We all need to switch broadband to get the best value deal
I write a lot about those dreaded essential monthly bills and how to save as much money as possible on them. From switching energy to car insurance to mobile phones to broadband. Aha broadband, I hate to admit it, but we haven’t switched our broadband for three years. Why is this? I switch energy, car insurance, house insurance every year without fail.
Our current broadband deal is with Sky and we have just had a letter through telling us of an in-contract price rise. Our current bill of £77, yes £77, are set to rise even more. What does £77 pay for? Well that includes fibre broadband, landline (which of course we never use) and sky TV. We are talking a potential £960 bill per year just for TV, broadband and landline. That makes me feel a bit uneasy. We need to switch.
Why do we not like Switching Our Broadband deals?
Complexity
It feels like there is a lot of complexity with Landline, Broadband and TV all locked up together but different timed contracts for each. I have had contracts in the past that were 12 months for my landline but then 18 months for my broadband. These timings mean you might struggle to transfer a service elsewhere. Are you better off to combine all your Broadband, Landline and TV services with the one provider or should you split it between different providers? It never feels clear which the best option is.
Loss of Broadband
When the broadband goes down in the house, particularly when packed full of three children with tablets and me running my online business, it is a nightmare. Losing broadband is a real pain. You might fear that you lose your broadband service for a few days whilst the transfer is happening. I had a really bad experience with BT a few years ago, I was without broadband for a whole week.
TalkTalk Research
TalkTalk recently carried out some research and found that shampoo, teabags and haircuts are just 3 of the things Brits are paying out more for to avoid change. Yes, I have used the same hairdresser for eight years! While switching TV and broadband provider is amongst the top five things we hate to change.
A quarter of Brits say that unwillingness to change and look elsewhere for better value options has cost them money. With the average amount being £71 in the past year alone, the national bill would amount to over £1billion of unnecessary costs.
The fear of the Switch
People worry that it’s going to take time to switch, they are going to have to talk to a customer advisor, but let’s face it, these are excuses. What if I told you that the switch might save you £10 per month or £120 per year? That brief conversation with the new company has saved you £120 per year. When could you ever earn that much money for a 10-minute job?
You could also set up a clever personal finance tool called Bean who will look at all your monthly direct debits. It will advise when it’s a good time to switch and they will help you switch and cancel any old contracts for you!
Investigating how we can save money – Switch to TalkTalk
Why switch to TalkTalk? Well for a start their prices are great. They are helping people get online faster for less. There is a range of 18 month Fixed Low Price Plans which are on offer for only £18.95 a month for broadband and £22.50 a month for fibre. They’re a trustworthy brand being clear with pricing and are clear that it won’t change over the term of the contract.
An initial bit of investigation into my Sky bill tells me that I am paying £29 per month for my landline and broadband with sky and I am out of contract! I can switch this over to TalkTalk for £22.50 per month, saving us an immediate £6.50 per month and a nice £78 per year. Along with TalkTalk’s guarantee of no annual price rises. TalkTalk can switch customers from BT, Virgin and Sky and save you up to £230. Click here to take a look at the deals and see what you can save.
My other issue is the £48.10 per month we spend on TV, £20 for a variety package, £18 for 1 Sky Sports channel and £10 for sky movies. We are in contract here until November 2018 so I cannot cancel the contract, but I can reduce it down to the minimum £20 per month package. I have done this and saved £28.10 per month in the process.
Can you switch and save? If you are out of contract with your current provider you will most likely have been placed onto an expensive standard contract, but you are free to switch and save. Take a look at TalkTalk and compare the prices, maybe you can save like I me! We are going to put our money saved from this switch into our holiday fund! What will you spend your savings on?
This is a collaborative post with TalkTalk.
3 Responses
You’re so right here. My hubby needs the internet for work so was sceptical about changing. It even led to a few heated discussions. Eventually I convinced him to change over. We went from paying £60 per month to £26 per month for the same speed internet – thats £400 per year we can spend on other stuff. We were going to cancel our £55 sky TV package and go Netflix only, but when we called to cancel, they give us 50% off for a year, so thats another £27.50 per month saving, or £330 per year. We are £730 a year better off for an hours work. Cant believe I didn’t do it sooner.
Thats AMAZING!! what a saving! Everyone needs to do it!!