Online calculator reveals how a lot YOU’RE overpaying in your family payments – and tips on how to save as much as £780

A new online calculator has revealed how much you could be overpaying on your household bills – and where you can save hundreds of pounds each year.

Nine out of 10 UK households pay more than they need to on their bills – often due to ‘loyalty tax’ which sees long-standing customers charged more than new ones.

Families could be wasting hundreds every year, especially if they are out of contract on their services, experts from smart money-saving tool Nous.co have warned. 

A typical person who is out of contract on their mobile, broadband and energy pays £781 a year more than they need to on bills, according to Nous.co analysis. 

Greg Marsh, household finance expert and CEO of Nous, said: ‘Almost all of us are paying far more than we need to on our bills, and don’t even realise it’s costing us many hundreds of pounds every year.

‘The thing is – it’s not our fault. The system is set up to be confusing and complicated.

‘Suppliers make it deliberately difficult to see if we’re getting a fair price, or if we’re paying for services we don’t need.

‘Unless we spend hours every month checking contracts and comparing deals, we end up overpaying.’ 

Rob Lock (pictured with his family), from Shrewsbury, discovered he had wasted £1,000 a year on his bills without realising

He added: ‘We regularly save our customers hundreds of pounds a year on bills because they didn’t have the time or headspace to stay on top of things.

‘Often they had no idea how much they were wasting until we saved them the money.’

One father told how he discovered he had wasted £1,000 a year on his bills without realising. 

Rob Lock, from Shrewsbury, hadn’t spent time checking if he was paying a fair price for his contracts and whether better deals were available. 

When he discovered Nous, a smart AI assistant that saves households money on their bills, he discovered he was overpaying by a total of £1,029 across his broadband, phone and energy bills.

After Nous found him better deals and switched him over to new providers, Rob decided to use the money he’d saved to take partner Carrie, 30, on their ‘bucket list holiday of a lifetime’ to Iceland.

He said: ‘It’s been incredible making the savings that I had especially with the phone, I can’t believe what I was paying each month and am so glad to have sorted that now.

Nine out of 10 UK households pay more than they need to on their bills – often due to ‘loyalty tax’ which sees long-standing customers charged more than new ones (Stock photo)

‘We used the money to go off to Iceland and see the northern lights, it was just unreal, bucket list stuff, truly it was the holiday of a lifetime.

‘We just thought it’s not everyday that you’ll save over a grand so might as well use it for something we really want.’

Rob’s biggest overpayment was on his mobile – which was costing him £700 a year alone.

The father-of-one had taken out a contract which included an iPhone and Apple Watch. He had come to the end of the deal but the contract had rolled over – meaning he was essentially paying for the gadgets again.

Nous switched him to a cheap SIM-only deal, saving him £58 a month.

He added: ‘I admit I was probably a bit lackadaisical in terms of just paying my bills and not really analysing if I was getting a great deal or not.

‘I actually wish that Nous had come into my life sooner as they’re brilliant at monitoring everything and continually checking to ensure you’re getting the best deal.’