UK: Five million mobile subscribers at risk of overpaying, but there's a hack to save money

The UK-based comparison website Uswitch has warned that around five million mobile subscribers are at risk of overpaying their bills while remaining out of contract. They risk paying, on average, an extra £351 by remaining out of contract, compared to moving to a SIM-only plan.

“It’s important to remember that if your bundled phone contract includes a handset, you’re essentially ‘paying it off’ with your monthly phone bills,” said Ernest Doku, Uswitch mobiles expert, “Once your initial contract ends, you’ve contractually finished paying off the phone. However, this won’t be reflected in your monthly payments, and you’ll continue to pay the same amount as before, if not more. If you already own a phone, switching to a SIM-only contract can save you a significant amount of money in the long run: they typically offer lower monthly rates since you’re not paying for a new phone.”

If you are not sure if you're out of contract yet, Uswitch advises texting ‘INFO’ to 85075 to find out. If you find that you are out of contract, you can hop onto mobile comparison websites, not necessarily Uswitch, to find the best deal that fits your needs. Also, it's worth asking friends and family which provider they are with, as you could both get perks by using a referral link.

Furthermore, Ofcom has made changes over the last several years aimed at making it really easy to switch to another provider and take your phone number with you. It's really as simple as following these three steps:

1. Text 'PAC' to 65075 for free, and you'll get a message back with your PAC code within two hours.
2. Find a deal you want to switch to and give your new network your PAC code.
3. The network will now transfer your number over to your new SIM, job done!

With the United Kingdom potentially on the verge of a recession and unemployment on the rise since last August, saving money where you can is a very prudent action. There are plenty of comparison websites available; just search for a 'mobile comparison website' in your preferred search engine and look for a website that you can trust.