Switching providers could save you €1,150

... but seven out of ten Irish people still don’t do it!

TWO-THIRDS of Irish consumers say they plan to switch at least one of their energy, TV, broadband or phone services in the next 12 months, a survey has revealed.

Those who do switch could save €1,150 a year on energy, broadband and mobile bills, the research by switcher.ie shows.

Despite the boost switching can bring, around a quarter have not changed their electricity, digital TV service or bin collector in the past ten years.

And around a third have not switched their home phone, 34%, mobile phone, 33%, and health insurance, 31%, for a decade, the survey found. But finance is even worse, with 64% of people staying with the same bank for more than ten years.

Switcher.ie boss Eoin Clarke said: ‘Believe it or not many consumers are still banking with the same bank that they opened their first account with as a teenager, or are still with the same energy supplier they signed up to when they moved into their first home.

‘Just through switching energy, broadband and mobile providers, the average household could currently save over €1,150 – as discounts offered to new customers are generally higher than ongoing year-on-year discounts offered by some suppliers.’

The most popular thing to switch is car insurance – mentioned by 33% of people, followed by electricity, 32%, broadband, 26%, home insurance, 21%, then mobile operator, 17%, TV service, 14% and gas, 14%.

But although customers are tempted by the prospect of better value for money, the vast majority – 68% – do not switch in the end.

The ‘all talk and little action’ was described as a ‘concern’ by Mr Clarke.

‘It’s great that such a high percentage of consumers are considering switching this year – but we’re concerned that this could be all talk and little action.

The main reason people gave for not changing provider was it seemed like ‘too much hassle’ (42%). More than a quarter, 28%, said they did not switch because they could not tell if a new supplier would save them money, they did not want to get tied into a contract (26%) and they were unsure if the product offered by the new supplier was the same as the one offered by their previous supplier (25%) and 8% feared losing their service or being cut off.

Consumers also appeared confused about when they are free to switch, with 17% believing that even if they are out of contract they cannot switch.

Consumers are free to switch once they are outside their contract’s minimum term. But in most cases they will need to give their existing provider notice – a fact only one in four is aware of.

Customers who do not switch regularly will be off any discounted rates offered when they first signed up.

This means people who have not switched in a while could be missing out on potential savings on energy, insurance, broadband, TV and phone services, according to switcher.ie.

Mr Clarke said the perception that switching it ‘too much hassle’ is untrue, and that an energy switch could ‘take a few minutes’ and save you up to €290.

‘All talk and little action’ It’s not ‘too much hassle’

He also said the sticking with one supplier usually lands you with a higher bill.

He added: ‘We’d strongly advise customers to set aside some time to take a look at all of their household bills and shop around for new deals – an hour or two of work will pay huge dividends and could free up some much-needed cash.’

christian.mccashin@dailymail.ie