Brits unknowingly wasting £700 million on expired phone contracts

A new study has revealed striking gaps between the amount British new phone owners should be paying and what they actually pay. The research from Barclays Partner Finance – which surveyed 2000 phone owners – suggests that phone buyers waste almost £700 million by letting their mobile contract run on after the minimum term ends. This is because almost half of Brits (45 per cent) have let their contract run on without trading up or renegotiating their monthly fee, leading to an additional average cost of £121 per person.

While 7 out of 10 Brits (72%) are missing out on a potential saving of £270 when buying a new phone 11 as they purchase bundled contracts, four in ten Brits (44 per cent) opt for this as they think it is actually cheaper than buying a handset upfront, and then taking out a separate SIM-only deal. A further four in ten Brits (39 per cent) believe they could not have afforded their handset without a bundled contract, with 51 per cent of Brits saying they chose a bundled contract over other options to ‘spread out’ the cost of their handset. This highlights the striking knowledge gap there is when it comes to purchasing phones as you are able to purchase a handset separately from the SIM without paying for the handset fully up front.

Aston spoke to Andy Webb, money saving expert to discuss the research and Andy was on hand to offer advice about how to handle phone contracts.