Broadband and Phone - Annual CPI price changes

Every April, we increase the price of our products and services (including your plan charges) according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation plus up to 3%.

When we work out our prices, we use the December CPI rate, published in January. For example, if you’re paying £30 per month, and the CPI figure is 2%, we may apply an increase of up to 5%. At 5%, your monthly price would increase to £31.50 on or after 1 April.

It’s different if the CPI is negative. For example, if the January CPI figure is -2%, we may apply an increase of up to only 3%. At 3%, your monthly price would increase to £30.90 after 1 April.

This annual price review is part of your terms and conditions.

If you joined before 09/01/2023, the total price increase applied to your charges was 12.5%. This was applied to your bills from April 2023.

This was made up of the December 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation of 10.5%, plus a further 2%.

If you joined after 09/01/2023, you were not subject to an annual price increase in April 2023, but you will have a price increase in April 2024, as detailed below.

If you’re an existing customer who joined before 22/01/2024, the total price increase that will be applied to your charges will be 6%. This will be applied to your bills from April 2024. This is made up of the December 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation of 4%, plus a further 2%.

If you joined us before 22 January 2024, but you are approaching the end of the Minimum Period of your contract, we will write to you with details of promotional offers. These offers are still governed by our 2023 prices and are available to you for 30 days. Please be aware that the prices contained within those offers (should you decide to take any of them) will also increase by 6% from April 2024.

If you joined on or after 22 January 2024, you will not be subject to an annual price increase in 2024. Please refer to the Contract Summary and Contract Information documents you were given when you joined. You will have a price increase in April 2025. Details will be communicated to you in March 2025 at least 30 days before the change will happen.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of whether the cost of goods and services is going up or down, based on average price changes from across several industries. The CPI rate is a figure released by the Office for National Statistics. A new CPI rate is published each month. There’s lots more information available on the Office for National Statistics website.

CPI is a widely recognised measure of the general level of inflation. Several industries use it as a guide on whether to adjust prices and by how much. Shell Energy, like other providers, adopts CPI for all annual price rises on our broadband and phone products.

These price increases apply to all Shell Energy Broadband and Phone customers and are detailed in your terms and conditions. When they will apply to you depends on when you joined us or took out your package. More details are provided in the sections above.

Our broadband, line rental, call plans, features and all call charges may go up in price in line with CPI plus up to 3% on or after 1 April, every year.

If you have one of our Broadband or Phone Essentials packages, the annual CPI price increase will only affect the core monthly price of your Essentials package after your 12 month Minimum Period. So if you’re still within the 12 month Minimum Period of your Essentials package at the time we apply the annual CPI price increase, it won’t impact the core monthly price of your Broadband or Phone Essentials package.

The price of any additional services you are using or have chosen such as calls, optional call plans or Optional Features will increase according to the annual CPI price increase even if you are still within the 12 month Minimum Period.

On or after 1 April every year, we'll take the CPI percentage rate published by the Office for National Statistics in January that year and add up to 3% to the rate. We'll increase the monthly price of broadband, line rental, call plans, features and call charges by the total percentage figure.

If the published CPI figure is negative, we may only increase your prices by up to 3% in the relevant year. If you have more than one service with us and each is subject to the price increase, the amount of the increase is calculated separately for each service.

Here's an example to show how the price rise works:

Let's say you are on a Fast Broadband 18 month promotional offer of £20 a month with Anytime calls and your monthly price is made up of:

Assuming that the CPI rate published in January would be 2%, the total increase would be up to 5% (2% plus up to 3%)

This is how we would work out your new price:

What about changes to call charges?

Some call charges will also go up in price in line with CPI plus up to 3% on or after 1 April each year. Here's an example to show how call charge price increases work:

Assuming that the CPI rate published in January would be 2%, the total increase would be up to 5% (2% plus up to 3%)

If your price is changing, we’ll take any discounts you get into account when calculating your new prices and some of these may be adjusted to reflect your new price.

We’ll be writing to all customers before April each year to inform them how the price change will apply to them.

Rest assured, we’ll always provide you with at least 30 days’ notice before any price rise takes place.

If we're only changing our prices in line with the CPI plus up to 3% and you choose to cancel because of that, you'll still need to pay early termination charges if you're still within your Minimum Period.

This is because your terms and conditions allow us to increase your charges by an amount not exceeding any increase in CPI plus up to 3%.

If we put up our prices by an amount greater than this, or if we put up our prices for any other reason, or make any change that isn’t to your benefit, purely administrative or required by law, then you’ll be able to cancel your contract without paying any early termination charges.

Our customers are relying on our broadband and phone network more than ever. To keep up with demand we’re investing heavily in our products and services. And like other broadband and phone companies, our costs are rising too.

Annual price reviews allow us to continue offering some of the great features we know our customers value, such as unlimited usage as standard on all our broadband packages, and free landline calls between all Shell Energy Broadband and Phone customers.

We understand price changes can be worrying, which is why we implemented an annual price review rather than ad-hoc price increases.

We believe our annual price increase policy is fairer than those of a number of the larger broadband providers. See an example of how we compare below: