Sky price rise: can you leave your contract penalty-free?

*Updated September 2026.*

The Sky price rise lands every April, and your right to leave penalty-free depends on what you have. In 2026, Sky Broadband, Sky Talk and Sky Q customers had 30 days from Sky's notification to cancel without early termination charges, while Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers still in contract did not. The 2027 rise hasn't been announced yet, so the useful thing to do now is check your own contract.

This guide explains the Ofcom rules, how Sky applies them, and what to do when the next notice arrives.

How Sky's annual price rise works

Sky reviews its prices once a year, with the new prices starting in April. The pattern of the last two years:

• 2025: announced on 4 February 2025, an average rise of 6.2% across TV and broadband, from April.
• 2026: Sky started telling customers in February, with new prices from 1 April 2026. For most customers broadband went up by £3 a month, TV packages by £1 to £3 a month depending on the package, and home phone by £1 a month. Add-ons such as HD and UHD, Kids, Multiscreen and Whole Home were left unchanged, as was the broadband social tariff.

2026 was the first year Sky used a flat rise in pounds and pence rather than a percentage. That matters for what comes next, but it doesn't change the basic point: Sky's contracts say "prices may change during your minimum term" without saying by how much. That wording is what gives many customers the right to leave.

The Ofcom rules, in plain English

Ofcom's rules on price rises have two parts, and people often mix them up.

Part one: the January 2025 ban

Since 17 January 2025, phone, broadband and pay TV providers can't put people on new contracts with price rises linked to inflation or set as a percentage. If a provider wants a rise written into your contract, Ofcom says it must be:

• set out in pounds and pence;
• shown prominently and transparently before you sign up; and
• clear about when the change takes place.

Contracts signed before 17 January 2025 may still include inflation-linked or percentage rises.

If the rise was set out in your contract like that, you agreed to it when you signed. It isn't grounds to leave for free.

Part two: rises that weren't in your contract

This is the part that matters for most Sky customers. Ofcom's consumer guidance, last updated in June 2026, says that if your contract doesn't set out how much the price can rise, or the provider raises it by more than the contract allows, the provider must:

1. tell you at least 30 days before the increase takes effect; and
2. from that point, give you 30 days to exit your contract without paying exit fees.

Sky's own terms go further in one respect. Customers quoting their Sky Q notice in February 2026 pointed to terms saying you can end your contract during the minimum term without charges if Sky makes a change to the terms "which is not exclusively to your benefit". Price rises are the usual trigger, but other changes can count too.

Who could leave Sky penalty-free in 2026

Because Sky doesn't write a fixed yearly rise into its contracts, the 2026 rise triggered exit rights for many customers. As reported by MoneySavingExpert and confirmed by customers quoting their emails:

• Sky Broadband and Sky Talk: could leave penalty-free within 30 days of the notification, in or out of contract.
• Sky Q (satellite TV): could also leave within 30 days. The Sky Q email said: "If you're within your minimum contract period, call us within 30 days of getting this email to avoid early termination charges."
• Sky Glass and Sky Stream: customers still in their minimum term could not leave penalty-free. MSE's explanation is that these internet-delivered TV services aren't covered by the same rules as broadband and satellite TV.
• Glass or Stream taken with Sky Broadband as one package at sign-up: could cancel the whole package penalty-free. If the services were taken separately at different times, you may only be able to cancel the broadband.
• Anyone already out of contract: can leave at any time with normal notice (31 days for TV, 14 days for broadband) and no early termination charges.

Some Sky Q customers were told by first-line advisers that they had no right to cancel, and got there by quoting the email and Sky's terms. If you're in that position, read the relevant line of your notification out word for word.

New customers who joined around the rise

People who signed up after Sky announced the rise were generally told about it at the point of sale. For those customers the rise wasn't a surprise, so the 30-day exit right is unlikely to apply to it. Customers who joined close to April have also reported the rise being applied a few months later rather than straight away.

Quick reference table

The 2027 Sky price rise: what we know

At the time of writing (September 2026), Sky hasn't announced its April 2027 prices. Based on the last two years, expect:

• an announcement around January or February 2027, with emails, letters and messages in My Sky;
• new prices from April 2027;
• your personal notice telling you exactly what changes and whether you can leave.

We won't guess at amounts. Any figure you see before Sky's announcement is speculation. We'll update this page once Sky confirms.

How to check your own contract

Do this now, while there is no deadline running:

1. Sign in to My Sky and open Your products. Note each product and its minimum term end date.
2. Open My Messages. Your contract and past notices live there. Look for the wording on price changes. Sky's current sales small print says "prices may change during your minimum term".
3. Check what happens at the end of your term. Sky's current broadband terms, for example, say that after a 24-month minimum term your monthly price becomes the price you were paying just before the term ended, plus £5.
4. Note which products are Glass or Stream and which are Sky Q or broadband, as the 2026 rules treated them differently.
5. Put a reminder in your calendar for February. When the notice arrives, the 30-day clock starts from that date.

How to haggle when the notice arrives

A price rise notice is the best moment to negotiate, because you may be able to leave. A MoneySavingExpert poll found 68% of Sky broadband and TV customers who haggled were successful.

• Know your exit position first. If your product has a 30-day exit right, say so politely. If it doesn't, being out of contract does the same job.
• Know what you would do instead. A named alternative and its price makes the conversation real.
• Ask what the offer does to your contract. A discount often comes with a new minimum term. That can be fine, but know the new end date.
• Get it in writing before you accept, and keep the email.
• Watch the clock. If you let the 30 days pass, Sky treats that as acceptance of the new price.

Our step-by-step guide on how to cancel Sky TV covers notice periods, early termination charges and returning equipment if you decide to go.

When switching makes sense

Staying put is often right. If you watch Sky every day, are happy with the service and can get the rise knocked back, the hassle of moving may not be worth it.

Switching makes more sense when:

• you are out of contract, or inside a 30-day exit window;
• you pay for a sports or film package you only use for part of the year;
• your bill has crept up over several years of April rises; or
• you mainly watch a handful of channels and on-demand apps.

If you want to compare, our guide to Sky TV alternatives in the UK lays out the main options side by side. BingeBear is one of them, with one-off prices instead of a monthly bill that rises each April (see UK pricing). You can try it on your own telly with the free 24-hour trial: no card, no contract, and setup help from a real person on WhatsApp.

What to do next

Check your end dates today, save your contract from My Messages, and set a February reminder. When Sky's 2027 notice arrives, read it the same day, work out whether your product has a 30-day exit right, and make your decision inside that window.