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00:00Hello, we're back, and it's time for my annual Bill Buster Show.
00:20Tens of millions of people across Britain are being ripped off by overpaying on their bills.
00:25Tonight, I'll show you how to fight back by cutting costs to keep more cash in your pocket.
00:30Not theirs.
00:31Over 80% of you are overpaying on energy bills.
00:35If you've done that in the last year, that's almost certainly you.
00:38With mobiles, £14 million are out of contract and likely paying up to four times too much.
00:45Broadband, £7 million are out of contract and could likely halve the price and double the speed.
00:51Plus, the rules about mid-contract price hikes are changing this Friday.
00:55Water bills are soon to rise by an average 20%.
00:59But many miss the three key ways to save.
01:03Yes, say it loud now.
01:06O-M-B!
01:08Oh, my bills.
01:10Plus, in my news, you can use...
01:12Get paid £175 to switch bank, new top 5% easy access savings, free Lego, two-for-one Pizza Express, cheap travel lodge rooms, cheap train tickets and more.
01:21Now, for a true mastermind in her own Ian Wright, Jeanette Quachy.
01:31If you did accept that, over the break, Jeanette, one celebrity mastermind and your specialist subject was Ian Wright.
01:36Ian Wright, yeah.
01:37You know me.
01:38Oh, yes.
01:39Always on the ball.
01:42But also for you, whilst I was doing mastermind, you were playing board games.
01:44We were.
01:45Board games, yes.
01:46Winning at Scrabble and Monopoly or losing at Scrabble, but carry on.
01:49But remember, of course, this show is all about your questions, so do get in touch.
01:53Send us your questions.
01:53You can post on X or on Blue Sky using the hashtag MartinLewis or email the team MartinLewis at ITV.com.
02:01And we're now on Instagram, so you can find us at the handle at ITVMLShow.
02:06If we don't use your question tonight, we may use it in a future show.
02:09And a huge warm welcome to our studio audience this evening.
02:11How are you?
02:12Wave your wallets.
02:13Wave your wallets, everybody.
02:15Well done.
02:17So let's kick off this show with a question from Lisa in the audience.
02:20Good evening, Lisa.
02:21Yes, hi.
02:21Well, when it comes to negotiating new deals at the end of my contract, I tend to feel overwhelmed.
02:30And so I often just stick with the higher price because it's so daunting.
02:35And I know, I know, it's really bad.
02:39But is there anything I can do?
02:41How can I become more confident in finding the best deals for me?
02:45Can I understand?
02:46Is this a confidence in sort of haggling or a confidence in finding the best deals by research?
02:52I just lose the will to live when I have to pick up that phone.
02:55What I've done is I've organised all of my billing cycles for January.
03:02So I have to take a whole day off from work just to make calls and just try to...
03:06I love that.
03:07It's the best thing you can do.
03:08Take a day off work.
03:09Best paid day of the year.
03:09Many people can save thousands of pounds.
03:11You know, unless you earn over a grand a day, it will often be the best thing you can do.
03:15Look, first of all, you're confident enough to talk to me on live television.
03:18That's a good start.
03:19I think you're going to be able to talk to a call centre.
03:21So just, we're going to channel that.
03:23There are two routes to doing most of what we're talking about today.
03:26One, find the best deals by research and just switch.
03:29Then you don't have to talk to anybody.
03:31Two, haggle.
03:32I'm going to talk through both.
03:33Stay with me.
03:33We'll see how you feel on these things, OK?
03:35We'll come back to you later.
03:36I think now I should start my big briefing.
03:41So this is all about the bill buster.
03:42I'm going to try and cover as much as I can in the show.
03:45But clearly, we've only got an hour and it's an ITV hour, which is 46 minutes.
03:48So I'm not going to go through everything.
03:49I'm going to go through energy and water bills.
03:52Bank switching will be in my news you can use.
03:54I'm going to go through mobile phones and broadband.
03:57Credit card loans and debt is massive.
03:59That is next week's show.
04:01Car and home insurance, I hope to do in a future show.
04:04Council tax, a massive bill.
04:06Huge ways to save, but I did it in detail on the 12th of November.
04:10So you can go on to ITVX on the 12th of November.
04:12It's known as Series 13.
04:14You can look there and you should watch that if you want to cut your costs on council tax
04:17because it is massive.
04:18You've got...
04:19We've got a success on exactly that for council tax here.
04:22Someone who, after watching the show on council tax, they said,
04:25Hi, Martin.
04:26Watching your show, I challenged my council tax band
04:28and after 10 months, I received £2,500 in refunds.
04:32I've also had my band reduced, which will save me another £500 a year.
04:36Many thanks.
04:37And that lifted up today.
04:40I think I saw that coming today, yeah.
04:42So look, that's why watching that show is particularly important,
04:45but it took me an hour to explain in detail
04:47and I went through more detail in that particular show
04:49than I've ever done before.
04:50I launched an advanced system that will really help people go through it.
04:53So that's the idea of the billbuster.
04:55Let's get on and do some savings.
04:56Let's start with the first one here.
04:58Here we go.
05:00Mobile phones, are you paying too much?
05:02Something interesting has happened over the last couple of years.
05:05If you're an existing mobile phone user,
05:07you have had mid-contract price hikes often of 18% a couple of years ago.
05:13Yeah, you're nodding.
05:14You remember it.
05:148% last year, prices have been going up and up.
05:17At the same time, the cost of new customer SIM deals,
05:22that's where you just switch the little chip or the virtual chip
05:25in the back of your phone that gives its identity.
05:26You know what a SIM is, yeah?
05:28And that's what dictates what you charge you have been plummeting.
05:31So look at this.
05:32For 50 gig, two years ago you'd be paying £9 and limited minutes and limited text.
05:36Now you can get it as cheap as around £3 a month for 50 gig.
05:40We've not seen this big a drop on the lower uses, 5 gigabytes per month,
05:45but the amount of data you can now get for a fraction of the cost.
05:48So look at that dispersal.
05:50You've got existing customers going up and up and up,
05:53new customers going down and down and down.
05:56Which do you want to be?
05:58A new customer.
05:59Yeah, of course.
05:59It's not that difficult.
06:00Let's move on and I'll go through my three steps for you to cut costs.
06:0514 million people are out of contract on their mobile phone bill,
06:08which means you are free to switch.
06:09How do you find out?
06:10Easy.
06:11You text info for free to 850752 check.
06:17Now, if you're on 3 or ID Mobile or Smarty, you will need to confirm this by entering your date of birth once they've messaged you on the text.
06:25That's fine.
06:25That's part of the process.
06:26Don't worry about it.
06:27I asked the audience to do this two minutes before the show because we have to have phones off during the show.
06:31You've all done it, yeah?
06:32Who found that they have no early termination charge or cancellation fee?
06:37That's the language that they use.
06:38Hands up.
06:39Let me see.
06:40Yeah, quite a lot of you.
06:41And who found you still in contract?
06:44Those of you still in contract, you can't switch at the moment.
06:46You'd have to pay a termination fee.
06:48Those of you who aren't, well, you're a free agent.
06:51You can go and get the cheapest deals.
06:52You can cut your costs.
06:54I should note, if you're on a multiple phone contract, like a family deal, you won't be able to get an answer.
06:59So, easy rule of thumb, being with the same firm and not change for two years, not change your deal, you're likely out of contract.
07:05Maybe even shorter than that.
07:06So, what do we do next?
07:07Well, you do a cheap SIM comparison.
07:11Most of the cheapest deals are not available direct from the mobile phone companies because then they might have to give them to existing customers.
07:16They're only on comparison sites.
07:18They tend to be short-lived.
07:19The price you get depends on the comparison site.
07:21It depends on the incentive.
07:23These are just examples, not recommendations.
07:25Five gig SIM from Labara uses Vodafone Signal.
07:28Three to four quid a month.
07:29Unlimited minutes, unlimited text, five gig a month.
07:31Over a year's contract.
07:32What that does, gives you a cheap price for six months and then builds it up over the next six months.
07:37But on average, it's three to four quid a month.
07:38It's nothing.
07:4050 gig ID Mobile, which is on three signal, depending which site you go, is between three or seven pounds a month.
07:45That's when you factor in the voucher incentives like the Amazon vouchers that it's giving you.
07:50It depends on which comparison site.
07:52How many people here have a 50 gig type a month tariff?
07:56Anyone?
07:57Anyone got...
07:57How much you're paying, roughly, do you know?
07:59£8.
07:59£8.
08:00So, you're not doing too bad, actually.
08:01You're pretty good.
08:02That's why you're in the audience.
08:03Anyone else?
08:04Yeah?
08:04I think it was £18.
08:09And you did it today, didn't you?
08:10Yeah, I did it this morning.
08:11You might still be with your cooling off period.
08:13Yeah.
08:13Right?
08:13You might be worth £18.
08:14I mean, you could just do it so much cheaper.
08:16Now, what people say to me on this is they go, but hold on, I don't want to change because
08:20I like my signal and it won't work.
08:21Yeah?
08:22Won't work somewhere else.
08:23So, let's talk about it.
08:24There are only four networks, four signals in the UK in reality.
08:29The rest, they're all piggybacking off those signals.
08:33Here you go.
08:33Let's have a look at that.
08:35So, look at this.
08:36All of those companies use EE signal.
08:38All of those O2, all of those 3, all of those use Vodafone.
08:43So, take the example of O2.
08:44If you're on O2, you like your O2 signal.
08:47You don't just look at what the cheapest O2 deal is.
08:50You go and look at Gifgaf and SkyMobile and TescoMobile and Virgin because they're all
08:54using the same signal and they may well be cheaper.
08:57Now, I should note, they may not have Wi-Fi calling or they may not have 5G or tethering
09:02may be different, but the signal that you get is basically the same signal.
09:06So, you can do a much wider comparison spread than you were expecting to be able to do.
09:12Really important to know that so you're not limiting yourself too narrowly.
09:16Of course, you can also haggle.
09:18That's coming in part two, how to haggle.
09:19We'll be talking.
09:20Yeah?
09:20Keep notes on that one.
09:21And the final thing I should tell you, once you've decided where you're switching to,
09:25if you want to keep your number, it's dead simple.
09:26You just text PAC, Porting Authorisation Code, to 65075 and then you give that code to the
09:33new firm and it will move your number across.
09:36Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
09:38Someone calling?
09:40Yes, Jeanette.
09:40Well, for example, Rebecca found it easy as well because she did this off the back of
09:44your Bill Buster show from last year.
09:46She says,
09:46I went to look at a SIM only for my daughter, husband and I, and we were paying £224 a month
09:52for all three contracts.
09:54I shopped around to get the best deal and now I pay £34 a month for all three, saving me
09:59£190 a month.
10:00Now, I know you're clapping, but the problem is how much they were paying in the first
10:06place.
10:07And I bet I can guess what was happening there.
10:09And you just need to really be aware of this.
10:12This is what happens.
10:12People go and get, they go and get themselves a new iPhone.
10:14You know, they're paying £40, £50 a month for it because they're paying off the phone.
10:18The contract's two years.
10:19At the end of the two years, the phone is paid off.
10:22But if you do nothing, they don't drop the price.
10:25So you're still paying the price as if you're paying off the handset itself for the tariff,
10:30which would cost you diddly squat if you got it on its own.
10:33I mean, that is a massive ripoff.
10:34It shouldn't be allowed.
10:35It is allowed.
10:36If you're getting a phone on a contract, the day you have paid your phone off, you need
10:42to be getting a new tariff or even going to the same firm and saying you're going to
10:46pay less.
10:47Or you're going to be paying the, I'm paying off my handset.
10:49It's like having a loan that once you've paid the loan off, they keep charging you.
10:52And they're going, they haven't noticed.
10:54They haven't noticed.
10:55I mean, stop.
10:55That'll be what's going on there is my guess.
10:57OK.
10:57Can we move on?
10:59Right.
10:59Can we go on?
10:59Yeah.
11:00Okey dokey.
11:02So next, broadband, half cost and double speed.
11:06Seven million are out of contract on broadband.
11:08Why less than mobile?
11:08Well, because it's a home product as opposed to an individual product.
11:11So it affects a smaller, smaller group, if you like.
11:14Now, most people are paying 40 to 70 quid a month.
11:17Let's do it by the year.
11:18That's what matters.
11:18500 to 800 pounds a year.
11:22And another load of mid-contract price hikes of up to 7% are expected for existing customers.
11:29That's likely to happen this April.
11:32But this is a big change.
11:34From Friday, Ofcom says new contracts must show the future rises in cash price.
11:42That's happening this Friday.
11:43So there will no longer be for new contracts and contract renewals, you'll pay inflation plus 3%.
11:49They must tell you it's going to go up by £1.50 a month this April.
11:53And if it's a two-year contract, £1.50 a month this April and another £1.50 a month next April.
11:58It must be in pounds and pence.
12:00However, that only applies for new contract and renewing contracts.
12:04If you're already on an existing contract, they can still keep doing the above inflation hikes until your existing contract ends.
12:12Now, we are at the beginning of the end.
12:15I wasn't... I thought this is an improvement.
12:18Personally, it still allows them to do above inflation increases because they're just...
12:22As long as they tell you what it is, they could put it up £20.
12:24You know, but it is an improvement in the terms of transparency.
12:28Now, some of them, if they don't do that, and Sky is not planning to do that because it's planning to call it a variable contract,
12:34if they don't tell you the pounds and pence figure, you can leave when they announce a price rise.
12:39You can breach your contract, you've got 30 days to go, and if you do want to leave them or you want to haggle to stay...
12:45We'll be talking about that later.
12:47Then, that is the opportunity.
12:49So let's have a look at what's going on.
12:50Remember, £500 to £800 a year up there, £40 to £70 a month.
12:54That's your out-of-contract typical price.
12:56Cheapest deals via comparison sites, again, not direct.
12:59And really strictly here, because if they offer them direct, they have to give existing customers the price.
13:04They do that for the price-sensitive people who go to comparison sites.
13:08They don't change the tariff.
13:09They give you vouchers or they give you bill credit because it's not part of the core price.
13:12That's how they reward you.
13:14So a couple of examples.
13:15A Virgin deal, you pay £23.50 a month.
13:18You get £55 bill credit, so you don't pay for the first couple of months.
13:20Over the 18-month contracts, £21, £20 a month.
13:23Vodafone, 500 megs, so much faster than most people get.
13:29Pay £28 a month, £45 voucher over the two-year contract, £26 a month.
13:34Now, look at that.
13:35Most people are on 50, 60 meg, you know, a tenth of the speed, and they're paying 40 to 70 a month.
13:40This is £26 a month.
13:42All these deals, postcode-dependent, by the way.
13:44And there are these new alt-nets, local providers, which can be really cheap and really fast,
13:48but they're based on your locale.
13:50Some of the good comparison sites will be including those, too.
13:52Final note on this.
13:54I know I'm talking quick.
13:55I hope you're following it with the graphics.
13:56If you were on universal credit, or in some cases other benefits, like pension credit,
14:01there's a thing called social tariffs.
14:02Special, cheaper tariffs for people in those situations.
14:05Up to 4 million people are missing out.
14:07They're not the fast speeds, but they're much lower priced, £12 to £20 a month.
14:11It is really important you check out if you can get one of those.
14:15See if your provider offers it.
14:17BT, Vodafone, Kcom, Virgin, Now, Sky, Hyperoptic and more.
14:21All off of them.
14:22And if your provider doesn't, you could switch to another provider that does,
14:25and then you could get hold of the social tariff.
14:26And as I've said before, of course, you could haggle.
14:29And we have a success in social tariffs.
14:31On social tariffs, wonderful.
14:32Yes.
14:33She says,
14:33Again, forgive me, but I find that bittersweet for two reasons.
14:55First of all, it shouldn't be so difficult.
14:57And there are lists online of the social tariffs and what they are.
15:00Far easier if you call them up and you know the name of that company's social tariff
15:03and you ask for that specifically.
15:05But, I mean, what were they charging you beforehand?
15:08I mean, paying £1,000 a year for broadband, what were they doing beforehand?
15:12Yeah.
15:12And when people practically switch broadband, what actually happens there, Martin?
15:16OK, so in practice, for most people, they'll give you a time when it switches over.
15:20You get about two hours downtime.
15:21As long as it all works and nothing's perfect, two hours downtime and it works fine.
15:25You won't usually need an engineer to the house.
15:27Occasionally, if you're moving to or from Virgin, you might.
15:30If you're getting fibre to the premises, which is the new FASTA system
15:33where you actually have a fibre optic cable that goes into your house,
15:36then they generally don't need an engineer,
15:39but they may need to come and look at the house from the outside.
15:42So they'll tell you they're doing that.
15:43You might see a strange person going outside your front door.
15:47But you won't actually need to be in when they do that.
15:49So that's the main practical steps when you switch it.
15:51Quick question here, coming in from Elfie.
15:54Elfie's saying,
15:54We signed a two-year contract with a broadband company.
15:57Surprise, surprise.
15:58Two months in, the speed has dropped drastically.
16:01How do we cancel as they are continually providing below what we paid for?
16:04A couple of regulations.
16:06It's changed in recent years.
16:07It's got better.
16:08So when I quote these speeds, or they quote the speeds in adverts,
16:11these days, 50% of customers must get at least those speeds in peak time.
16:15So they're much more realistic than when it was only 10%.
16:18It's 50%.
16:19Most big firms have signed up to a voluntary code.
16:23The voluntary code says before you get a price, they'll give you an estimated speed range.
16:27Then, if your speed drops below that range consistently, you should be able...
16:34And they can't fix it.
16:35Within 30 days, you should be able to leave.
16:38One tiny note.
16:39You know, is it me?
16:40Is it you?
16:41That's what you have to ask.
16:42It may be the signal coming to you in your house is fast, but your Wi-Fi in the house isn't.
16:47So the first thing I'd check, do a speed test when you're on Wi-Fi and then go and plug a device,
16:52if you've got one, that you can plug into the router and do a speed test then.
16:56If it's a lot faster, the issues with your Wi-Fi, not the connection to your house,
17:00I mean, a couple of tips.
17:01Put your Wi-Fi box up high.
17:02Make sure there are no obstacles in the way.
17:04Don't put it in a cupboard.
17:05All those things will speed up your Wi-Fi.
17:07But if you're finding it's the connection to your house that's the problem,
17:10get in touch with the firm.
17:11As long as it's one of the big ones that signed up to that voluntary code,
17:13if they can't make it faster, you should be able to leave within 30 days.
17:16And that depends on what they said you would get when you first signed up.
17:19OK, so lots of checks there.
17:21Right, very quickly, Martin, it's time for your view.
17:27What question are you putting to the audience this week?
17:30Have I mentioned we might talk about haggling later?
17:32I think so.
17:33So the poll is all about that.
17:35Are you a call centre haggler?
17:38When your broadband, mobile, pay TV, breakdown, cover nears the end of your contract
17:42or you're out of contract, are you the type to haggle?
17:44I know you're a no.
17:44I know your answer before we start.
17:46So are you an I always try or are you an occasionally but it scares me
17:50or are you a haggle?
17:51No way, I'll just pay or I'll switch.
17:53I don't want to touch it.
17:54The vote is live on X, so do please vote there
17:58and let us know your top call centre haggle tips
18:02or your top successes via the hashtag Martin Lewis
18:05or you can email us in too.
18:06Let's just do a show of hands.
18:07Who here is a confident haggler and happy to do it?
18:09And who here is a prefer not?
18:13Oh, OK.
18:14The majority here.
18:15Well, maybe when we go in the next part, that's what we're talking about.
18:17Yeah.
18:18You'll change your view.
18:19Yeah, absolutely.
18:20That is exactly what we're doing next.
18:22Martin will be giving his tips on how to haggle
18:24and, of course, still to come,
18:25cutting the cost of water and energy bills.
18:28We'll see you in four.
18:28Welcome back.
18:43It's our annual Bill Buster programme.
18:45We're going to be doing haggling in a moment.
18:47We've got energy to come, but what's coming in, JK?
18:49Lots coming in on social,
18:50but people are very happy you're doing this show for this time of year.
18:53Very, very useful to do the bill busting.
18:55But Rita is in the studio.
18:57She's got a question for you.
18:58Hello, Rita.
18:58Hello.
19:00Everybody's talking about haggling.
19:01You've been talking about it all the time.
19:04I don't haggle.
19:05What are the magic words I need to say in order to get a positive result?
19:11The truth.
19:13Why do you want a cheaper price?
19:15I want you and your neighbour there, Lisa, who we were talking to earlier,
19:18I both want you to think about that.
19:19I'm going to ask you in a moment to do that.
19:21First, though, I want to inspire all of those of you who are scared to haggle.
19:24I want you to watch this film about someone who did it for the first time.
19:28Charity worker Aoife lives in Cambridge with her 13-year-old cockapoo, Alfie.
19:35I was diagnosed with autism when I was 19.
19:38I am a real stickler for routine.
19:41I hate change.
19:42Change is the worst.
19:43I was on an 18-month contract with my broad brand provider, and it was starting to come
19:49to an end, and I just got an email from them saying, your new bill will be, and then there
19:54was just a really big number in the email.
19:56That's more than double what I currently pay.
19:59So I was originally paying £40 a month, and it was going to go up to £87.51.
20:05I think it can be very stressful to receive that kind of email, and I think it can make
20:09you feel trapped, like there's nothing you can do and there's nowhere you can go.
20:13So I was watching the Martin Lewis Money Show around about the time that my contract
20:16was due to come up, so it was really good timing.
20:18Pretty much every time any kind of broadband contract comes up on the show, he always reminds
20:23everyone to haggle, so that definitely gave me the confidence.
20:26I didn't really know what to say, but I used the sort of suggestive phrases that Martin gave,
20:30and that really helped me prepare so I knew what to ask and how to ask it in a kind of
20:35polite and respectful way.
20:37So I haggled the price of my broadband down from the higher £87 a month back down to £40
20:44a month, which is what I was paying before.
20:48Over the course of my 18-month contract, I will have saved £855.
20:55I would just say, you might as well give it a try.
20:59Just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
21:01APPLAUSE
21:03Well done, Aoife.
21:07And I should say, I do say to haggle, but equally you're perfectly happy if you just want
21:11to switch, switch, it can often be cheaper.
21:13Haggling's for those who want to stay where they are.
21:15Now you two were watching that, she managed to do it, it didn't work out too hard.
21:18I'm going to go through my tips now and come back to you for a second.
21:21Let's bring up, let's do a big briefing too on haggling.
21:27Here we go. So I'm going to give you nine haggling tips, but for you, I'll do it in eight.
21:30So, what we're talking about here is call centre hagglings.
21:34This isn't about haggling on the high street, this is about these mature industries,
21:37who everybody's already got a product, so the way they make money is either by charging you more
21:41or by winning customers from other companies and by retaining their own customers.
21:46And that's why you are holstering a huge weapon near the end of your contract.
21:50They are desperate to retain you and keep your loyalty.
21:53So this is my poll that I did on the top call centre haggle sectors.
21:57These are for people who try to haggle the percentage success rates back in December last year,
22:02so only a month or so ago. The biggest sector easily break down cover.
22:08Now, every firm that's mentioned here has a higher percentage success rate than the average for the sector.
22:13AA and RAC are in the 80s percent. That means over four in five people who tried succeeded.
22:20Of course, this is when you're at near the end or out of contract.
22:23You're not going to be able to haggle if you're mid-contract. There's nothing you can do.
22:26Broadband and TV is next. Virgin Media, TalkTalk, 71 percent average for the sector.
22:31Mobile, 64 percent. Sounds lower, doesn't it? We're still nearly two in three people succeed.
22:37The vast majority succeed. And insurance, AA, Hastings Direct and Admiral, 64 percent.
22:42So what are you doing? First thing, benchmark the best deal available to you.
22:46Very importantly available to you. So don't just say I've seen this deal on a telly programme.
22:50I mean, if it's broadband, it's postcode specific. All the broadband deals I mentioned before are postcode specific.
22:56So go and check what's available where you are and take them that deal because it's practical that you can get it.
23:01And then ask them to match or even beat it. Next is you need to know your reason.
23:06What's your haggle reason before you call up? It's over the budget I'm willing to spend.
23:11I'd have to cancel or it's so much cheaper elsewhere. I can't justify paying it.
23:15So why do you want a cheaper price, Lisa?
23:19Basically because it usually doesn't fit with my budget, fit into my budget, the yearly budget.
23:25And I'll just say, well, is that the best that you can do?
23:28But I would say to them, I'm calling up. You've come to my renewal. The price has gone up.
23:32It's above my budget. I don't want to lose your service. I like it, but I can't afford it.
23:37I'd like to see what we could work out. It's not lying. It's not anything. It's just the truth.
23:42What's your reason for haggling? I feel that they shouldn't have offered me a higher price to start off with
23:49if they've got a big wiggle margin and I want to get that better deal from them.
23:55Well, I wouldn't use that one because you're starting to get into moral arguments with people.
23:59I would simply say you're more expensive than I can get it elsewhere as a new customer,
24:03but I like your service. I don't want to leave you. Can you help me stay?
24:07These are all perfectly legitimate opening phrases. We're not aggressive. We're not confrontational.
24:12You know, very important. I'll be coming to that a bit more.
24:14And if you have no joy, the powerhouse move here is asked to cancel
24:19because what they refer to us as customer disconnections is internally called customer retentions.
24:26Those are the departments whose job is to keep you. The people in those departments have more discretion.
24:31They have more ability generally to be able to give you a discount. So you want to go through to
24:36disconnections if you're not getting anywhere in the first instance. Now, they know I'm saying this.
24:39They know it's going to be happening a lot over the next couple of weeks. You know, it's no surprise.
24:43So they may call your bluff and say, OK, we'll cancel you. If you do say, all right,
24:47I was hoping you were going to give me a deal because I don't really want to cancel. I just need it to be cheaper.
24:51I need to talk to my husband, my wife, my budgie, whatever it is, it doesn't matter.
24:55And I'll call you back and make an actual decision on it. So don't worry if they call your bluff.
24:59Let's scroll up. We've got three more to go. If you fail, try again in a few days.
25:05Different person, different time, may get a different result because of crucially the next one.
25:10I always want you to be polite and charming. Never rude. Call centre people won't be happy
25:14me saying this because I'm going to make them busy, but please don't be aggressive.
25:18They have a right to say, this is our price. Take it or leave it. That's perfectly legitimate of them.
25:22You shouldn't be angry with them for doing so. And more so, I have often heard that some
25:27operatives have discount quotas. The individual has a quota on how many discounts they can do
25:33a day. This is why we're charming. Think of it as financial flirtation, not in a bad way,
25:37in a nice way. You know, you want them to want to be, you're the person they're going to give the
25:44discount to. You want them to want to give it to you because they like you, they understand you.
25:47That's what the conversation's there. And finally, if none of this works, ditch and switch.
25:52Just as they don't have to give you a discount, you don't have to stay with their company if
25:57someone else is doing it cheaper. In which case, switch. Does that help at all?
26:00Yeah, very much. Absolutely. Thank you. I wish you the best of luck. Let us know how it goes. Maybe
26:04we'll have you come back and tell us how it went. Got some successes here on Hagelin Martin. We
26:08reduced our broadband and TV package deal by nearly £20. Ours to be put through to the retention team,
26:13who gave us an excellent deal. Nearly £240 better off a year for that. We also cut out landlines,
26:20and we never used and ensured that we got the broadband speed and channels that we actually
26:24needed. So that's good for Miriam. Well done. Bright and charming Nova system works wonders.
26:31Perfect. I'm really loving all these Hagelin successes, but I do want to speak to Sandra.
26:35She was on our virtual wall and she's got a question on water bills. Hiya, Sandra.
26:40Hi there. Yes, I do on the water bill. So my water bill every year has been less than £300 a year.
26:55Less than £300. Now my water bill has gone from £300 a year to £1,400 a year. Now they said to me that I
27:07may have a leak in the property. There's no leak in my house, none at all, and my landlords are not
27:14going to come and fix something that isn't broken. So that's it. So they said that they can have someone
27:21come out and look at it and see if there's a problem. But other than that, they're just saying,
27:28I'd have to pay the bill. Now, if there is a leak, and my understanding is that Thames Water offer,
27:36they have a fund for leakages. If you've got a leak, they've got funding that will pay for that leak.
27:42But I wasn't offered even if they said I have a leak. I wasn't offered that or it wasn't even
27:48suggested. So I'm just assuming they believe I don't have a leak. But I just don't know how my bill can go.
27:54OK. I need to check, Sandra, I'm presuming you're on a water meter, yes?
28:00Correct. Because that's why, so yeah, I mean, look, a leak is the, a leak or a faulty meter would be the
28:05obvious thing. One thing I would try is I'd try turning off the stop cop, turning off the mains
28:09water, seeing if the meter is still ticking along. Try absolutely walking around, making sure nothing is
28:14turned on in the flat and see if the meter is still going up. Those would hopefully indicate a leak, but it
28:20may not be because it may only be a leak that goes through a certain pipe. I'm afraid a plumber is going to have
28:23to check that, not me. But there are some other things I want to go through for you and everybody
28:27else. You're on a meter. Let's go through the things that you need to do on saving water. I'll
28:31come back to Sandra in a moment. Water bills, three ways to save. Now look, bills are to rise an average
28:3620% from April in England and Wales. Scotland hasn't announced that. It varies by firm. In the worst
28:42area, it's up 44%. In the best area, it's down 3%. These are set by Offwatt. Now, what it said in its
28:49press release is, this 36% rise over five years, it's for cleaner rivers and seas and better drinking
28:55water. Now, I thought the way they announced this frustrated me somewhat. Because 36% rise over five
29:02years, you'd think it's about 6% a year, because that would get you up to 30% over five years. But no,
29:07it's 20% in the first year. They've front-loaded it, so you're going to pay a lot more from April.
29:12And then because they've front-loaded it each of the next four years, you're going to pay a lot more than
29:16you would have done if it was an equal rise. So let's think of it as 20% average rise going up
29:22this April. What do you do? Well, if you're in England and Wales, the question is, can you switch
29:25to a free water meter? The bills, water bills you get are based on the rateable value of your home.
29:30You're pre-poll tax what your home could roughly be rented out for, which is a proxy for what your
29:35house is worth. So big house, big bills. So if you're a low user in a big house, a meter is likely
29:43better for you. Here's my rule of thumb. I've done it many times before. You will have seen
29:47this before. Here we go. Here's Jeanette and I's house. There we go. We share it together.
29:51It's our virtual house. There's me playing Monopoly, if you watch the board games program,
29:56in the bedroom. And there's Jeanette in a mastermind chair, which she keeps lovingly there.
30:00CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
30:02So, here's the question. How many bedrooms? One, two, three bedrooms. How many people? One,
30:06two people. More or the same number of bedrooms than people? Three bedrooms, two people.
30:11You are likely to be better off on a water meter. The next step is you go to the Consumer
30:16Council for Water's website. There's the link there, ccwater.org.uk. If you do change to a
30:21water meter, by the way, in most cases, you have up to two years if you change voluntarily,
30:25not if they compulsorily change you, two years to change back. But a few companies don't allow it,
30:29so check before you do. If they can't fit a meter, well, you can ask for an assessed charge,
30:34which is where they tell you what they think you'd pay if you were on a water meter. And then if that's
30:38cheaper than your bill, you take that. If it's not cheaper than your bill, you stick on your water
30:41bill. And just before you move on to that, we had a success on that from Linda. She says,
30:45I'd like to send a huge thanks for your advice on water bills. Single person living in a three-bedroom
30:50house and my water bill was £42 a month. I switched to a water meter and now I'm only paying £11.50 a
30:56month. A huge saving of over £30 a month, so it's all healthy. It's why I call it the forgotten
31:03utility. I've had people save over £1,000 a year by switching to a water meter. Now, next. 5.7
31:09million eligible homes are missing out on water discounts. Social tariffs. These are for people on
31:15low incomes under £21,000 a year or benefits, and you can pay up to £90 left. Sandra, I'm just
31:20wondering, because I think it was mentioned to me, you're not on the highest income. Would you be able to
31:25qualify, do you think, potentially on a social tariff to get a cheaper bill there? So on a lower income?
31:33I would think so. I would think so. But I just think that the... I just think it's just too...
31:42It's just too high. It's just... OK. I think we need to separate these issues, Sandra. Forgive me,
31:48we need to separate them. You should be, if you're eligible for a social tariff, we should get you on a
31:52social tariff. There's clearly a problem with your water usage as well. Now, social tariff,
31:57whatever happens, will lower the bill, if you're allowed on it. Sorting your water usage in the leak,
32:01absolutely. I'm going to get in touch with the firm and discuss with them what we can do to get you
32:05some help on this after the show in terms of the leak. But you should be applying for a social tariff
32:10anyway with the firm to see if whatever water you're using, you could pay less, and hopefully that will
32:15help you and come forward. There's another scheme... Sorry, they're pushing me on time. There's another scheme,
32:20the Watershore scheme, which is for people who have medical conditions like Crohn's disease that
32:24needs a lot of water, you need to use water a lot, or you've got three or more children and you're on
32:29benefits. So that's an either or and an and. You could have your bills capped. Do we have anything on
32:35that? Erm... Yeah, we've got Louise here. Yeah. So I wanted to give you a successful story. I looked into
32:41social water tariff. I'm now on a low income and live alone with two teenage girls. I also have Crohn's
32:46disease. I work full-time and I'm on certain benefits. I was paying £40 a month from now
32:51I'm paying £29 a month. So that's really, really good for us. It's a small saving, but it'll do.
32:57So, and to finish, can you cut your water usage? It mainly helps if you're on a water meter,
33:01but also because much of the water we use is heated, it'll help cut your energy bills too.
33:05Go to savewatersavemoney.co.uk to see what water freebies are available, like a narrated showerhead for you.
33:10There are lots of other ways to cut your usage online. I don't have time now,
33:13they're really telling you to hurry up. You know, run the tap. When you're running the tap
33:16up to temperature, if you're going to water the garden, water some plants, fill it up as
33:20you're running the tap or turn off the shower while you soap up, you know, so you soap up and
33:24then turn it back on. And finally, if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.
33:32By the way, if you've got the soak away cesspit pool or a big garden, you may be able to reclaim the
33:36drainage charge because you're not, not, the water isn't being filtered away, so you don't need to pet.
33:40Okay. That's it for me. They're telling us to get to break. They are telling us to get to break.
33:43So up next, 80% of you are overpaying for your energy and Martin's going to give you to try and stop
33:48that. So we'll see you after the break.
33:50Welcome back to our Bill Buster special. Let's pick up with energy. And we've got this question
34:06here from Richard. Happy New Year, Martin. Are energy bills going up again in April? Not sure
34:11whether to fix or not. Well, I'm about to come on to that now, but spoiler. Yes, they are. And yes,
34:18you should. Play the big briefing stick.
34:22Okay. 80% of homes are overpaying for their energy. This is England, Scotland,
34:26and Wales. Northern Ireland has a different system. You need to go and look that up.
34:29People are overpaying there too. This is all about, are you on a price capped tariff? If so,
34:36you are overpaying and you will continue to do so. So who is on it? You're not on the price cap
34:42if you are on a fix currently or you have actively chosen a specialist tariff that you are on. Who's
34:49on a fix or on a specialist tariff in here? Okay, quite a lot of you again. You've come to the
34:54audience here. You're likely to be more than the average on that. You are on a price cap tariff if
34:58like 80% of homes, most of you, you're on a firm standard tariff. So you haven't switched in years or
35:05you were on a fix or a special tariff and it ended and you came off it and you did nothing. If you're not
35:10sure, you're almost certainly on the standard tariff. To help you, here are the names. British
35:14Gas, EDF, Scottish Power call theirs the standard variable tariff. That's your tariff name if you're
35:19on the price cap. Octopus calls it Flexible Eon Flex. OVO calls it Simpler Energy. If you're on those,
35:27you are on a priced cap tariff. Now the energy price cap rose 1% a couple of weeks ago on the 1st of
35:32January. That's on top of the 10% rise in October. Almost all firms, it's called a cap, it's really a bit
35:40a lock in. They charge the maximum or very near the maximum. So if you're on a price cap tariff,
35:46you're paying the rates that off Gem sets for you to pay. So to go with what Richard was saying,
35:53let's have a look at the state of the nation. Time for the energy graph. Here you go. We've all seen
35:57this before. Prices dropped last winter. They came down again. They bottomed out in July. Then they went
36:04up in October. Then they went up again. And the current price cap, it changes every three months.
36:08It lasts until April. Now, when we finished in December, this is what was being predicted for the
36:15price cap back then. It was going to come down slightly in April and slightly a bit after that.
36:19This isn't going to be good. Let's watch week by week, because these predictions come out week by
36:24week, what has happened to the predictions since then. Watch the numbers change and the line change.
36:29Here you go. So that's where we are now. The prediction is it's going to go up three percent
36:42in April. Then down slightly, but still more than we are now. This is the EDF prediction. Down slightly
36:48when we get to July. Down up again in October. So roughly where we are. Now, I need to say the predictions
36:54depends on what you're assuming off gem does. I've got an EON prediction. This prediction was out today.
37:00An EON prediction as well from today. EON's predicting it's going to be even higher than that.
37:06British Gas is somewhere in between, but slightly higher afterwards. Now, the important thing to
37:09understand, the April price, it's based on wholesale rates over a set period. That period is the middle of
37:14November to the middle of February. We are two thirds of the way through the assessment period. In other words,
37:21one's saying up three percent, one's saying up five percent. One thing you know is happening in April,
37:27up. It's going up. And somewhere probably between there, because it would be wholesale rates. The world would
37:33have to need some massive worldwide catastrophe for energy prices to drop so much that it was going to bring
37:37it down in April when we're two thirds of the way through the assessment period. And it's an average rate over
37:41the period. The further out you go, the more crystal ball gazing it is. But look, I think once you get to July on what
37:47they're looking at the moment, it'd be very unlikely for it to be dropping substantially in July, although you've
37:50seen that predictions change week by week. And then once you get out further out, it's difficult. So this
37:55is the key thing to remember with where I'm going. The prices I'm going to talk about now, the differences
38:00are based on today's price cap. But if you're on the price cap, the likelihood is you won't be paying
38:06today's price cap coming forward. You will be paying more. Let's move. Next one. Okay. So what's a fix?
38:14It's what Richard asked about. A fix gives you peace of mind that you lock in a set rate. Though of course,
38:19if you use more, you pay more. It's the rate, not the total cost that is locked in. The cheapest fixes
38:24now are 5% under the current price cap. Today's price cap. So if it goes up 5% in April, they're 10%
38:33cheaper than the prospective April price cap. And you are locked in for 12 to 18 months with no price
38:40rises, giving you peace of mind. You know what you'll pay. If you wanted to get out, if things move the
38:44other way, shockingly in the future, I think it's unlikely they're going to move down a lot, then you'd pay the
38:4850 quid of fuel exit penalty that you're locked in for. And you can get out of them. It costs you but if prices
38:53came down so much, you could. Now most, many people always say this to me, don't require a smart meter of the
38:57cheap fixes at the moment. They can ask for one, but most of the cheapest ones don't. And if, while you can't
39:03normally fix it if you're on prepay, EDF's fix, cheap fix allows smart prepay switches. Your cheapest fix
39:10and the rate you pay depends on where you live and how much you use. So I want you to go onto a whole
39:14of market comparison site, especially one that's whole of market by default. What do I mean by that?
39:19Most comparison sites get paid if they switch them on and they hide the ones that don't pay them.
39:24You'll find a small tick at the bottom of the site saying, show me all tariffs, see all tariffs,
39:28or go onto one. There aren't many, but go onto one that's whole of market by default and acts in the
39:33right way in the first place. But don't just look at the ones that are paying them when you do and do
39:37a comparison. Five percent less saving instantly and locking yourself in without the very strongly
39:43predicted future price rises. We're being ripped off on energy if you stay on the pants cap. Get off the
39:49pants cap. We were speaking about haggling earlier. Can you haggle on energy? Not really, because the prices
39:57are so complicated they're pretty much locked in. I'll tell you what happens. People say,
40:00oh, I got the price down. What actually happens, they don't change the rate. If you haggle,
40:04they'll just lower your direct debit. But of course, you're still going to pay what you use for.
40:08You'll probably just have to catch up the lower direct debit. So I've very rarely heard of energy
40:13firms offering you a cheaper price, an actually cheaper rate, because it's such a complicated
40:17industry. If you're no different, get in touch with me. I'd love to see the proof that you can haggle.
40:20But generally, no, you want to be doing a comparison and finding the cheapest and the right
40:24provider for you. OK, so now, how do you want energy? Thank you very much. It worked up then.
40:28It did. Well, yeah. After the break, it's Martin's news. You can use £175 cash to switch banks,
40:35two-for-one pizza, free Lego and loads more. We'll see you shortly.
40:38Hello, welcome back to the last part of our Billbuster special. Margaret over there was
40:55just asking me in the break about what's happening to standing charges. I haven't got long,
40:58but I'm going to try and summarise it for you. Look, the regulator came out just after our last
41:02show in December and said, we're not going to be dropping standing charges on the price cap. I've
41:07been campaigning vociferously for it. I think it's a poll tax on energy bills. But they have taken up
41:11my suggestion to try and work with, that we have two price caps. You have one price cap as now,
41:15which has standing charges and lower unit rates, and then they ask companies to do a lower standing
41:21charges and higher unit rates one, which will be cheaper for lower users. I'm now lobbying that
41:26especially vulnerable customers, and hopefully everyone, is defaulted to whichever is the cheaper
41:31tariff for them, but at least vulnerable customers are. I haven't got time to go through it in detail.
41:35I hope that gives you a mini update. That probably won't happen until the end of the year. Once we
41:38get closer, I'll give you a better update on standing charges. It's frustrating. I know many of you are
41:43interested in it, but I hope that just gives you a soupçon of what's going on. Okay. We have not
41:47got much time, so straight into news you can use, please. Okie doke.
41:52Right. You can currently get free cash for switching bank. Many of you are working through your finances,
41:56so you may as well make sure your banking's working well, too. You've got to use the seven working day
42:01switch service, so it takes about 10 days to go through and practice. It'll close your old account
42:05for you, auto-forward any payments made to that old account, move across your direct debits, move
42:10across your standing orders for you. Most find it really easy to do. You will have a not too harsh
42:15credit check to get the new bank account, and do check their minimum pay-in and eligibility rules,
42:20because I don't have time to go through all that. What have we got? Well, top service regularly,
42:23first direct. It's giving you £175. New customers, £175 as all of them are for switching. They're all
42:29newbies. 91% great service, a 7% regular saver. You can put up to £300 a month in. It's got a top
42:35card for spending overseas. It's a debit card, so, you know, you don't pay any exchange rate difference.
42:40You just pay the perfect exchange rate on the day, and most get a £250 0% overdraft. An all-rounder,
42:46nationwide, also £175 for free. Gives you 5% interest and up to £1,500 in easy access. 1% cash back for
42:5312 months, up to a maximum £5 a month on your debit card spending, and it's got a 6.5% regular
42:58saver, though the maximum is lower than first direct, so the interest is actually quite a bit
43:02lower over the year. And finally, if you've got a bills account, or good for a joint bills account,
43:06this, you have, and my New Year's resolution is to say this right, Santander. Well done. Yes.
43:10Santander Edge account, which gives you a free £150. You pay it £3 a month, but you get cash back on
43:17your bills, up to a max £10 a month, 1% cash back and bills paid for it by direct debit. You also get 1% cash back
43:22on grocery or travel cash back, up to another £10 a month, a maximum £20 a month. That easily
43:27covers the fee and more, so people are mostly making money. You've got a 6% easy access savings,
43:32so that's a lump sum you can put in, which means it's better than the other two. Maximum £4,000,
43:36and it's also got a top overseas spending debit card. So unless your bank account's making you happy
43:40right now, why not take a look at what's out there, get paid to switch, possibly improve the service,
43:43or get paid when you're paying your bills. And Tati has done exactly that. Have a look at this.
43:48Thanks to you, I made £800 last year for just switching a bank account around. I'm earning
43:53at least 5.2% on my savings. Keep up the good work. Well done, Tati.
43:59So, you've got to be able to keep moving them to different accounts to do that. Some people have
44:04mule accounts they do it with, but I've got no time to talk about that now. I've talked about it
44:08before. You'll have to go and look it up. Now, have you got time for a quickie? I'm not sure we do.
44:11I've got five for you. I'm going to have to talk quick. There's a new topic of your savings
44:13account, 5.05% variable. Cash ISA is just a tax-free savings account. That's all it is.
44:18You can put up to 20 grand a year in. Currently, the top cash ISA pays more than the top easy access
44:22savings. So if you've not used your ISA, you may as well use it because it's going to pay more interest.
44:25Trading 212's cash ISA. Now, it's made up of a 4.9% standard rate and a newbies bonus of 0.15%.
44:32Only available via four websites. They're big websites, informational comparison type websites.
44:38For compliance reasons, I can't name them. I'm sure you'll be able to work out where they are or find them
44:41on one of those sites somewhere. Top normal savings, unlimited withdrawals. You see Monument 4.55,
44:47but you need 25k in there or Synergy 4.5, minimum £1. So you can see it's about half a percent
44:52better than the best normal savings. So on up to 20 grand, don't use ISA, use that. Next,
44:56build and take home a LEGO City toy worth about £4.50. Saturday and Sunday, slightly longer hours
45:01on Saturday in England, Scotland and Wales in 19 LEGO stores in the major town city centres. Do check it
45:06out. It's going to be very popular. So go early. I'm not sure I'd want to go myself. I'll be honest.
45:09It's going to be very busy in there. There are a million travel odd dreams for £35 or less. It's
45:13trial and error to find them. It's for stays this year, 2025, not in London and Northern Ireland.
45:18It's best if you're flexible. I don't mean you can put your leg behind your head. I mean,
45:22you can go on different dates. Scroll up. I've got to do two more in 30 seconds.
45:25Ending on Monday, 50% off train tickets on the rail cell. It's government-backed.
45:27Discounts on advance and off-peak sales. 17th of January, 31st of March. So London to Sheffield is an
45:32example for £20. And finally, restaurant vouchers are back because they haven't got many customers in
45:35January. Two for one for a pound. Pizzas in Pizza Express till the 30th of January. So it's a full
45:39price classic called Ligara Pizza. You get another for a quid. You do it by the Pizza Express app,
45:44or you go to Pizza Express and you get a code online. I'm finished.
45:47It's actually, it's like watching sport. Like watching sport. But that's all for now. Next
45:58week. The poll. The poll's online. What's on for next week? The poll's online. Next week,
46:02it's all about cutting the cost of your credit cards and loans. Thank you to the team here. I'm sorry
46:05we've run out of time for the poll. Go and look online. Thanks to the audience. Bye-bye.
46:08Well, they've only been in the villa a couple of days and it looks like there's already trouble in
46:19paradise. All new Love Island All Stars continues next over on ITV2. Here with us on ITV1 next tonight,
46:26we're heading inside M&S at New Year.
46:38Bye-bye.
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