Original article ISPreview UK:Read More
A new study by comparison site Go.Compare, which used data gathered from the ONS, internal data and a YouGov survey of 2,000 UK adults in May 2025, has claimed that over 77% of broadband users don’t switch ISPs as regularly as would be ideal to maximise their savings. Plus, of those users, 6% don’t switch more often because they forget to look for a better deal.
The survey thus claims that many UK households could be missing out on an average saving of up to £58 on their yearly broadband bill, provided they switched to the cheapest deal available for the same speeds. This is very roughly said to equate to £76.6 million worth of savings being “up for grabs nationwide“.
The survey also noted that women were twice as likely to forget to look out for cheaper broadband deals (i.e. 8% of women who don’t switch regularly gave forgetfulness as a reason, compared to 4% of men). Age is another factor, with 1 in 10 of those aged under-35 who don’t switch regularly stating that forgetfulness was the reason why, which compares with 4% of over-54s.
Additional Survey Highlights
➤ 39% said convenience was the most common reason for not changing providers more often (i.e. it’s easier to keep their current ISP), despite Ofcom’s new One Touch Switching process making it a lot easier.
➤ 37% said they won’t switch if their current provider has been highly reliable.
➤ 16% admitted they didn’t think they’d be able to find a cheaper deal.
➤ 15% said their provider delivers good customer service or that their package includes a TV deal they want to keep.
➤ 22% said they usually switch when their provider increases prices, while 1 in 10 said they would do so if their service becomes too unreliable and 2% said they would switch if their provider starts slowing their speeds.
Naturally, it’s important to take opinion surveys like this with a big pinch of salt (i.e. small sample sizes and limited questioning), although it does on the flip side help to highlight that not all consumers are as focused on making savings as comparison sites like Go.Compare (with a big vested interest) would perhaps like us to believe.
Clearly a history of good reliability, service and convenience remain big factors in switching decisions too, which is fair enough. At the end of the day, if you’re happy with your current ISP then it may be better to trying haggling for a lower price (more likely to work with bigger ISPs than smaller ones) – Retentions Tips. The best time to haggle is usually around the end of your contract, or following a mid-contract price hike, but it never hurts to ask and the worse they can do is say no.
However, it’s important to underline that not all ISPs are the same. Some adopt fairly standard pricing and avoid discounts, which means that haggling won’t get you very far because both new and existing customers will already be paying the same or a similar amount. But most people tend to use larger ISPs, where first term discounts are much more common, and this can result in a wide cost difference between new and old subscribers.