Your cookie preferences


We use cookies and similar technologies. You can use the settings below to accept all cookies (which we recommend to give you the best experience) or to enable specific categories of cookies as explained below. Find out more by reading our Cookie Policy.

Select cookie preferences

Skip to main content

Flexi tariff mobile contracts risk consumers overpaying on their mobile bills

Commenting on Citizens Advice’s call for providers to stop charging consumers for phones they already own, Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at Uswitch.com, says: “Citizens Advice is right to call for more transparency in how much mobile users pay for their contracts, but championing tariffs that split the cost of the phone and the service still risks seeing consumers paying considerably more than they should for their airtime.

“The concern with these ‘flexi’ tariffs is that providers charge a premium for these deals – up to 38% extra – meaning that consumers could end up paying £231 million more than they should on the airtime part of the deal alone.

“The intention behind these deals to prevent consumers from paying twice for the same handset is commendable, but they are certainly not the best value deals available, even within the same network. Switching to a SIM-only deal can still offer significant savings over paying for the airtime part of a package, especially given how much data costs drop from year to year.

“Ofcom’s proposals to introduce notifications telling consumers that their deals are coming to an end is a far more practical and speedy way to address some of these problems. Critically, Ofcom is also proposing to send a one-off notification to the 3.7 million mobile customers whose packages have continued to rollover despite being beyond their minimum contract term.”

Find out how you could save over £1,000 a year with Uswitch here.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Rory Stoves
Phone: 020 3872 5613
Email: rory.stoves@uswitch.com
Twitter: @UswitchPR

Notes to editors

'Flexi' tariffs - offered by the likes of O2, Tesco, Virgin and Sky - separate paying for the handset and paying for the airtime. https://www.uswitch.com/media-centre/2018/07/new-breed-mobile-tariff-cost-customers-231-million/

About us

It’s all about “U”!

Thank you for indulging us over the last 20 years by using a small ‘u’ and a big ‘S’ when writing about our brand in your articles.

We are delighted to let you know that you are now off the hook - it’s big U’s all the way (and small s’s) as we undertake our biggest ever rebrand - so let your autocorrect go wild!

About Uswitch

Uswitch is the UK’s top comparison website for home services switching. Launched in September 2000, we help consumers save money on their gas, electricity, broadband, mobile, TV, and financial services products and get more of what matters to them. Last year we saved consumers over £373 million on their energy bills alone.

Uswitch is part of RVU, a new business that also owns Money.co.uk and Bankrate.

If you would no longer like to receive our press releases please email prteam@uswitch.com with 'unsubscribe'.