After eye-watering price hikes came into effect earlier this month, new Which? research has found that some Big Four mobile customers could save more than £200 a year by switching when their contract ends.
Using data from its most recent mobile survey, they calculated how much out-of-contract customers of the Big Four providers – EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone – could save by switching to Which?’s top pick of low, medium and high data deals.
Which?’s survey found that out-of-contract Big Four customers pay an average of £22.37 a month – significantly higher than the average £19.01 monthly bill across all providers – and in some cases could save more than £200 a year by switching away to cheaper deals.
When Which? checked this week, the consumer champion found a range of deals with highly-rated providers offering around low, medium and high data packages for under £14 a month – examples included Smarty’s 4GB for £5 deal and iD Mobile’s 200GB for £14 offer.
The average out-of-contract EE customer in the consumer champion’s survey pays £23.80 per month and could stand to make the biggest savings. By switching to Which?’s top low data pick – Smarty’s 4GB offer – they could potentially save £225.60 a year (£18.80 a month).
This is closely followed by out-of-contract Vodafone customers who pay an average of £22.20 per month according to Which?’s survey and could save £206.40 (£17.20 a month) by switching to Smarty’s 4GB offer.
Three and O2 customers would also stand to make significant savings. According to the consumer champion’s survey, out-of-contract Three and O2 customers pay an average of £21.50 a month and £21.30 a month respectively and could save £198 (£16.50 a month) and £195.60 (£16.30 a month) by switching to Smarty’s deal.
Big Four customers could also make significant savings by switching to Which?’s medium and high data picks – such as iD Mobile’s 20GB offer for £7 and iD Mobile’s 200GB offer for £14.
EE customers would again make the biggest savings – £201.60 a year (£16.80 a month) for switching to Which?’s medium data pick and £117.60 annually (£9.80 a month) for high data.
O2 customers would make the lowest savings – £171.60 a year (£14.30 a month) for medium data and £87.60 annually (£7.30 a month) for high data.
In the consumer champion’s recent mobile survey, over half (52%) said they only use up to 5GB a month – so many customers could make significant savings by switching to a cheap, low-data deal. With many providers pushing ahead with price hikes of up to 17 per cent, out-of-contract customers should switch quickly to cut costs.
However, not all customers can switch away so easily. Millions are trapped in a Catch-22 where they either have to accept price hikes of up to 17 per cent or pay exorbitant exit fees to leave the contract early. Which? has called on providers to allow all customers to leave without penalty if prices are hiked mid-contract but many are ploughing ahead with their existing plans regardless.
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said:
“Our findings show that some out-of-contract Big Four customers could save over £200 a year just by switching mobile providers. Anyone in that position should be thinking about making a switch or at least haggling for a much better deal from their current provider.
“However, millions will be trapped in costly contracts by exorbitant exit fees – and feeling the pain of eye-watering price increases of up to 17 per cent.
“Which? believes it’s absolutely critical that Ofcom’s review of inflation linked mid-contract hikes results in changes that ensure customers are never trapped in this situation again.”
