O2's hiking its prices – but you can use this to haggle down your costs
O2 is notifying customers that they can leave their contracts penalty-free because it's hiking its existing price rise. Up to 15.6 million O2 customers will see their bills rise by 40% more than they were told – something MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis is up in arms about. Watch Martin's video below where he tells O2 customers that it's time to give the provider a "corporate bloody nose".
As you've a right to leave O2 within 30 days of notification about the price change, which is happening now, we provided key O2 customer help in our weekly email on Tuesday 4 November 2025.
For those who didn't want to leave, Martin suggested trying to haggle your price down. At the time, we couldn't confirm if the usual haggling process would work (as you're not out of contract or at the end of your deal), so we asked you to feed back. You did in droves, and many show you can haggle (or ditch and switch) your way out of O2's increased price hike.
Martin: 'We need to give O2 a corporate bloody nose'
Martin has called the move by O2 "outrageous" and said it "makes a mockery" of the telecom regulator's rules on 'pounds and pence' price rises. Martin's also written to the Chancellor on it, and now the Government has written to Ofcom. Here's what Martin said about it on The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on 4 November:
Courtesy of ITV. All rights reserved. Watch the full episode on ITVX.
Martin Lewis: "When companies behave like this and increase our costs in a way no-one should have or could have expected, the way that we need to deal them, is we need to give them a corporate bloody nose and increase their costs by them losing customers and brand and reputation to prevent them doing it again and to prevent all the other mobile and broadband and pay-TV customers doing it. So, don't just leave for yourself – leave for everyone else too.
"So, your options: Just get on to a comparison site and find your cheapest Sim – the cheapest deals are on comparison sites because that's where the churners go and they get better deals there. There's currently a 35GB a month Sim available for under £3 a month. Many people will be paying five times that.
"If you like your O2 signal because that's the only one you can get in your house, well, there are lots of networks that pay O2 to piggyback on its signal, so you get the same signal on their networks. You've got Sky – it's got a 10GB a month deal at £6 a month. You've got Giffgaff – unlimited data at £15 a month. You've got Tesco.
"If you want to stick with O2 – maybe you like its Priority moments scheme, maybe you've got a watch that's linked to it or something – benchmark the cost elsewhere and haggle. Politely ask it – it's not the call centre people's fault – to match.
"Now, this normally works at the end of your contract. You're not at the end of your contract but it's the same because you're allowed to leave penalty-free. So, I suspect it will work now, but these are new circumstances, and I don't definitely know.
"I know some of you have handset plans as well as airtime plans, so you're paying off the handset as well as paying off the tariff, the monthly airtime plan. If you're doing that, you can choose to keep paying the handset with O2 – you don't have to pay it off in full by the month and you can move your airtime, your Sim, elsewhere."
Read the full transcript
The three things you can do to try to save – haggling, or switching and ditching
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Leave O2 and find the cheapest Sim deal on any signal. Use our Cheap Sim Finder tool, as Chris emailed: "Thanks for the O2 bit. I was miffed and fed up with being played for a fool by huge companies. So, you emboldened me to act. I've gone to Lebara on a 30-day contract saving £5 a month [£60 a year]! Thank you so much."
Top current deals: 40GB of data for '£3.25 a month' with iD Mobile (uses Three's network) for 12 months. Or, if you know Three isn't good in your area, then you can get 3GB of data for '£3.18 a month' on a rolling contract with Lebara (uses Vodafone). Before you leave O2, make sure to get your 'Porting Authorisation Code' first by texting PAC to 65075. You can then give this code to your new provider so it can transfer your number. -
Leave O2 but find the cheapest Sim staying on O2's signal. Sky, Giffgaff and Tesco are among the virtual network operators that pay O2 to piggyback on its signal, so you should get similar reception. Our Cheap Sim Finder comparison tool lets you filter to see the cheapest deals on the same signal. Do double-check the features though (eg, Wi-Fi calling), don't assume they stay the same. As for how good they are, see our there's no noticeable difference for most study report.
Top current deals: 10GB of data for £6 a month for 12 months with Sky Mobile (though be aware Sky may hike its prices in April 2026), 6GB of data for £8 a month with Giffgaff for 18 months, and 12GB of data for £9 a month for 24 months with Tesco Mobile. -
Stay at O2 but try to haggle down the cost. Benchmark the cheapest deal elsewhere, call O2 and politely explain you can leave, but want to stay if it makes it worth your while. See our haggle down mobile costs guide for more.
Note: You can change your airtime network and still pay O2 monthly for your handset. O2's communication on this has been dire. Many have received this message when quitting airtime contracts: "If you've a device plan, you'll still need to pay this off in full."
It's terrible phrasing – all it means is you must keep paying it each month, not that you need to pay the whole amount now. Martin complained to Ofcom about this and it's written to O2 on this issue.
Two-thirds of MoneySavers report success after haggling with O2
We asked users to email us, as well as to let us know on Facebook and X their experiences after complaining to O2 following the price hikes announcement. Of those who tried haggling, two-thirds (66%) were successful, while a third (34%) had no luck.
Here's a brief overview of the numbers we've seen (this isn't statistically relevant, but it helps to give an overview of the situation):
Got a cheaper deal | 40% |
Got compensation | 3% |
Got an add-on | 1% |
Got more than one of the above | 21% |
Overall success rate | 66% |
Tried to haggle but didn't succeed | 34% |
Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Data sources: Direct responses to our question on this issue on Facebook and X between Monday 10 November and Tuesday 11 November, as well as emails received between Tuesday 4 November and Tuesday 11 November. Total number of responses was 184.
While we've focused on haggling, more than half (51%) of MoneySavers – especially those responding on social media – told us they'd just ditched and switched instead.
'I've saved £360+ over a year –thank you for giving me the motivation'
Of the MoneySavers who detailed their savings in full, the average haggling discount was just under £10 a month. Here are some examples of the comments we've seen:
Justine, via email: I was paying O2 just shy of £40 a month. I had a look and could get a deal with Sky for £10 a month. I contacted O2, which said the lowest they could go to was £15.24 on a 24-month contract, but that it would rise to £30.49 after 12 months.
I told them I was leaving after 30 years (I know, foolish loyalty)! They then offered me a £10 a month [saving £30 a month, £360 a year] deal with no contract to get out of, and have thrown in Disney+ for free for three months. This gives me Disney over Christmas and I can shop around and move after the three months.
Thank you for giving me the motivation to get in touch with them!
Andy, via email: My existing O2 deal is £16.64 a month for my device plan for six more months and £25.49 for my airtime plan for 150GB of data (I barely exceed 20GB even with a constant hotspot for my daughter when in the car).
I found a Sim-only deal with Sky for £10 a month and 40GB data. I was prepared to keep my device plan going with O2. I rang O2 fully prepared to leave. They read their current offers while also saying they'd match Sky's deal. I initially refused due to O2 data not rolling over, but they countered with 35GB for £8.
I accepted, so a saving of £17.49 a month [£209.88 a year]. I'll be advising my wife to do the same in hope of similar results.
Harvey, via email: They offered me £30.49 a month, but with a 50% discount for the first 12 months, so £15.24 a month to start. The price hike in April will still happen, but only at £1.25 (since 50% discount). Given I currently pay £34.29 a month, it's a saving over the course of the next two years. Oh, and he threw in a choice of Amazon Prime or Disney+ for 24 months. Win win.
For help doing the same, revisit our three tips to try to save above.
But be warned – not everyone's experienced success
While we've had many successes, we've also seen a handful of concerning reports from MoneySavers running into problems when trying to exercise their right to leave O2 penalty-free:
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One MoneySaver reported being disconnected immediately when contacting O2 customer services, losing their number as a result. We were shocked by this and asked O2 for its termination policy. It told us that, in general, you shouldn't be immediately disconnected if you ask to leave.
Instead you'll either request a free PAC from 65075 (if you want to keep your phone number) or STAC (if you don't) from O2, which you'll use to join another provider – you then have a 30-day window to switch. -
Another MoneySaver reported being told they'd have early termination fees to pay if they were to cancel. They had texted INFO to 85075 and received an automated text listing fees amounting to £100s.
When we put this to O2, it reiterated what Martin says in his video and what we say above, which is that you only have the right to leave the airtime (Sim) part of your contract penalty-free and not the handset part. You can either switch the airtime plan only and stick with O2 for the handset element, which you'll remain paying monthly by default, or you can repay the handset in full by calling 202.
If O2 tries to charge you exit fees, the best thing to do is raise a formal complaint.
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