026.
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Tom is the founder of Broadband Savvy. He has nearly 10 years’ experience writing broadband tutorials, reviewing routers and internet service providers, and explaining broadband-related concepts. Tom is experienced as a writer, has appeared on national radio and in national newspapers, and also produces videos for the Broadband Savvy YouTube channel.
He currently specialises in writing content for Broadband Savvy designed to help people understand broadband jargon and terminology, increase their download and upload speeds, and improve their Wi-Fi connectivity. Tom also occasionally contributes to buyer’s guides and review articles on Broadband Savvy, utilising his knowledge of the broadband market in the UK.
When he’s not writing about broadband, you’ll find him hiking somewhere or playing on his Nintendo Switch.