CHECK your elderly relatives’ accounts as they could be wasting hundreds on their internet bills.
Many of the best offers are available online instantly which may leave those less tech-savvy missing out, as I found out with my own nan this weekend.
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This won’t be the case for every elderly person, in fact I know plenty of seniors who are very well-versed with their phone and other gadgets.
But my own nanny, who just celebrated her 79th birthday, isn’t quite so confident with the tech.
And quite severe arthritis on her fingers makes it all the more difficult.
So, when I went to visit this weekend she told me the shocking amount she was paying for her TV, broadband and phone services.
Read more about broadband
For the basic Virgin Media package, 132Mbps speed broadband and a phone line with free calls for weekends, she was paying £63.
“It’s gone up again,” she told me.
It’s a situation Brits have become all too familiar with.
Most of us tend to look online for a new deal or give them a call.
While the latter is probably preferred by my nan that’s still a bit of a daunting process for her.
So, I asked her if I could take a look.
The first hurdle was getting into the account online, seeing as she couldn’t remember the password but not to worry as a quick reset sorted that out.
I was expecting to have to talk to an agent via the web chat – or worse, call up.
Instead, to my surprise, there was an alert saying that her current contract had expired and that she should renew.
I assumed there might be some unwanted extras but no.
Virgin Media were offering the same products for £33 instead of the £63 she was now paying.
With a 24 month contract, that’s a huge £720 saving across the entire period which is substantial.
Now, we could have probably saved more by changing to a new broadband provider and switching my nan over to Freeview.
But she’s familiar with the Virgin box she has and the less change for her the better.
She was really chuffed that I saved her so much money with such ease.
So, if you have elderly family or relatives who are less tech savvy it’s well worth checking in on their accounts as you could save them a heap.
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How to save on broadband and TV bills
HERE’S how to save money on your broadband and TV bills:
Audit your subscriptions
If you’ve got multiple subscriptions to various on-demand services, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Sky consider whether you need them all.
Could you even just get by with Freeview, which couldn’t cost you anything extra each month for TV.
Also make sure you’re not paying for Netflix twice via Sky and directly.
Haggle for a discount
If you want to stay with your provider, check prices elsewhere to set a benchmark and then call its customer services and threaten to leave unless it price matches or lowers your bill.
Switch and save
If you don’t want to stay with your current provider check if you can cancel your contract penalty free and switch to a cheaper provider.
A comparison site, such as BroadbandChoices or Uswitch, will help you find the best deal for free.
