Price increases from Sky, Vodafone, Energia, Flogas, Pinergy and PrePayPower kick in today.
Last week, we celebrated Black Friday with a host of exciting offers, designed to help customers save money.
But today, December 1st, is a whole other kind of 'black" Friday for households, as six major price hikes take effect.
December 1st broadband, TV and home phone increases
Certain Sky and Vodafone customers are set to see bigger bills from today onwards.
Sky’s price increase will affect certain broadband customers and certain TV customers, and will add between €2 and €4 to monthly bills.
Vodafone’s hike will affect some broadband customers and some voice customers, and will add an average of €4 to monthly bills.
Simply Broadband customers will see an increase of €7 a month and Simply Talk customers will be hit with a hike of €10 a month - or €120 a year.
December 1st energy price hikes
There have been seven energy prices hike announcements in recent months, four of which take effect today.
Energia’s 3.9% electricity price hike will add €31 to bills for customers with average consumption.
Flogas’ 3.3% gas price increase will add €20 to average annual bills, Pinergy’s 5.6% electricity hike will add €41 and PrePayPower’s electricity increase will add €34.
Bad timing for consumers
Today's price increases, which come at a very bad time for consumers, follow the news that Ireland has the third highest broadband prices and the fourth highest electricity prices in the EU.
A person who gets their gas from Flogas, electricity from Pinergy, PrePayPower of Energia, TV from Sky and landline from Vodafone could be hit with four price hikes in one day, adding hundreds of euro to their annual bills.
December 1st is also the date on which Leap card and other public transport fares are set to increase.
How to beat the hikes
Although price hikes are never good news, there may be a silver lining for Sky and Vodafone customers, who will be free to change providers without being hit with a contract breakage fee once they have been notified of an increase.
Energy customers who are on the receiving end of a price hike should consider switching to a cheaper, discounted deal - there's an average of €337 to be saved by doing so at the moment.
