A few phone calls could save you hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds

Loyalty does not pay when it comes to utility providers

A few phone calls could save you hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

After our mortgage or rent payment, utilities I’ll probably one of our biggest
expenses.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the companies which supply your gas electricity, mobile phones
and broadband, it does not pay to stay loyal to them. Same applies to car,
breakdown recovery and home insurance.

They say that it cost many times more to win the new customer than it does to look
after and sell to existing customers. We all know this is the case so why do
these providers take us for granted and offer us poor deals forcing us to take
our business elsewhere? It just doesn’t make any business sense at all.

We hear terms like “loyalty” bonuses, but in reality, we get charged more for the same service than new customers. You also see this with mortgage providers and banks. They will offer
a better rate to new customers than existing borrowers or make your savings
account less competitive by dropping the rate.

I frequently change providers or ask for a better deal by calling them up to asking them for…you
guessed it, a better deal! In most cases, they say yes! After all, they want to
keep you as a customer, even if they go a funny way about showing it!

This simple technique has saved me tens of thousands of pounds over the years.

You know the old saying, “A penny saved is…a penny earned”. Actually, it is more
when you take into account tax on your income.

Right now, I have an issue with Virgin Media who supply broadband to several of my buy to
let properties. When I first started, they were charging me less than £30 per
month per property. Now it exceeds £40 per month, whilst they are advertising
broadband and a phone for £27 per month to new customers.

To make matters worse, I’m not even getting a good service! They don’t even
acknowledge the fact that I’ve got several contracts with them.

In fact, one of the reasons I have not changed sooner is that I can never get
through to them on the phone. I’ve spent hours on endless automated answering
systems - press one for this, press two for that and then out the other end without
speaking to person!

Come on Virgin, you can do better than this! Richard Branson, I challenge you to try
getting through to your broadband service on the phone!

When I had a problem with the router they refused to change it until I went on
Twitter!

I wish they had many people monitoring the phones as they do watching complaints
on Twitter!

You don’t always need to change providers to get a better deal. I was able to
renegotiate the £40 per month saving on my RAC breakdown membership just by
challenging them on offer in a much better deal to new customers When I had
been with them for years.

You may be tied into a contract and unable to change, so you need to diarise key
dates to make sure that you don’t miss out on the best deals or get stuck on an
expensive tariff.

Electricity and gas companies are notorious for leaving you on an expensive tariff when you
could change to a cheaper one just by making a phone call.

Action

Set a target today to review at least three of your utility supplier contracts. Here’s
a list of typical providers: 

• Gas and electricity
• Mobile
• phone/landline
• Broadband
• Home insurance
• Car insurance
• Breakdown cover

Okay, you may have to wait online for 20 minutes to get through to human being, but
the savings will be worth it.

Have fun saving money, and don’t forget to celebrate!

Check out my new book on Amazon, Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness

http://bit.ly/moneykin

Money Tips Daily - Review Your Mortgage and Deal Before Interest Rates Rise

Last week, the Governor of the Bank of England George Carney warned that interest rises would be coming in the near future. Now is the time to review your mortgage deal.

Review your mortgage deal and diarise key dates, such as the end of the fixed rate or discount deal. Lenders will often tie you into a period when offering a fixed or discounted rate. At the end of the period, you will be reverted back to the normal variable rate, which will inevitably be higher. You need to be aware of these dates and start looking for new deals when they come up. 

I will give you an example. I bought a buy to let property 4 years ago with an interest only mortgage costing £1050 per month.  

I was tied into the initial deal for two years and there were heavy exit penalties if I switched, paid it off or remortgaged. At the end of two years I asked my broker (who had not informed me that the deal had ended and I could save money) to find a better deal. After searching the market, I decided to stay with the same lender and switch to one of their new rates. 

How much did I save? 

The new pay rate was almost half the old rate at just £540, a saving of £510 per month! That's £6,120 per year or £12,240 over the 2 year deal period (for the sake of the example I'm ignoring the lender fee that was added to the loan adding around £5 per month to my repayments).  This comes straight off the bottom line and I would've had to earn £18,000 in rent before tax to make the same amount of money. Not a bad result for making a phone call! 

Bonus Tip...you don't necessarily have to switch lenders to save money. You can stay with the same lender and switch to a new deal without remortgaging or refinancing. Remortgaging may not be convenient for you, as it involves new credit searches, references and valuation. In some cases you may not qualify for a new mortgage, due to age or income, but will be able to switch deals with your existing lender.

Some mortgage brokers recommend remortgaging to a new lender because this pays them more commission. Yes, your lender pays your broker an introduction fee which is declared on your offer. Action...Check your mortgage offer and papers today or call your lender or broker.

Tomorrow, I'll have another money tip which can save you hundreds of pounds on your household bills.

Listen to this episode, from Money Kelly on Anchor: Money Tip Review you Mortgage