The Chronicle

Switch to small firms and save big

There is one simple way to beat price hikes, as NADA FARHOUD discovers

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THE 12% price hike from British Gas is the latest clobbering a big player has dealt hard-up consumers. Having reported the shock move last week, maybe it’s time to think seriously small – and not just in terms of energy.

Ditching bigger brands on everything from mobile deals to home sales can mean huge savings.

Here are some of the lesser-known options…

ENERGY

A NEW gas and electricit­y firm has launched and hopes to take on our biggest energy suppliers, claiming to undercut their prices by 20%.

Pure Planet – a 100% renewable energy supplier – works on a membership model, charging customers a £10-per-fuel monthly fee to access wholesale prices with no mark-up.

For a typical three-bed home in the North West, Pure Planet claims to charge, on average, 20% less than the Big Six – British Gas, SSE, Npower, Scottish Power, E.ON and EDF Energy.

For example, the average bill with Scottish power is £1,165 but this drops to £891 with Pure Power, a saving of £275.

Customers type and make queries via mobiles, rather than a call centre.

HOUSE SELLING

HUGE commission fees from estate agents could be a thing of the past thanks to a host of new online services.

99Home is the latest virtual estate agency to launch in Britain and it believes it is the cheapest. The £99 fee gets your home listed on the agency’s website, as well as Zoopla, PrimeLocat­ion and Rightmove – where 95% of buyers first look for a new home.

The site joins a string of other firms such as HouseSimpl­e, eMoov and Sarah Beeny’s Tepilo in offering internet marketing of homes. Most of them charge £500 to £1,000.

Purplebric­ks, the largest “newstyle” agency, employs some 650 property experts around the country to offer help to online sellers.

YOPA also has a network of local agents who will value and market your home and negotiate to get you the best price for a flat fee of £839.

The average UK home now costs about £221,000, according to the Halifax building society. Sold through an online agent, the maximum fee is £1,000 compared to a traditiona­l estate agent charging 1% or 1.25% commission (some more) – making it from £2,210, plus VAT.

For larger homes, the online agency fee stays the same. But beware, many online agent fees are usually up-front and non-returnable if there is not a sale.

MOBILE PHONE

THE mobile network market is dominated by four major players – EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. And with different networks offering similar deals for data and minutes at wildly different rates it can be confusing and costly.

By switching to a sim-only deal with Giffgaff, customers can save huge amounts on monthly outgoings and do away with handset fees which can top up bills.

“Community-run” Giffgaff doesn’t have a call centre. Instead questions are answered online by other customers. They say this keeps costs down and allows them to offer “great value plans”.

The key selling point is they don’t tie you in on long deals.

Giffgaff launched in 2009 as a virtual operation, which means it piggybacks off another network – its parent company O2.

Giffgaff £20 goodybag – the firm’s term for pay-as-you-go plans – gives unlimited minutes, texts and data and is the most expensive option. A similar plan on rival networks costs £36 a month.

BROADBAND

SICK of slow downloads, bad customer service and poor-value contracts from BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Sky?

After the Advertisin­g Standards Authority criticised our biggest internet service providers over misleading ads, maybe it’s time to consider a broadband firm you have never heard of.

In a recent Which? survey, Zen Internet, a small company based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, topped the table with a “customer score” of 86%, followed by Utility Warehouse at 81%.

Hyperoptic charges £16 a month and you don’t need a BT line, plus you can sign up for a “no contract” deal with no minimum term, so you can switch when you like.

Pop Telecom’s unlimited basic broadband deal is £17.99 a month, including line rental, while Direct Save Telecom offers an annual contract you can pay up front for £174, which is £14.50 a month, including line rental.

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