If you are a long term lover of ‘Netflix and chill’, what you do when the curtains are closed might be getting more expensive.

In the UK, prices for Netflix are set to rise for the most loyal users.

Those who set up accounts when the service first came to the UK will soon have to pay as much as new users, following a similar move in the US.

Those who set up Netflix accounts when the service first came to the UK will soon have to pay as much as new users, following a similar move in the US. The £5.99 legacy pricing for the Standard option will be rising to the current £7.49 that a new member would pay, a £1.50 increase

At the moment Netflix offers three options in the UK, Basic, Standard, proxy switchyomega firefox and Premium. 

The first, at £5.99 per month, allows users to log in on only one screen at a time, and only offers standard definition picture quality.

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Standard, at £7.49 per month, gets HD content up to 1080p, and access on two screens at once.

For £8.99 the Premium bundle increases to 4K quality and allows up to four screens to be watched at the same time.

All packages offer access to the Netflix service on TV, computer, tablet or smartphone, and unlimited selection from its currently streaming catalogue of movies and television shows.

UK Netflix users who used to pay legacy prices will soon have to start paying more for TV shows such as House of Cards with Kevin Spacey (pictured).  Beginning in May, the price update will rolling out elsewhere based on member billing periods

WHO WILL START PAYING MORE? 

Anyone who signed up to Netflix when it launched in the UK would have benefited from what is now the Standard package for £5.99 per month, a price most will still be paying as a ‘thank you’ to the original customers.

This will soon be ending, as Netflix said the £5.99 legacy pricing will be rising to the current £7.49 that a new member would pay, a £1.50 increase.

At the moment Netflix offers three options in the UK, Basic, Standard, and Premium. The first, at £5.99 per month, allows users to log in on only one screen at a time, and only offers standard definition picture quality.

Standard, at £7.49 per month, gets HD content up to 1080p, and access on two screens at once. 

The Premium bundle bumps up to 4K quality and allows up to four screens to be logged in at the same time.

Anyone who signed up to Netflix when it launched in the UK would have benefited from what is now the Standard package for £5.99 per month, a price most will still be paying as a ‘thank you’ to the original customers.

This will soon be ending though, as Netflix support told Wired that the £5.99 legacy pricing will be rising to the current £7.49 that a new member would pay, a £1.50 increase.

‘Later this month, members in the UK will begin to be ungrandfathered,’ a Netflix spokesperson said.

‘Beginning May, the price update is rolling out elsewhere based on member billing periods. 

‘Impacted members will be clearly notified by email and within the service, so that they have time to decide which plan/price point works best for them.’

Netflix customers in Britain only get half the titles available in America, it was revealed last month. 

Among the US shows Britons can’t watch on Netflix are medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, political series The West Wing and comedy The Office US – plus UK detective drama Ripper Street.

UK detective drama, Ripper Street, with Adam Rothenberg as Homer Jackson, Matthew Macfadyen as Edmund Reid and Jerome Flynn as Bennet Drake, is one of the shows British viewers of Netflix can’t watch

Also not available is John Krasinksi as Jim Halpert, BJ Novak as Ryan Howard, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, Steve Carrell as Michael Scott and Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute in the US version of The Office

HOW DO UK NETFLIX USERS TRY TO WATCH UNAVAILABLE CONTENT? 

To overcome geographical restrictions on certain Netflix content, some people use a VPN or ‘virtual private network service’.

This links a user’s computer to a server in a country of their choice, so it appears to Netflix as if they are based there, allowing them to bypass geo-blocking and access programmes and films only viewable in certain countries.

The Unofficial Netflix Online Global Search, or Unogs, website lets users search Netflix’s huge global database for films and TV shows, even if they are not shown in their home country.

It helps them search by genre, programme type, whether it has subtitles and even its Internet Movie Database (IMDb) rating.

Other filters include the programme’s Netflix rating, what year it was released and audio options. The results can then be sorted.

However, Netflix recently announced plans to crack down on people using proxies to watch content not available in their home country. 

Netflix subscribers often try to resort to proxies – servers that facilitate access to internet content not available locally – to access shows that can only be viewed in other countries.

But the California-based compay, whose service is now live in almost 250 territories, is clamping down on these proxies, having announced two months ago that it wants to stamp out the practice.

A Netflix spokesman said it is ‘quickly’ trying to close the loophole, adding: ‘Until then we have to deal with the reality of territorial licensing. That’s a legacy of the traditional world of TV and film.’  

Speaking to MailOnline, a spokesman said the UK has access to series that are not available on Netflix the US including Homeland, Suits and season two of Better Call Saul.

She added that films including Ride Along, Olympus has Fallen, The Wolf of Wall Street and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are also available in the UK – and not the US.

In January, the number of territories in which Netflix is available rose to 243, when India, Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among 130 joining the service which now covers most of the world except China.

American series: Netflix subscribers often try to resort to proxies – servers that facilitate access to internet content not available locally – to access shows such as hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy (pictured)

Netflix said at the time that all of its shows would not be available immediately to subscribers in certain countries, but that it was working towards resolving this.

A spokesman said: ‘Ultimately, the aim is to provide a service around the world that is more similar than not. 

‘Using VPNs or proxies to virtually cross borders violates Netflix’s terms of use because of licensing restrictions on TV shows and movies.’

Brian Blau, research director at Connecticut-based technology advisory firm Gartner, said: ‘The strategy is simple – they have a responsibility to content owners to only show that content in the geographies for which they have a licence. Enforcing those restrictions is a Netflix responsibility.’