Broadband prices for most loyal customers '˜hiked by a third in just five years'

Telephone line rental, which is required for most broadband connections even if the landline is not used, have been hiked by a similar amount, the comparison website uSwitch said.

The rises mean broadband customers are collectively paying £1.5bn unnecessarily, the report’s authors said.

Out-of-contract prices, paid by customers who do not change suppliers when their initial deal expires, have increased by 38 per cent for copper broadband and 19 per cent for faster fibre connections, since 2011.

However, prices for new customers in their initial 12 or 18 months have barely changed, uSwitch found.

A spokesman said: “Consumers languishing on now-expired deals are paying, on average, £105 a year more than those who are still in contract. Fibre broadband customers who are out of contract are missing out on average annual savings of £79.”

Line rental charges are said to have increased by as much as 50 per cent in five years, with Sky and Yorkshire-based Plusnet, formerly among the cheapest suppliers, listing the biggest increases.

Earlier this month, Sky said it would increase its line rental charge by 9.1 per cent to £18.99 a month, bringing it into line with BT’s charge. BT itself has announced a raft of increases across its broadband, TV and BT Sport packages.

Ewan Taylor-Gibson at uSwitch said customers whose initial contrasts had expired were “paying through the nose”.

He said: “A combination of soaring line rental costs and out-of-contract pricing has really hammered broadband users over the past five years.”

uSwitch said customers could cancel an existing contract without penalty within 30 days of the announcement of a price hike.