Pensioners are overpaying for their mobile phones by as much as £87million every year, according to new research, as big UK mobile network operators continue to charge millions of customers for handsets that have already been paid off.
More than six in ten over 65s say that their bundled mobile contract expired over 12 months ago, meaning they’ve spent more than a year unknowingly paying for handsets they already own, according to research by Virgin Media O2. On average, this is costing affected retirees over £170 per year, which for some is more than a week’s state pension payment.
The practice of combining airtime costs for minutes, texts and data with the cost of the handset – known as a bundled contract - can lead to consumers overpaying for their smartphones as they receive little discount, if any, at the end of their contract yet continue to be charged the same amount each month. Older people are particularly at risk of falling foul of this, with one in five unclear when their mobile phone contract ends.
