The average Brit will stick with their phone provider for five-and-a-half years

Nearly half of adults on a mobile phone contract would rather stick with their existing provider because it's easier and more comfortable - even if there was a cheaper option available. Of these, they would need to save at least £127.68 a year - or £10.64 per month - on their mobile phone bill to consider changing providers.

Brits could save money by changing phone providers

Brits could save money by switching mobile phone providers (Image: SWNS Media Group)

This would equate to a national saving of more than £3.3billion were people motivated enough to switch.

The study of 2,000 adults found that when it comes to switching and saving money on other bills, they would be happy to change energy providers if they could save £28 a month.

The level of money saved increases when it comes to mortgages, as homeowners need to save nearly £50 a month before considering a move.

The reluctance to switch is shown as energy bill payers stick with the same utility company for an average of seven years.

While there is loyalty to the same mobile phone provider for an average of five-and-a-half years.

A spokesperson for Lyca Mobile, which commissioned the research, said: "There's no shame in switching things up.

“Whether it’s your mortgage or your mobile, it’s often very easy to let contracts simply roll over once they’ve run their course.

“However, this could be costing Brits a small fortune when they could be getting better deals elsewhere.”

The research also found 41 percent admitted there are areas they could be saving money on but are missing out mainly due to laziness.

Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) don’t like the idea of changing things that, in general, are working OK - with half being ‘concerned’ about change.

6 in 10 would rather not change things that work

Nearly 6 in 10 would rather keep things the same that appear to be working well (Image: SWNS Media Group)

However, 32 percent are ‘extremely’ worried about the rising cost of living, with just 6 percent remaining unconcerned.

To combat inflation, 44 percent have considered - or have already changed –-where they shop for food, and 40 percent have done the same for their energy provider.

Loyalty to brands plays a part, with 69 percent describing themselves as generally loyal people.

But four in 10 would happily drop a company if they could get a cheaper deal elsewhere, while 13 percent would switch based on customer service.

It also emerged only three in 10 Brits read the terms and conditions before signing a contract on everything they sign, according to the OnePoll data.

As a result, 22 percent have wound up stuck in a contract for ‘ages’ because they hadn’t really read all the small print.

Lyca Mobile’s spokesperson added: “It wasn’t that long ago that 12 month contracts for mobile phone were the norm.

“That’s now crept up to 24 months, and two years is a long time to be tied into the same network and data deals with great deals coming onto the market all the time.

“With the cost of most things on the rise, taking time to see how you could get your monthly direct debits down is a great way to start taking better care of your finances.”

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