Already chosen the mobile contract that you want? You could be making a big mistake. The wrong mobile contract could end up costing you big time. So before you sign, you might want to read on and find out what you could be doing wrong...
Buy Mobile Phones Yourself, Not on Contract
The major mistake that costs many people on a contract is the signing of what's known as an incentive contract. Mobile operators offer two kinds of contract. A SIM only contract contains a calling plan for service, whilst an incentive contract has a calling plan and a mobile phone. Whether or not you get that phone for free or have to pay a down payment on it you will, over the course of your contract, pay far more than retail price for the phone, meaning it's cheaper to buy mobile phones yourself. These incentive phones are simply phones that are bought on an instalment plan. The monthly bill for an incentive contract is higher than the monthly bill for a SIM only contract, even though both those contracts may have the same calling plan. This extra cost reflects the instalment that you're paying on your phone. Add up all the instalments and you'll see that you're paying more than the value of the phone that you get. Skip signing incentive contracts, sign SIM only instead and buy a mobile phone outright to get better long term savings.
Your Calling Plan is Key
You might think that you're choosing the right calling plan, but are you really sure? The wrong plan will cost you money. A calling plan is made up of three parts. There'll be a limit for the amount of calling minutes you can use, a limit for the amount of text messages that you can send, and a limit for the amount of mobile data that you can use. Estimating these limits wrongly will lead to you paying more than you should. If the limits on your plan are too high for you then you're going to end up paying for services that you're not using. This is because you have to pay the same monthly fee for using all your minutes, texts and data as you do for using half, or even none, of them. Don't thing that that means choosing a small plan is better though. If you exceed the limits of your calling plan you will have to pay your normal monthly payment plus premium rates for any extra minutes, texts and data that you have used. Estimating the size of the calling plan that you need is tough. Try looking at some old mobile bills if you have any, since these should tell you what your average usage is like. Or maybe even get a pay as you go plan for a few weeks and track your usage so that you can choose the appropriate plan. Most operators will let you change your calling plan even after your contract is signed, but you'll probably have to pay a fee in order to do this, so it's a better idea to choose correctly the first time.
Is Your Contract the Right Length?
You actually have a choice of contract duration with all operators, though the advertised contracts that you see are generally for twenty four months. The law in the UK requires that operators offer a twelve month contract option. Some operators will give you an eighteen month option too, and some SIM only contracts are known as thirty day rolling contracts. That means that the contract is for only thirty days but that it will automatically renew every month until you tell the operator to stop your service. The length of your contract can affect how much you pay. With many operators the longer your contract is the lower your monthly payments are. The operator gives you a discount for a longer contract because they're guaranteed your custom and therefore your payment for a longer period of time. But even though a longer contract is usually cheaper, you still might want to consider a shorter one. When you sign a mobile contract you should be prepared to stick with that contract until it ends, because breaking a mobile contract can be exceptionally expensive. Two years is a long time to agree to use the same service. This will mean that you need to wait longer to take advantage of better deals, either from your operator or from another company. Also, circumstances can change. Things like moving house, having a baby, graduating from university or losing your job can all affect your ability to pay the monthly bill that you've agreed to. Choose the length that suits you
best, but you will get savings by signing longer contracts.
Did You Read the Terms and Conditions?
Everybody knows that you should read the small print on a contract before signing, yet when it comes to mobile contracts, few people bother. Before you sign that contract go to your operator's web page and read their terms and conditions, you might be glad that you did. There are a couple of things that you'll want to look for. The first thing you should look for is under which conditions you can cancel the contract. Some operators will let you cancel contracts for no fee providing you can prove certain circumstances. Other operators will let you cancel a contract for no reason at all and for free within a specified period of signing. You should know what these conditions are just in case you need to use them. The other thing that you should take note of is what you should do if your mobile phone is lost or stolen. Particularly if your phone is stolen you do not want to be responsible for paying charges run up by the thief. Different operators have different procedures surrounding this situation, so make sure that you know what to do should the occasion arise, since this could end up saving you a fortune.
About the Author- When Sam Jones was looking to buy mobile phones he knew he would have to shop around for the best deal. He went online and compared prices using uSwitch and other similar sites and managed to get a really great deal
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