Home / Report – 76% of mobile users are on the wrong tariff
Print Shortlink

Report – 76% of mobile users are on the wrong tariff

By Leigh Geary on April 11, 2011 in , , ,

Think you’re on the right contract ? Most people do, but according to research from Billmonitor three-quarters of customers are chucking £200 per year down the drain.

Nearly all the networks were examined with 28,000 bills getting diagnosed as part of the study. Most were wasting money on incorrect contracts and didn’t change their contract when usage changed. 52% of those on the wrong contract were choosing larger contracts with more “free” minutes and texts but never got close to using them. A further 29% of those on the wrong contract were on a tariff which was too small for them.

The rise of data usage was also revealed, with 5% of customers in the study hitting more than 500MB per month. The average usage was 133MB.

This report and the Billmonitor system has been approved by Ofcom. You can head to their site and compare your bill to get the right contract for your usage.

Links – Billmonitor.com – Report

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Giles-Hepworth/100000766134731 Giles Hepworth

    As my contract is up this month, I had a look at Billmonitor a few days back. It’s a bit scary that you have to give it your online phone account password, but it did come back saying I was on the wrong tariff. What it doesn’t tell you is if you’d be better off on PAYG and it only covers the larger networks.

    I decided to leave Orange (after 14 years) and go for PAYG with Giffgaff. Hopefully, my monthly bill should work out £20 cheaper and over 24 months (which seems the norm for a contract these days) means a saving of £480… with which i’ll buy a shiny new sim free phone when my hero breaks.

  • Anonymous

    Interesting. I’m certainly not on the right contract for my needs; I don’t have enough data in my allowance, but I have too many calls and texts. Damn business contract that I can’t get out of or change any time soon!

  • Guest

    I am (knowingly) on a higher talk plan than I need, because:
    1) At upgrade I said I wanted more data, but was told that I wasn’t able to pay to add extra data. The only option is to go for higher contract which does have higher data allowance.
    2) A large chunk of my calling doesn’t come out of my allowance thanks to the build up of my Orange Magic Numbers.
    3) I see the higher monthly charge as a way of spreading the handset cost. I cannot afford the one off prices of the high end smartphones when taken in conjunction with a lower tariff.

    Still, I can rest in the peace of mind that I still pay considerably less than iPhone owners, both initial outlay & monthly. :)

  • Tryster

    As has already been pointed out, this ‘research’ fails to take into account the data aspects of the contracts, and more importantly the subsidised handset cost. The reality is that a lot of people knowingly take out contracts somewhat in excess of their needs because it is more economically viable.
    In truth, there are a small number of cases where once reduction of tariff after x months, special offers and cashback are taken into account, it can actually work out at equivocal cost (or in rare cases cheaper) to purchase ‘on contract’ than ‘sim free’.

    As an aside, who actually funds these pointlessly obvious research exercises anyway?!

Switch to our mobile site