A MARTIN Lewis fan has revealed how she slashed her phone bill just by sending two texts.
The savvy saver, called Carole, said she switched to a SIM only deal and pays just £8 a month, saving her £575 a year.
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Her mega saving was shared on this week’s The Martin Lewis Money Show Live.
She followed a tip shared by Martin in a previous episode about how to check if you’re still in contract with your current provider.
Martin said you needed to text INFO to 85075 for free, and you’ll get a message back explaining if you’ll be subject to exit fees if you leave your supplier.
If you’re out of contract, then it’s likely you’re paying too much for your phone bill.
Martin said nine million people are out of contract, and could be overpaying.
If you’re out of contract, it means you are likely to be paying for your handset still – even though it’s been paid off.
Carole said she was able to switch to a cheaper deal, and pays for a SIM only deal, with unlimited calls and texts, 15GB data and free roaming.
She also said she kept her own number – which you can do by sending a second text.
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Text “PAC” to 65075 – your existing provider will text back within a minute and send the PAC number which will be valid for 30 days.
You can then send this to your new provider – it’s free to do.
Martin said that if you’re out of contract, you’re in a great position to switch to a better deal – or haggle for a better rate with your existing phone provider.
“Look at the size of the savings – so many people when they’re out of contract stay on high rates, and could slash it by 70 or 80%,” the consumer expert said.
His tips come as millions of mobile phone customers will be stung by bill hikes soon.
The majority of mobile phone providers tend to announce in January that rates are going up.
They base their annual price increases on the rate of inflation plus an extra 3.9%.
The rate of inflation was announced last month as 10.5%, so bills will rise by 14.4%.
BT, EE and Three confirmed to The Sun that they will put up bills by up to 14.4%.
Price rises will come into effect for millions of customers from the end of March.
Sky also confirmed that its mobile phone prices will be rising for out of contract customers.
It means their bills will increase by £1 a month, or an average of 9%.
Sky will contact all customers affected prior to the change coming in.
How much will my bill increase by?
Your internet provider or mobile network should contact you to let you know how much your bills will increase in April.
If you’re a BT, EE, Plusnet or Three customer, there’s an easy way to work out how much more you’re set to pay from April.
Just find out what 14.4% of your current monthly bill is – you can use an online percentage calculator to work that out.
If you’re a Virgin customer you’ll need to use 13.8% instead, though remember this is an average rise.
Then add those two figures together – this will give you your new monthly payment.
To find out your annual cost, times that total figure by 12.
If you’re not happy with the rise, then you could try and haggle a cheaper deal
If you think your bills are too high and want to drive them down, the first thing to do is find out what the cheapest deal on the market is.
You can use this rate as a bargaining tool to get a better offer from your provider.
Get in contact with your provider to see if they can match this rate – if not, you might want to switch instead.
If you’re mid-contract though and wish to leave, bear in mind that you could face an exit fee so check with your provider for any charges.
Plus, it could be harder haggling with these prices as they come most years from all providers.
For more ways to cut your phone bill, we’ve got eight tips for slashing costs.
This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
