Nobody offers you a lower price unless you ask

What to say when you ring to cut a bill

The words, in order, for each kind of bill. When to ring, who to ask for, what they usually give, and what to say when they will not budge. Ten minutes on the phone is the best-paid ten minutes in most households' year.

Before you dial

  • Know your current price and have a cheaper one in front of you. Without a number to beat, there is nothing to talk about.
  • Ring when your contract has ended, or in its last month. Out of contract there is no exit fee, and that is your whole position.
  • Say you are ready to leave, and mean it. The offers are held back for people who are.
  • Ask, then stop talking. The silence after the question is where the discount comes from.
  • Get it in writing before you agree, and check it the next day.

What people tell us

Too few people have said how they got on for this to tell you anything useful yet. Ring yours, then tell us what happened, and the next person gets a real number.

Nobody pays us to say any of this. We are not paid by any supplier, and we take no commission for switching you.

Broadband

When to ring

Ring in the last month of your contract, or any time after it has ended. Out of contract you have no exit fee, which is the whole of your leverage.

Who to ask for

Ask for the disconnections or cancellations team by name. The people who answer first usually cannot access retention prices.

What they usually give

Broadband is the most negotiable household bill there is. Out-of-contract customers are routinely moved back to something near the new-customer price rather than lost.

Say this

  1. Hello. My contract has ended and I am paying £__ a month. I am ready to leave.
  2. I have seen __ offering the same speed for £__ including line rental. Can you match it?
  3. (Wait. Let them answer. Do not fill the silence.)
  4. That is closer. Can you do anything more if I take another twelve months?
  5. Can you confirm that price in writing or on the account before I agree?

If they say no

  • Ask them to note on the account that you asked and were refused, and say you will call back after you have checked what is available.
  • Ring back another day. A different adviser has a different discretion, and the offer often changes.
  • If you are genuinely willing to switch, say you would like the cancellation to go ahead. The retention offer very often appears at that point.

Watch out

A new twelve-month contract usually contains a mid-contract price rise clause. Ask what the rise is and when, because a cheap deal that goes up in April may cost more over the year.

Mobile

When to ring

Any time after the minimum term has ended. If you are still paying for a handset you have already paid off, ring today.

Who to ask for

Ask for retentions, or use the network's own chat, which is often faster and gives you the offer in writing.

What they usually give

Once a handset is paid off, the monthly price should fall substantially. Many people keep paying the full bundle price for years after the phone is theirs.

Say this

  1. Hello. My minimum term has ended and I am paying £__ a month.
  2. I have my PAC code ready. What is the best you can do to keep me?
  3. Am I still paying anything towards the handset? It was paid off in __.
  4. Can you put that on a SIM-only plan with no minimum term?

If they say no

  • Get your PAC code by texting PAC to 65075. It is free, arrives in minutes, and lasts thirty days. Having it changes the conversation.
  • Check what a SIM-only plan costs from a smaller network on the same masts. The saving is often larger than any retention offer.

Watch out

Do not agree to a new handset just to lower the monthly figure. Look at what the whole contract costs over its life, not the monthly number.

Energy

When to ring

Any time. Energy is different from the others: there is a price cap, so the room to move is smaller and the wins are usually elsewhere.

Who to ask for

The customer service team. Ask specifically about their social tariff or hardship fund, by name.

What they usually give

Every large supplier runs a hardship fund and most do not advertise it. Grants can run to several hundred pounds and sometimes clear arrears entirely.

Say this

  1. Hello. I want to check I am on the cheapest tariff you offer me.
  2. Am I on a standard variable tariff, and is there a fixed one that would be cheaper over a year?
  3. Do you have a social tariff, a warm home discount, or a hardship fund I could apply to?
  4. Can you put me on the Priority Services Register?

If they say no

  • Ask them to send you the tariff comparison rate in writing so you can check it against the cap.
  • If you are in arrears, ask for an affordable repayment plan. They have to consider your circumstances, and a plan is far better than a prepayment meter.

Watch out

A fixed tariff below the current cap can still cost more if the cap falls. Check the cap for the next period before fixing for a year.

Insurance

When to ring

Between three and four weeks before renewal. That is consistently the cheapest window for a new quote, and it gives you time to use it.

Who to ask for

Renewals. Have a cheaper quote open in front of you before you ring.

What they usually give

Since the 2022 rules an insurer cannot charge a renewing customer more than a new one for the same policy, so the renewal figure should already be fair. It often still is not.

Say this

  1. Hello. My renewal is £__ and I have a quote for £__ elsewhere for the same cover.
  2. Can you match it? I would rather stay than change everything over.
  3. (If they ask for the other quote, give the price but not the insurer.)
  4. Can you confirm the excess and the cover are identical?

If they say no

  • Switch. Insurance is the one bill where switching is genuinely easy and the loyalty penalty is largest.
  • Check whether the cheaper quote has the same excess, the same cover and the same add-ons before you move.

Watch out

Auto-renewal is how most people end up overpaying. Turn it off, and put the renewal date in your calendar with a reminder three weeks before.

TV and streaming

When to ring

Any time. There is no contract to run down on most streaming, so this is the easiest call to make.

Who to ask for

Cancellations. On streaming services there is often no phone call at all: press cancel and read what appears.

What they usually give

Pay-TV packages have the most padding of any household bill: people commonly pay for sports or film packs they stopped watching years ago.

Say this

  1. Hello. I am paying £__ a month and I am going to cancel.
  2. Is there anything cheaper you can put me on instead?
  3. (For a pay-TV package) Which channels am I paying for that I have not watched?

If they say no

  • Cancel it. Streaming can be restarted in thirty seconds whenever you want it, and most services offer a returning-customer price.
  • Rotate instead of stacking: one service a month, cancelled when you have watched what you wanted.

Watch out

Check what is bundled with something you already pay for. Broadband and mobile contracts frequently include a service people are separately subscribed to.

Water

When to ring

Any time. You cannot switch water supplier, so this is not a haggle: it is about the schemes you are entitled to and are not on.

Who to ask for

The affordability or customer care team.

What they usually give

Every water company runs a social tariff and a hardship scheme, and take-up is low. WaterSure caps the bill for metered households with a medical need or several children.

Say this

  1. Hello. I want to check I am on the cheapest way of paying for my water.
  2. Do I qualify for your social tariff, and can you send me the form?
  3. Would a meter make my bill cheaper, given there are __ of us in a __-bedroom home?
  4. Am I eligible for WaterSure?

If they say no

  • Ask for the decision in writing and the reason. The Consumer Council for Water will look at it for free.
  • Ask for a meter anyway. In most areas you can have one fitted free and switch back within two years if it costs more.

Watch out

A meter is usually cheaper if there are fewer people than bedrooms, and usually dearer if there are more. Work it out before asking.

Any other bill

When to ring

When the contract ends, or when the price goes up.

Who to ask for

Whoever can change the price. Ask that question directly: can you change the price, or do I need someone who can?

What they usually give

It varies. The one thing that is always true is that nobody offers you a lower price unless you ask.

Say this

  1. Hello. I am paying £__ and I want to talk about the price.
  2. What is the best you can do for someone who is thinking of leaving?
  3. Can you confirm that in writing?

If they say no

  • Ask when the price next changes, and put that date in your calendar.
  • Ask what a new customer pays for the same thing.

Watch out

Never agree to anything on the call you have not seen written down. Ask them to email it and read it afterwards.

Tell us how you got on

This is the bit that helps the next person. Nobody can build a record of what suppliers really give away except the people on the other end of the call. Nothing you write here is ever shown to anybody: only counts and middle values appear, and only once at least five people have reported on a supplier.

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Questions about haggling

Does this actually work?

For broadband, mobile and pay-TV it works far more often than not, because those companies budget for retention and hold their best prices back for people who ask. For energy it works differently: the price cap limits the room to move, and the win is usually a social tariff or a hardship fund rather than a lower unit rate. For water there is no haggle at all, only schemes you may be entitled to and are not on.

Do I have to be rude?

No, and it works better if you are not. The person on the phone did not set the price and has a set of offers they are allowed to give. Being clear, polite and willing to leave gets you all of them. Being aggressive gets you the ones they give to make you go away, which are usually worse.

What if I do not actually want to leave?

You still say you are ready to. The offer only exists for people who might go. If they call your bluff, you can always decline the cancellation at the end. Nobody has ever been cut off for asking about the price.

Where do the figures on this page come from?

From households who came back and told us what happened. Nothing is shown until at least five people have reported on the same supplier, and what appears is a count and a middle value, never anybody's individual call. We do not take money from any of the companies named.

Should I switch instead?

Often, yes, and for insurance almost always. Haggling is worth trying first because it takes ten minutes and changes nothing about your service. If they will not move, switching is the answer, and we do not get paid either way.

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