Martin Lewis has told his followers to carry out a ‘cheeky’ test and send a text to a five digit number – and potentially save hundreds. The personal finance expert said in his opinion there are ‘four steps’ to slashing your mobile phone costs.
And in a new post on X he explained that one key part is sending a simple text message – especially as SIMS are very cheap so people on expensive monthly contracts after buying a phone should change. In many cases the person has actually finished off paying for the handset and is under no obligation to carry on with a crippling epensive contract, he said.
Mr Lewis explained: “There are 4 steps to slashing your mobile phone costs, and right now SIMs are dirt cheap, so if you’re out of contract, it’s worth doing. But what’s interesting is the final step, which sounds like it’s a technical step, does have a hidden bit of money saving magic. The last step in the process once you know where you want to shift your mobile phone custom to, is to text PAC to 65075, it’s free. What that does is request your porting authorization code from your existing mobile phone provider that you can give to the new one so you can move your number across.
“But often when you do this, if you’re out of contract, your existing provider will say, please don’t go, and we’ll actually include in that an offer to keep you. It’s virtually a way of haggling. So sometimes people go, oh, I won’t bother leaving, you’re offering me 20 quid a month off. So if you’re very cheeky and while I’d prefer you to do all four steps, what you could do if you’re out of contract is just text PAC to 65075, pretend that you’re leaving, and see if they offer you a better deal to stay. Let me know how it goes.”
Speaking previously Mr Lewis shared his top tips for mobile customers looking to reduce their bills, highlighting that 14 million people are out of contract and thus have the freedom to switch providers. He pointed out an ‘easy’ method to determine if you’re one of those individuals.
To find out your contract status, Mr Lewis advised: “You text ‘info’ for free to 85075 to check.” For Three customers, he mentioned they would need to provide their date of birth as well. He explained those still under contract may face termination fees, but anyone else is at liberty to hunt for the best deals: “You’re a free agent – you can go and get the cheapest deals, you can cut your costs.”
Mr Lewis then recommended: “Next you do a cheap sim comparison. Most of the deals are not available direct from the mobile phone companies because then they might have to give them to existing customers and are only on comparison sites and they tend to be short-lived.”
Money Show Live viewer Rebecca shared her own experience, stating: “I went to look at SIM only for my daughter, husband and I. We were paying £224 a month for all three contracts. I shopped around to get the best deal and now pay £34 a month for all three saving me £190 a month.”
Martin was clearly taken aback by her savings, commenting: “I know you’re clapping but the problem was how much they were paying in the first place and I bet I can guess what was happening there. You just really need to be aware of this.”
He replied: “This is what happens. People go and get themselves a new iphone. They’re paying £40-£50 a month for it because they’re paying off the phone. The contract’s two years and at the end of the two years the phone is paid off. But if you do nothing they don’t drop the price.”
He warned consumers against overpaying post-contract: “You’re still paying the price as if you’re paying off the handset itself for the tariff which would cost you diddly-squat if you got it on its own.
« That is a massive rip-off – it shouldn’t be allowed, it is allowed. If you’re getting a phone on a contract, the day you’ve paid your phone off you need to be getting a new tariff, even going to the same firm and saying you want to pay less. It’s like having a loan that once you’ve paid it off they keep charging you.”
