Javeed Mirza had been with the same broadband provider for over a decade when he eventually switched earlier this year.
The pharmaceutical worker was paying £80 per month, but he felt comfortable with them because they were among the biggest names on the market.
But after a push from an ex-colleague, he changed providers for broadband, mobile and insurance in May, and is saving close to £1,000 per year.
And he says as a dad-of-four, the extra money has been vital to giving extra support to his children, who are aged between 10 and 22, during the cost-of-living crisis.
“I didn’t quite realise how much I was paying, because it goes out direct every month,” said Dr Mirza.
“It was ultimately my son, who’s at university, who said, ‘look Dad, do you realise how much you could save?’ Then an ex-colleague pushed me into it.”
The 51-year-old, who lives in Wiltshire, said he initially thought that switching provider would just be a “gimmick” and would not actually save that much, but after doing a price comparison, he quickly realised his error.
He has now switched his insurance, mobile and broadband bills to Utility Warehouse, and says he is set to switch his energy provider too.
He is saving more than £400 a year on broadband bills alone, with £600 per year on the others combined.
“£400 a year is a good European holiday, though apparently there is something called the Bank of Dad that funds my kids, so that’s probably where the extra money will go, although there will hopefully be an extra luxury here and there,” he added.
He says he would recommend others look into switching as well, as he thinks many people who have been with their providers for years would be surprised at how much they could save.
“You’d be silly not to look into it. You can get something just as good, for the same amount of money. That old school doctrine of ‘it’s don’t broke don’t fix it’ doesn’t always work with your bills because loyalty does not always pay,” he said.
More than 12 million have not switched any key household service in over three years, according to polling commissioned by Utility Warehouse, but there are large savings for those who do so with their bills.
Often, when a customer has a tariff on their broadband, insurance, mobile bill, they will be enticed with a cheap introductory offer, but will then face higher costs if they let the deal roll over.
Doing a comparison on switching sites can show you how cheap you could get a service for elsewhere, and sometimes, you can even haggle a better deal simply by telling your current provider that you will leave.
Due to an energy price cap, there aren’t quite as big a savings to be made on gas and electricity bills, although a select few firms still offer fixed-term deals that are a little below the price cap.
Octopus Energy offers a tariff that is 7 per cent less than the cap, though it’s for existing customers only.
And Utility Warehouse offers a cheaper deal too – by 1 per cent – although customers must also switch two other utilities.
Some providers, such as E.on, also have deals that are under the price cap, but can go up or down.
