MARTIN Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert has revealed the cheapest broadband deals currently available.
The cheapest package costs £18.99 per month from Plusnet, but the price effectively works out at £12.74 if you take into account a cashback offer.
If you sign up through MoneySavingExpert, you will be sent £75 on a prepaid Mastercard within 45 days.
Take that off the overall cost, and your monthly price will be equivalent to £12.74 per month – although in reality you will still be paying £18.99.
The deal is for a one-year contract – so you’ll be locked into Plusnet for at least 12 months – with average speeds of 10Mb.
You should also note that prices are expected to rise by around 4% to 5%, which MSE says will likely add around 90p per month to your bill.
MONEYSAVINGEXPERT has flagged the cheapest broadband deals right now as part of its latest newsletter.
You should note that the lowest price is based on how much the deal is worth in total if you take off any cashback offers you’ll be sent.
This means you’ll still be paying the advertised monthly cost, but MSE has worked out the best value with the sign up offers taken into account.
For most of these offers, you’ll also need to sign up via special links on the MSE website.
Plusnet: £18.99 per month, 12-month contract, 11Mb speeds
Sign up through MSE and you’ll be send a £75 prepaid Mastercard. Take that off the total cost of your bill over the year, and the monthly price is the equivalent of £12.74.
Shell Energy: £21.99 per month, 12-month contract, 35Mb speeds
MSE has arranged a deal where you’ll be sent £50 bill credit. Take this off the total cost over the contract period, and the equivalent price is £17.83 per month.
Vodafone: £24 per month, 24-month contract, 63Mb speeds
Vodafone is offering £100 gift cards for Tesco, M&S or Amazon for new customers. Factor it in, and the cost is equivalent to £19.84 per month over two years.
Virgin Media: £24 per month, 18-month contract, 108Mb speeds
New customers can claim a £50 Amazon voucher when signing up to Virgin Media. Take this into account and the cost is equivalent to £21.23 per month over 18 months.
The MSE deal will be active until 11.59pm next Wednesday, March 17 – again, keep in mind you’ll only get it if you apply directly through the MSE website.
Its experts says households are paying between £30 and £45 on average for broadband for “standard speeds” and it comes as major providers confirmed they’ll be hiking prices for millions of customers.
Sky is upping bills by up to £72 per year for some households, depending on what type of products you have.
Meanwhile, Virgin Media is hiking prices by £44 per year for some customers, and BT prices are going up by £24.
Before switching broadband provider, you should check the speeds on offer are right for you.
HERE'S how to save money on your broadband and TV bills:
Audit your subscriptions
If you’ve got multiple subscriptions to various on-demand services, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Sky consider whether you need them all.
Could you even just get by with Freeview, which couldn’t cost you anything extra each month for TV.
Also make sure you’re not paying for Netflix twice via Sky and directly.
Haggle for a discount
If you want to stay with your provider, check prices elsewhere to set a benchmark and then call its customer services and threaten to leave unless it price matches or lowers your bill.
Switch and save
If you don’t want to stay with your current provider check if you can cancel your contract penalty free and switch to a cheaper provider.
A comparison site, such as BroadbandChoices or Uswitch, will help you find the best deal for free.
For higher speeds, the next cheapest deal flagged by MSE costs £21.99 for 35Mb from Shell Energy, again on a one-year contract.
If you sign up through MSE you’ll get a cashback deal – this time £50 bill credit – which works out at an equivalent monthly cost of £17.83 once you take the credit into account.
For speeds of 63Mb, the best price MSE found is £24 per month from Vodafone, as part of a 24-month contract.
After four months, you’ll then get to choose a £100 voucher for Amazon, Tesco or M&S – factor in that cost, and the monthly price is the equivalent of £19.84 over the two years.
Again, you should always go for the broadband provider that gives the best speeds for what you need.
Using a free tool such as Speedtest.net by Ookla is one way to see what speed your internet is working at – and if you’re getting the right value for money.
You should also check if you’re still in contract with your current provider, as you could end up paying an exit fee.
Not all providers cover each postcode in the UK, so check which services you’re able to sign up to as well.
You can use comparison websites such as Uswitch or MoneySupermarket to see what offers are available.
MoneySavingExpert flagged its cheapest prices as part of its latest weekly email.
If you don’t factor in any sign up offers, The Sun found POP Telecom is slightly cheaper at £17.50 per month for 11Mb speeds on an 18-month contract.
However, you do need to pay a £9.99 set-up fee, while the Plusnet deal from MSE doesn’t have any sign up costs.
Plusnet still works out better value overall, as the total cost is £227.88 over 12 months, but if you take off the £75 from the MSE cashback deal the total is £152.88.
For POP Telecom, you’ll pay £220 over 12 months and you’ll still have another six months to go on your contract.
MSE said: “If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it 100 times. The way to cut broadband bills is to pounce on short-lived promo deals, which often have cash or voucher incentives.
“If you’re one of the millions of people out of contract, it’s worth checking now what you pay.”
We’ve rounded up seven price hikes hitting in April – and how to avoid them.
The Sun has also looked at eight Martin Lewis money-saving tips that could save you £9,243.
And here are 16 tips to slash your supermarket shopping bill by hundreds of pounds a year.
