Staying connected with a SIM-only plan is one of the most popular ways to keep mobile costs down in the UK. With no handset repayments and a choice of contract lengths, from 30-day rolling plans to 12 or 24-month contracts, SIM-only gives you flexibility and lower monthly costs. But one thing that catches many people out is mid-contract price rises, where your monthly bill increases before your minimum term has ended.
This guide explains which UK networks raise prices mid-contract, which ones do not, and what your options are if your bill goes up. It was last reviewed in July 2026 and reflects the April 2026 rises that are now in effect.
Compare current SIM-only deals
Reviewed by: Phil Brown, founder of SIM Only Finder. Phil previously worked in UK mobile retail at Three UK, advising customers on SIM plans, contracts, and network choices. He has spent over a decade running consumer comparison platforms and reviews networks and SIM-only deals based on that hands-on industry background. About the author
Last reviewed: July 2026. Updated regularly to reflect current network pricing policies.
How we put this guide together
To put this guide together, we reviewed the published mid-contract price rise terms of every major UK network and the smaller providers that run on them in July 2026, checking the exact pound-and-pence increases, inflation-linked formulas, and price-freeze commitments directly against each network's own terms and Ofcom's published rules. Where a network applies an inflation-linked rise, we have used the December 2025 CPI figure of 3.4% published by the Office for National Statistics, which is the figure those networks apply in April 2026. Because network terms change most often around April, we re-check this guide regularly and flag any figure we cannot confirm rather than leaving it stale.
What are mid-contract price rises and why do they happen?
A mid-contract price rise is when your mobile network increases the cost of your monthly plan before your agreed minimum term has ended. Even if you signed up to a 12 or 24-month SIM-only contract at a set price, your bill can still go up part way through.
Networks justify these increases by pointing to inflation, rising operating costs, and contract terms that allow annual adjustments. Following an Ofcom ruling in January 2025, all price increases for new and upgrading customers must now be shown in pounds and pence rather than as a percentage, and must be clearly displayed at sign-up. This means if you joined a network recently, you should have been told exactly how much your price will rise each April before you signed up.
For SIM-only customers, this matters because price predictability is one of the main reasons people choose these plans in the first place.
Networks that do not raise prices mid-contract
The following networks either offer 30-day rolling plans where you can leave at any time, or have specifically committed to no mid-contract price rises on their longer contracts.
- 1pMobile: primarily offers 30-day and pay-as-you-go plans, so while traditional mid-contract rises do not apply, you would still be free to switch if prices changed.
- Asda Mobile: does not build price increases into its plans but does not rule them out entirely. You would receive 30 days notice of any change.
- Giffgaff: guarantees no mid-contract price rises on its 18-month SIM-only plans for customers who sign up before the end of 2026. This is a contractual commitment rather than a stated intention. Its 30-day rolling plans carry no such guarantee, but you can leave those at any time.
- Honest Mobile: takes the opposite approach and reduces prices by up to 5% each year, to a maximum of 30% reduction, the longer you stay with them.
- iD Mobile: currently promises no annual price rises on SIM-only plans across 30-day, 12-month, and 24-month contracts. Note this applies to SIM-only plans only, not handset contracts.
- Lebara: 12-month plans will not be subject to price increases during the minimum term, giving you a stable monthly cost for the duration of your contract.
- Lycamobile: has committed to a price freeze on its pay monthly plans for the rest of 2026, following a similar commitment in 2025. Lycamobile notes its SIM-only prices have not risen since the launch of its pay monthly products.
- Mozillion: states no mid-contract price increases across its 30-day, 12-month, and 24-month SIM-only plans.
- ParentShield: offers 30-day plans only, so you would be free to switch if prices changed.
- Smarty: offers 30-day rolling plans only, so you are not locked into a longer commitment.
- Spusu: has committed to no price rises in 2026, making this the third consecutive year spusu has frozen its prices. All spusu plans are 30-day rolling, so you would be free to switch regardless.
- Talkmobile: states on its own terms that all its plans come with no annual price rises, and no CPI or RPI increases. It removed price-rise clauses from its contracts in December 2024 and offers both 30-day and 12-month SIM-only deals.
- Voxi: offers 30-day rolling plans only.
Networks that do raise prices mid-contract
Several major UK networks apply mid-contract price rises annually, typically in April. The April 2026 rises have now taken effect. Thanks to the Ofcom change in January 2025, new customers must be shown these increases in pounds and pence at sign-up. If you joined recently, check your contract for the exact figure.
EE: customers on SIM-only plans taken out on or after July 2025 face a £2.50 per month increase each April, with the most recent applied from 31 March 2026. Customers on plans taken out between April 2024 and July 2025 face a £1.50 per month increase. Customers on older plans face an increase of CPI plus 3.9%, based on the December CPI figure published in January each year. The December 2025 CPI figure was 3.4%, giving a total increase of 7.3% for those older plans in April 2026.
O2: customers saw increases of up to £2.50 per month from April 2026, up from £1.80. O2 was the first major network to apply the higher amount retroactively to existing customers rather than only to new sign-ups, and Ofcom criticised the move for going against the spirit of its ruling. Affected customers were given the right to exit penalty-free. See our article on O2's April 2026 price rise for more detail.
Sky Mobile: raised prices by £1.50 per month from 14 February 2026 for the majority of customers. This was the first time Sky had raised prices for in-contract customers in over seven years. Customers were given a 30-day window from the date of their notification to cancel without penalty. Notifications went out from 6 January 2026 and that exit window has now closed. Customers still within contract on Sky Mobile cannot exit penalty-free at this point and will need to wait until their minimum term ends to switch.
Tesco Mobile: non-Clubcard price plans increase each April. The amount is displayed in pounds and pence at sign-up. Clubcard Price deals are frozen for the duration of the minimum contract term.
Three: customers who joined or upgraded on or after 9 November 2025 face fixed increases each April based on their data allowance: £1.80 per month for plans of 4GB or below, £1.90 per month for plans between 5GB and 99GB, and £2.30 per month for plans of 100GB and above. The first of these increases applied in April 2026. Three is also moving customers who joined or upgraded between 1 November 2022 and 7 September 2024, and who are still within their minimum term, off inflation-linked rises and onto these same pounds-and-pence amounts from April 2026. Customers on older contracts remain on a CPI-linked formula, which for April 2026 works out at 7.3%, based on the December 2025 CPI rate of 3.4% plus an additional 3.9%. See our article on Three's revised price hike policy for more detail.
Vodafone: customers who joined or re-contracted on or after 12 November 2025 face a fixed increase each April of £1.50 per month on Basics SIM-only plans, or £2.50 per month on other SIM-only plans. The first of these applied in April 2026. Customers who joined earlier are on lower fixed amounts, £1 per month on Basics and £1.80 per month on other plans, or on older contracts an inflation-linked rise of CPI plus 3.9%, which for April 2026 works out at 7.3% based on the December 2025 CPI of 3.4%. See our article on Vodafone's annual price increases for more detail.
How the timing works
For most networks, price rises take effect in April each year. The exact amount depends on when you signed up and which network you are on. Networks are required to notify you in advance, usually by text or email, before any increase takes effect.
If you signed up before January 2025, you may be on an older inflation-linked contract where the increase is calculated as CPI plus a fixed percentage. The December 2025 CPI figure was 3.4%, so networks applying this formula increased prices by 7.3% in April 2026. If you signed up more recently, you should have been shown a specific pound-and-pence figure at the time of purchase.
If your contract is still within its minimum term, you will generally not be able to leave without paying an early exit fee, even if your price has gone up. Sky Mobile was the exception for its February 2026 rise, but that exit window has now closed.
Is the pounds-and-pence system working?
The pounds-and-pence rules were introduced to make price rises clearer, but there is a growing argument that they have left many customers paying more. In late June 2026, MoneySavingExpert published research analysing more than 47,000 mobile and broadband tariffs. It found that around three in four customers were worse off under the new fixed-rise system than they would have been under the old inflation-linked model, and that in almost all cases the rises applied were above the rate of inflation.
The reason is mathematical. A flat pound-and-pence rise is a bigger percentage of a small bill than a large one, so the people hit hardest are those on the cheapest plans. As an example cited in that research, someone who signed a two-year Vodafone 3GB plan at £10 a month in December 2024 faced a £1.80 rise in April 2025 and again in April 2026, taking them to £13.60. Under the old CPI plus 3.9% method, the same plan would sit at around £11.40.
This has prompted political pressure. MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis gave evidence to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee calling for a ban on above-inflation mid-contract rises, and a Private Members Bill has been tabled that seeks to prohibit mid-contract price rises altogether. As of July 2026, the government has said it has no plans to ban in-contract price rises, and none of this is yet law. For now, the rules described in this guide still stand and the April 2026 figures above are unchanged, but the debate is worth watching if you are choosing a longer contract.
What can you do if your price goes up?
If you are on a 30-day rolling plan, you can switch at any time with no exit fee. Text PAC to 65075 to keep your number and move to a cheaper plan. Our 30-day SIM-only deals page shows current options sorted by price.
If you are mid-contract on a 12 or 24-month plan, check whether your provider's terms give you the right to leave if a price rise is applied. If not, compare the cost of staying versus paying an exit fee and switching to a better deal. For many people, particularly those close to the end of their contract, staying put and switching at renewal is the most straightforward option.
If you want to avoid mid-contract rises entirely on your next plan, look at networks that have committed to price freezes, or choose a 30-day rolling plan that keeps you flexible. It is also worth checking you are not paying for an allowance you never use, since a flat rise costs the same whether the plan suits you or not, and our guide to how much mobile data you need helps you size that correctly. Our no credit check SIM-only deals page includes several price-freeze networks if that is also a consideration.
FAQs
What counts as a mid-contract price rise?
A mid-contract price rise happens when you are still within your agreed minimum term and your monthly charge goes up even though you have not changed or upgraded your plan. It is a price increase during your fixed commitment period.
Does a price rise mean I can cancel without penalty?
Not automatically. Most networks include the right to apply annual price rises in their terms and conditions, which you agree to at sign-up. This means a rise alone does not usually give you the right to leave without paying exit fees. Sky Mobile is an exception, as it triggers a 30-day penalty-free exit window when it applies a price rise, though the window for the February 2026 rise has now closed.
If I am on a 30-day rolling SIM-only plan, am I protected?
You are more flexible but not fully immune. A 30-day plan means you are never locked into a long minimum term, so you can switch whenever you like. However, your provider can still increase your monthly price with notice. The key advantage is that you can leave quickly if you are unhappy with a price change, without paying any exit fees.
Why do networks raise prices every April?
Most UK networks apply annual price adjustments in April, timed to align with inflation figures published earlier in the year. Networks cite rising infrastructure costs, network investment, and operating expenses as justification. Since the Ofcom ruling in January 2025, newer customers must be told exactly how much their price will rise before they sign up, which makes it easier to factor in the true long-term cost of a plan.
Editorial policy
This guide is produced by the SIM Only Finder editorial team to help SIM-only customers understand how mid-contract price rises work across UK networks. Network terms, pricing policies, and price-freeze commitments are checked regularly and updated to reflect current terms, particularly around April each year when most providers apply annual increases. Always confirm current terms directly with the network before signing up.
Tell your friends.