When did you last check your mobile phone contract? If it was more than a couple of years ago, you could be wasting a significant amount of money every month. Millions of people are out of contract and are effectively paying for a phone they already own.
With the best deals typically reserved for new customers, a few simple checks could see you slash your monthly bill or get a brand-new handset for less. Switching is easier than you might think, and our guide will walk you through every step.
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Since 2020, phone networks have been required to send you an end of contract notification 10 to 40 days before your deal is up. They’re also duty bound to message you regularly to let you know that your contract has ended and offer you better deals – but you may have dismissed these if upgrading or changing deal wasn’t on your radar.
The good news is it’s easy to check whether you’re in contract – you can just text INFO to 85075 to find out the status with your provider. Or you can check your account on your network’s website (if you know the login), or if you have the official app downloaded, you’ll be able to check there.
If not, a quick call to customer services will give you the information you need. Don’t agree straight away if they offer you a discounted contract as a result – taking the first deal, if you’ve not shopped around first, might not be the best you can get.
Sky Mobile, in a survey of 2,000 adults, then found a fifth of us have never switched mobile phone provider, and nearly a third have stuck with the same network for five years or more.
Even if you’ve finished your contract and your monthly bill’s gone down, if you’ve not shopped around then you could be missing out on far better deals.
Or you might be on a SIM-only deal already, where you pay month-by-month having bought the phone separately. But if you haven't shopped around for a while, there might still be much better offers out there. And switching is easier than you might think.
Axel Metz, phones editor of technology site TechRadar, says: "A month or so before your contract ends, decide if you want to keep your existing phone or upgrade to a different model," Metz says.
If your contract has already ended, it’s important to make the decision quickly so you can get onto a better or cheaper deal as soon as possible.
If you want to upgrade your existing phone there are two ways to do it. You can sign up for a new contract that includes a new phone, or you can choose to buy a handset separately and then find a SIM-only plan for it.
The latter option means paying for the phone up front – contracts with a device included spread some or all the cost of the handset over the term you sign up for – but buying a phone and getting a separate deal for calls, texts and data can work out cheaper.
If your phone is still working just fine, then switching over to a ‘SIM-only’ deal is smart.
This is the cheapest option and means you only pay for data, calls and texts – if you switch to a new provider, you’ll also be sent a new SIM card to pop in your phone.
If you’re worried your phone is getting too old to keep hold of, there are a few things to consider that might make it perfectly usable again.
Are you reaching for the charger far quicker than before? A replacement battery can be easily fitted and means it lasts far longer between charges and avoid the need to buy a new handset.
If your phone is running slowly, then it could just need a factory reset, where you’ll delete all the apps, photos and other content off and return it to the ‘box-fresh’ state.
While this can significantly speed things up, you’ll need to make sure you’ve backed up all the data on there first – ask for help if you’re not sure how to do this.
The other thing to consider is the age of the phone – after a certain point, it won’t be getting critical software and security patches, potentially leaving you open to hackers.
"These [updates] keep your apps running smoothly and your data protected," Metz explains. "You don't want to be left stranded with a phone that's no longer set to receive updates. Update commitments vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but they're easy to find online."
As an example, Apple and Samsung both offer five years of security updates for their newer phones, so if you bought your handset a long time ago, upgrading will help keep you safer.
If you're buying new, don't get an iPhone in August or a Galaxy S in December. Apple launches new iPhones every September and Samsung has historically launched new Galaxy S phones at the start of the year, causing an immediate drop in the price of the existing models.
There are good deals on phones and on contracts during the Black Friday sales at the end of November, in the Boxing Day sales, and – to a lesser extent – during Amazon's Prime Day event in July.
Don't expect big discounts on the latest models, but there are often bargains to be had on slightly older or less powerful phones.
You can save money at any time of the year by buying last year's device too. For example, you can buy 2022’s iPhone 14, which is still a decent phone, from Apple for £100 less than you'd pay for the latest iPhone 15.
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You can save fantastic amounts on refurbished phones. These are devices that have been returned and repaired or refreshed.
They may have had a fault that’s been fixed, have been traded in against a newer model or may have been accidentally damaged but now repaired.
Whatever the reason, these phones can't be sold as new even if they’ve been returned to factory fresh condition.
So, they're graded and sold as refurbished instead. Grade A is close to perfect, Grade B is slightly scuffed, Grade C has visible signs of heavy use. (You might also see categories such as ‘Excellent’, ‘Very Good’ and ‘Good’ to explain the same thing).
The savings can be dramatic. For example, an iPhone 14 can be bought new for £699 at the time of writing, but refurbished iPhone 14s are widely available between £399-£500.
Many refurbished handsets are sold on major retailers like Amazon or eBay, which have ‘certified refurbished’ channels, through manufacturers’ own outlets online, or through dedicated refurbishing sites.
Look for sellers offering a full 1-year warranty, which means you’re guaranteed if something goes wrong.
Price comparison websites can be very helpful here, even if you prefer to buy your plan in a shop: researching what’s out there in advance can help you haggle.
To get an idea over what you’ll need in a contract, there are three key components to phone plans: voice calls, messages, and data.
A fourth component is free roaming, for example when travelling to EU countries. This is very useful if you have any plans to travel abroad, so look out for deals that cover countries you plan to go to.
Unlimited calls are common, as are unlimited texts, but watch out: many contracts’ unlimited texts don't include picture messages, which can be around 55p each.
You can get around that problem by using a messaging app such as WhatsApp when you want to send photos; if you have an iPhone you can use the Messages app to send pictures to other iPhone users (but not those with an Android phone until later this year) without incurring charges.
Most people don’t need unlimited data, but you don’t want too little allowance either – a 1GB plan isn’t going to be big enough if you’ll be streaming video, for instance, but fine if you only browse the web occasionally out and about.
For reference, Ofcom’s latest report says the average user is getting through 8GB a month on their phone.
However, your data usage could well be different, so look at your current provider’s app or website, which will typically show you how much data you’ve used each month, to get a good idea of what you’ll need.
There are two options for your phone's connection: you can sign up to a contract where you pay a fixed rate every month for a set term – although as Metz warns, "many of the big mobile contract providers put their prices up by at least 3% each year" so take that into account if you're considering a lengthy contract.
Alternatively, you can go for a month-to-month or pay-as-you-go plan instead. If you want a new phone as part of your deal, you'll need to go for the contract option.
Switching network providers is easy: all you need to do is ask your current provider for a PAC, or a ‘pack code’ as it’s colloquially termed.
You can also get the code simply by texting ‘PAC’ to 65075, and you’ll be sent the new code straight away.
"That's the code you request from your service provider when you want to switch but want to keep your number," Metz adds.
"You'll often get a follow-up call from a rep who may offer you a better deal to keep you on the network."
If that's not tempting though, all you need to do is give your PAC to your new provider when you sign up and they’ll do the necessary switchover.
You may find it’s a day or two (although it should be the next working day) until your number is moved over, so it’s worth holding on to your older phone until then to keep receiving calls and texts.
Selling your phone won’t make you rich, but it can contribute to the cost of your new one.
Manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple will accept recent versions of their phones as trade-ins, and you can also use price comparison websites to compare offers from multiple “we buy your phone” companies.
There's also sites like eBay, but that means dealing with the irritations and risks of online selling, including the chance your phone won’t bring in what it’s worth.
You can also donate your old handset to charity if you’ve no interest in getting money for it – a swift search for ‘donating old phones’ online will give you plenty of choice, and you can pick the cause closest to your heart.
If you do sell, trade in or donate your phone, make sure it’s backed up and disconnected from services – such as Apple’s iCloud or Google accounts – and then do a factory reset and remove the SIM card before sending it anywhere.
Factory resetting wipes all your private and personal data to ensure nobody else can access it. You can search online for how to do it for your model of phone. It's a quick process, but if you’re worried about doing it correctly, it’s a good idea to enlist the help of a technically-minded friend or family member.
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