Sim only contracts - huge price hike

[BCSurvivor]

A year ago I was happily under contract with Virgin on a phone plus data/minutes deal.
When Virgin merged with 02 my contract for data/minutes was swapped to 02 and they matched the monthly cost - just £10.

Last night I had an 02 text to say I was now out of contract for my data/minutes and my next bill would be the new monthly fee of £29 - for the same thing!!!
But if I took out another contract it would reduce to £21.

I'm not very tech savvy with contracts as in the past with Virgin I just automatically took out a new one, or let the minutes/data contract roll over month to month as there was no difference in price.

I don't really need to upgrade my phone but neither do I want to be tied in to a 24 month contract at £21 a month...or pay £29 a month for a rolling monthly contract.

If I did sign up for a data/minutes only contract and my phone broke at some point, can a data only contract be swapped to another phone?

Go with Smarty. Cheap and easy

Giffgaff runs on the O2 network and is cheap and easy.

You can just swap the SIM card into a new phone if compatible. But there are better deals out there I currently pay £4.50 with ID mobile and that comes with all the minutes, texts and data I need and I have a block on it if I exceed the limit up to £10 which I've never needed but is useful if on holiday and using more data. It's well worth shopping around.

At least your phone still worked on the Virgin>O2 switch, mine stopped making calls, receiving texts or using any data andit was a nightmare to fix,their customer service was shocking so I gave up and bought a new Nokia (their smart phones are affordable outright and pretty great) and my £4.50 SIM.

Switch to VOXI, it’s run on the Vodafone network.

Unlimited minutes, unlimited text and 30 gig of data for £10 per month

Your contract can be moved to another phone no problem, but as the posts above say there are plenty of month to month SIM only contracts. Smarty are great value and easy to set up.

I’ve been on a giffgaff sim only for years. It is a monthly rolling contract so you can stop it easily whenever you want and it’s very easy to change to different plans depending on how much data you use.

Also here to recommend Smarty. No contract. I get unlimited calls and texts plus 16GB data for £8 a month.

I recently left O2. I now have a monthly sim only with Lebara for 99p a month. No contract, I can leave at any time. That’s for unlimited mins and texts, 15GB data and 200 mins international calls.

Lebara use the Vodafone network. I actually have a better signal now than all the years I was with O2. It’s 99p for 6 months then increases to £6.95. But I intend to find another very cheap one then as I’m under no obligation to stay.

15GB of data is more than enough for me as I’m mostly on WiFi. But if you want more data they have bigger packages that are still way more cheaper than O2 and other networks.

Don’t commit to a 12 month contract. You’ll get much cheaper deals with no contract. O2 don’t deserve your loyalty.

I recommend Smarty. 30 day contract. Great coverage. Cheap as dirt.

A sim only contract means the SIM can be put into any phone so you are not tied to it. If you want a better deal, have a look at one of the comparison sites or money saving expert for the best current deals. Once you have decided what to do, you can move your current phone number to the new provider - they should give you details on how to do this when you get the new SIM.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

Apologies, I said 200 mins international calls, it’s 100 mins. Check Uswitch and Moneysavingexpert.com for current best deals.

Ask your provider for your PAC code ( with the intention of keeping your number and moving to another provider) then they could contact you to offer you a better deal. I've just done this with Vodafone , they called me the next day and I got 40% off my first quote.
You can get PAC code by texting PAC to 65075 with all providers

Thank you so much for all the replies, I'm shocked at how they can get away with such a huge price rise at the end of contract!
I think my £10 a month Virgin one was capped at £10 from their equivalent at the time, which was around £20 so even with that it's a huge hike, but at 3 x what I've been paying for years as a rolling out of contract monthly fee it's ridiculous.
Thank you @handmademitlove for the link, I think I've kept with what I know for decades just because I thought it would be a huge faff to switch companies.

Call them, say you are leaving and they will probably reduce the bill. If they don’t just leave get a pac code it is a bit of disruption for 2 days and you get the same number and sorted. There are deals for £10 or less out there for sure, with loads of minutes and data, like 5 gb which is plenty for out and about.

I'm with PLusnet who are closing their mobile network next month.

Lyca, who like Plusnet use EE's network give me unlimited minutes/texts and tons of data for under £5/month. No charges for roaming in the EU - a redline of mine.

PAC code supplied and just waiting to get my number, which I've had since 1996, over.

Look at a sim only deal from ID Mobile

I stuck with O2 for about 10 years as I thought it would be a faff to leave. I did move to monthly sim only/no contract though as soon as I was out of contract. There is zero benefit in agreeing to a contract once the phone is fully paid.

Honestly, it was so easy to change and it was all done quickly. The changeover was problem free and I wish I’d done it sooner. I wanted to keep my old number so Lebara provided me with a temporary one for a few days while the changeover was processed. I’m not very tech savvy but they provided me with simple instructions .

Another vote for Giffgaff. Never had a problem, the pricing is transparent. I currently pay £6 per month for 2GB data with unlimited calls and texts. When I need more data it's easy to top-up or switch plan for a month.

Another +1 for Smarty. They have good packages and good coverage in my part of the country. I believe they run off the Three network.

I switched from 3 recently it was really easy! Been with them since 2007.

As they were also trying to charge me ridiculous amounts.

Request pac code, sign up to cheaper deal. I found a good one with 02 as they cover our area well.

Which network do Smarty use? Where I live O2 are utterly shit and Vodafone is very patchy.

Vodafone do a cheap one. Think it’s around £10.00 for calls and texts. A bit of data.

Thank you so much for all the replies!
Do I need to cancel my 02 contract before getting a new sim?

Ask O2 for a PAC number. Then choose your new provider and they’ll ask for the PAC. This will start the process of cancelling.

@countrygirl99

Smarty runs on the Three network (it’s a subsidiary of Three).