April price rises: Council Tax, car tax, prescriptions, TV licence and more

Find out what will cost you more from tomorrow and how to beat the hikes.

There are loads of price hikes taking place in April.

The timing couldn't really be worse given the Coronavirus is wreaking havoc with almost everyone's finances. Thankfully, there are step you can take to minimise most of these hikes. 

So here’s a look at which bills are rising and how you might be able to dodge them.

TV licence

The cost of a colour TV licence is going up by £3 from 1 April to £157.50. The cost of a black and white licence is also going up, by £1 to £53.

You only need a TV licence if you watch or record live television and if you watch BBC iPlayer.

So, you can avoid shelling out for a TV licence if you only ever watch other ‘on demand’ or ‘catch up’ services like Netflix and ITV Player.

Planned changes to licences for the over 75s ‒ where the licence is only free to those receiving pension credit ‒ have been delayed until 1 August. As a result, for now anyone over 75 can get a free TV licence to cover their main home.

Check out our guide to the legal ways to avoid paying the licence fee.

Council Tax

Council Tax bills across the nation will be increasing from 1 April.

In England, the average Band D bill will be £1,817, an increase of £68 ‒ the equivalent of 3.9% ‒ on last 2019-20.

In Wales, the average increase comes to £62 (4.6%), while in Scotland the average increase is 4.1%.

Take a look at: How to cut your Council Tax bill for tips on how you might be able to lower your costs this year.

Note, certain councils have announced they will be cover up to 100% of vulnerable households' Council Tax during lockdown. If you're unable to pay because your circumstances have changed, contact your local council to see what support, if any, it will offer.

NHS prescription charges

From 1 April the cost of NHS prescriptions in England will rise by 15p, pushing the price of a single prescription to £9.15.

The change only applies to prescriptions in England. Those living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland get free prescriptions.

If your health means you need multiple prescriptions you could save money with a Prescription Payment Certificate (PPC).

This acts as a season pass and allows you to get unlimited prescriptions for three months or a year for a one-off cost. The cost of a PPC is also rising in April ‒ the three-month PPC is going up by 55p to £29.65, while 12-month PPCs will jump by £1.90 to £105.90.

For more ways to cut the cost of prescriptions see our guide: How to get cheap and free prescriptions and medicines in the UK.

Car tax

From April the way that a car’s emission levels are tested is changing. Essentially, under the current tests it’s too easy for a car to appear more efficient than it really is when being used by most drivers.

And this change in testing ‒ which will see the ‘official’ emission levels of cars go up ‒ will have a knock-on effect on car tax, since the first year’s tax is based on a vehicle’s emission levels.

With car tax there is a band system ‒ cars which emit no CO2 do not have to pay it, rising to £10 for those which emit up to 50g/km, and on all the way up to £2,135 for cars that emit more than 255 g/km.

The car tax you will pay for your new car will only change if the car moves up a band based on these new tests, while the size of this increase will vary based on its emission levels.

Need a new car? Sort your finance first with CarFinance247

Sky TV

If you are relying on Sky for a bit of entertainment at the moment, then the bad news is that it’s about to become more expensive for some users.

People on the Sky TV Entertainment package will have to pay an extra £2, taking the cost to £24 a month, while those on the Sky TV Multi-screen deal will pay an extra £1, taking the cost to £14 a month.

Finally, those with Sky HD TV will pay £6 a month, an increase of £1.

But you don't have to take those hikes lying down: read our guide to slashing your Sky bill.

Broadband

Sky is raising the price on its broadband in April.

With Sky, customers with the Essential package will have to pay an extra £2 a month, taking the annual bill to £288.

BT is increasing prices by 1.3%, in line with the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.

Search for a cheap new package with BroadbandGenie

Mobile phones

Virgin Mobile is scrapping a host of its old tariffs, moving around 140,000 affected customers onto new deals that are likely more expensive in April.

It said that while the “vast majority” of users hit by the move will pay no more than an extra £7 per month, in some cases the bill increase will be more substantial.

Other mobile phone providers have announced bill increases linked to inflation.

For example, O2 has confirmed that customers will see bills rise 2.7% (January’s figure for the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation) in April, which means an average increase of 62p per month.

Three customers face the same percentage increase, while EE customers will have to pay an additional 2.2%.

As mobile phone providers are allowed one inflation-linked price rise per year, these bill rises don’t mean you can walk away from your contract without having to cough up exit fees, however.

Find a cheap new mobile phone contract with Carphone Warehouse

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