Has your price risen faster than prices in general?

Your mobile plan cost a little under £40 a month last year. Now the payment is higher. The insurance letter says «updated premium» and you can't remember what it was last time. Neither feels like a disaster, but regular costs are often the biggest item you never look at. Is the increase reasonable, or are you paying more than you should?

A percentage on its own tells you nothing

«The price is up 15%» sounds like a lot, but almost everything has got dearer. What matters is whether your price has risen faster than prices on average, measured over the same months. If prices rose 3% and yours rose 3%, nothing has really got dearer. If yours rose 15%, 12 percentage points are not explained by price growth.

Example: broadband cost £40 a month a year ago and costs £46 now, which is 15% more. If prices rose 3% over the same period, the same plan would cost about £41.20 today. You are then paying £4.80 too much a month, £58 a year, that price growth does not explain.

How to check it yourself, in ten minutes

Find the price from about a year ago: an old bill, an email from the provider or your bank statement.
Work out the change: new price divided by old price, minus 1. In the example: £46 divided by £40 is 15% more.
Look up inflation for the same months in the consumer price index from your national statistics office (the ONS in the UK, the CSO in Ireland), twelve-month change.
Compare: if your price is several percentage points above price growth, it is worth a closer look.

Why regular prices go up

An indexation clause: the contract says the price follows price growth, or a fixed percentage, every year.
An introductory price that ends: a promotional price for six or twelve months, then the standard price.
Changes to the bundle: the provider adds something you did not ask for, or removes a discount.
Insurance: the premium is set again at renewal and follows everything from repair costs to your age and claims history.

What you can do

Read the terms: if there is an indexation clause or a fixed yearly rise, the increase is agreed. If there is nothing, it is a one-sided change.
Call and ask what they can offer to keep you. Mention the price a year ago and what price growth explains.
Compare like for like, the same cover or the same speed elsewhere, not just the lowest price.
Set a reminder for the next renewal or the end of the minimum term.

UK and Ireland: what applies to you

Price growth is the consumer price index (CPI): from the Office for National Statistics in the UK and the Central Statistics Office in Ireland, each month, with the change over twelve months.

In the UK, Ofcom's rules, in force from early 2025 for new contracts, say a price rise written into a mobile, broadband or TV contract must be stated in pounds and pence, which ends percentage terms linked to inflation. Check Ofcom for what applies to your contract. In Ireland, as in the rest of the EU, a telecoms provider that changes your contract terms must give at least a month's notice and tell you that you can leave without cost if you do not accept; ComReg supervises. A rise that follows an indexation clause you agreed to may not give you the same right.

For home and motor insurance in the UK, the FCA's rules since 2022 stop insurers charging a renewing customer more than an equivalent new customer. Compare on the same cover and excess, not just the price.

What a check like this does not tell you

A price that follows price growth is not the same as a good price. You may have been overpaying all along. Price growth is also an average: electricity and fuel swing far more than broadband, so variable costs cannot be compared this way. The check only shows whether the price has run away from the rest. Whether something cheaper exists, you have to find out elsewhere.

How Ziva does it for you

Ziva finds your recurring payments in your bank data, compares each with the price from about a year ago and with price growth over the same months, and shows the ones that have risen more than prices in general. It is a calculation, not an AI guessing, and Ziva does not say whether a price is good or expensive against the market, only whether it has run away from the rest. The feature is called Savings Radar and sits under Tools. The card on the overview appears only when something has really risen more than prices. Ziva's price-growth figure covers the EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland; for the UK it is not available yet, so there Ziva shows the price change without a verdict.

In short

Compare the price change with price growth over the same months, not with zero.
A price up 15% against 3% price growth is worth a phone call. A price up 3% against 3% is not.
Read the terms: an agreed indexation clause is not a one-sided price rise.
Compare alternatives like for like, not just the lowest price.
Variable costs such as electricity and fuel cannot be checked this way.

The price is reasonable if it has kept pace with the rest, and worth a call if it has not.

See how Ziva shows price changes — try the demo

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What is price growth, and where do I find the figure?

Price growth (inflation) shows how much the prices of an average basket of goods have risen. The ONS and the CSO publish the consumer price index every month, with the change from the same month a year earlier. Use the figure for the months in which your price changed, not just the latest month.

Can the provider raise the price whenever it wants?

Only as far as the contract or the law allows. An indexation clause or an agreed yearly rise is an agreed change. A rise without such a basis has to be notified, and for mobile and broadband you can usually leave without cost. Read the terms or ask the provider what the rise is based on.

Is it fine if the price rises as much as price growth?

It means the price has kept pace, not that it is low. If you were already paying more than necessary, you still are. Compare with alternatives with the same cover before you decide.

Why can't I check my electricity deal this way?

The electricity price follows the market from month to month and swings far more than price growth. Ziva marks such costs «amount varies» and does not compare them.

How do I compare my insurance?

Take the cover, excess and sum insured from the renewal letter and compare with quotes that include the same. A lower price with a higher excess or narrower cover is not the same product.