National Price Hike Day 2019

The report highlights

• First-class stamps have risen** from 67p to 70p and the price of a second-class stamp has also gone up by 3p to 61p. Posting a small parcel now costs 10p more up from £3.45 to £3.55.

• Average council tax bills are set to go up by as much as 4.5% across the UK which is an increase of £75.60 a year.

• Water bills will increase by £8 (2%) to £415 for the average household.

• Prescription costs will go up by 20p from £8.80 to £9 (2.27%).

• The NHS dental charge payable for a check-up will increase by £1.10 (5%) from £21.60 to £22.70. The dental charge for a band 2 course of treatment will increase by £3 from £59.10 to £62.10 (5%). The charge for a band 3 course of treatment will increase by £13.20 from £256.50 to £269.70 (5%).***

• TV licence costs will also go up by £4 from £150.50 to £154.50

• Air Passenger Duty on long haul flights (over 2,000 miles) is set to increase by 10% (£16), hiking flight costs.

• NHS wig and fabric charges the cost of NHS wigs and fabric supports are rising by about 2.1%.

Communications suppliers crank up costs

• Three price rise on monthly mobile contracts - Three customers will see their bills go up by 2.5% this year, the same as the January Retail Prices Index measurement of inflation.****

• EE bills will rise by 2.7% across the board in line with December's RPI as of today - 30 March 2019.4

• O2 bills will also increase by 2.5% in line with January RPI.****

• Vodafone customers that took out a monthly plan on or after the 5th May 2016 will see a bill hike of 2.5% in line with February RPI.****

• Customers with Sky Entertainment, Sky Fibre Broadband and Sky Talk Anytime will see an increase of £2/month for each service. The provider said that on average, customers with multiple affected packages will see an average increase of 5.1%, after it changed its terms and conditions to state that prices would go up on 1 April every year.****

Prices are also heating up for energy customers

• 11 Million households on standard energy tariffs are facing a collective £1.3 billion bill increase after Ofgem - the energy regulator - raised cap on these tariffs by an average of £117 per year.

• Upto 3.6 Million households with prepayment gas and electricity meters will also see the cap on their energy tariffs increased by Ofgem by an average of £106 per year, adding as much as £380 million to energy their energy costs.

• Standard Tarrifs from 23 energy suppliers, and prepayment tariffs from 26 energy companies are increasing, but two providers - Bulb and igloo - are bucking the trend by cutting the cost of their standard variable plans.

Martin Lane, Managing Editor of money.co.uk comments: "It's no joke, today really is National Price Hike Day. The day where a whole host of everyday things will cost you more from stamps to your TV licence. Your wallet could be hit left, right and centre on April 1st. These price hikes may appear small and 'nothing to worry about' but add them all together and they could cost you around £240 extra a year.

"You won't be able to avoid some of the increases, but you can certainly take control when it comes to managing the cost of your energy, phone and broadband. The more money you can keep in your pocket the better. Check you're on the best rates and switch providers to get a better deal if you're out of contract. Look at where you might be able to cut small everyday costs too like switching your morning coffee habit to taking a flask into work with you instead. We're having a bumpy ride and no one quite knows what the future holds. The more money you keep in your pocket and don't pass onto suppliers the better - why pay more when you can get it cheaper elsewhere?."

Calculations

*£240.85 per year is calculated by taking a snapshot of key household outgoings, calculating the sum of price rises. £2,075,750,000 was derived by multiplying £240.85 by 19m. In 2017 there were 19m families in the UK (ONS)

**The cost of stamps increased on the 25th March 2019. ***Each band of dental treatment includes the following; - Band 1 is check-ups, scale and polish, diagnosis and treatment planning, marginal corrections of fillings, braces etc. - Band 2 is additional treatment, such as fillings, root canal treatment and removing teeth. - Band 3 is more complex procedures, such as crowns, dentures and bridges. ****The date at which these price hikes take effect depends on the billing date for each individual customer but most will land between March and April. *****Data taken from uSwitch