How the savings checker works
There is nothing clever going on behind the scenes, and it is worth knowing exactly what the tool is doing so you can judge the answer it gives you.
You tell it one thing that matters and a few that help. The figure that matters is what you pay each month. Everything else is there to make the comparison fair.
- Your monthly cost. Use the full amount you actually pay, including line rental and any extras on the bill. If you compare a bundled price against a broadband-only price, the saving will look bigger than it really is.
- Your current provider.Optional. It lets the results show you where you stand relative to your own provider's current pricing, which is often the most uncomfortable and most useful part.
- TV and phone. Tick these if your bill includes them, and the comparison will only show packages that also include them. Without this you would be comparing a bundle against bare broadband.
- Your current speed. Optional. Give it and the results exclude anything slower than what you have now, so you are not offered a saving that is really a downgrade.
- Your postcode. Optional. It checks Ofcom coverage data for your area and flags any plan that looks faster than your area typically supports, so you are not shown a gigabit package on a street that cannot get one.
The checker then finds current packages that cost less than what you told us, works out the difference each month and multiplies it by twelve. That yearly figure is the number worth paying attention to, because monthly differences of a few pounds look trivial and annual ones rarely do.
Where a provider offers credit towards the exit fees of your existing contract, that is shown alongside the price. It sometimes makes switching worthwhile even before your term has finished.
Why you are probably paying more than you need to
Almost everyone who runs the checker and finds a large saving is in the same position: their contract ended a while ago and nothing happened. That is not carelessness, it is how broadband pricing is designed to work.
The price you signed up on was a discounted introductory rate. When the minimum term ends, that discount stops and you move onto the standard out of contract price. Nobody has to agree to this and no new contract is signed. It simply happens, and then continues indefinitely until you do something about it.
On top of that sits the annual increase. Most providers raise prices once a year, and since January 2025 they have had to tell you the rise in pounds and pence before you sign rather than tying it to inflation. That makes deals easier to compare, but it does not stop the bill climbing year after year.
The result is a widening gap. New customers are quoted a keen price to bring them in, while long-standing customers drift upward on the standard rate. Two households on the same package, on the same street, over the same cable, can pay very different amounts. The difference is usually just how long it has been since either of them last looked.
Your provider does have to write to you between 10 and 40 days before your contract ends, setting out what happens next and what their best available price is. That notice is easy to miss among everything else that arrives by email, and the price in it is rarely the best they can actually do.
Use the result to negotiate, not just to switch
A cheaper deal elsewhere is useful even if you have no intention of leaving. Retention teams hold discounts that are never advertised, and they release them to people who ask with something specific in hand.
A vague complaint that broadband is expensive gets sympathy. A named provider, package and monthly price for your own address gets an offer. That is precisely what the checker gives you, and it takes a couple of minutes to get.
The approach is straightforward. Ask for the retentions or cancellations team, since general customer service usually cannot access those offers. Say what you pay, say what you have been quoted, and ask what they can do. It is also worth asking for things other than a discount, because a faster package at your current price is often easier for a provider to approve, as is a price fixed for the whole term so the annual rise does not apply.
Our guide to negotiating a better broadband deal covers when to call, who to ask for, what to say, and what to do if they will not move.
What the checker does and does not cover
Worth being straight about the limits, because a comparison you understand is more useful than one you have to take on trust.
- It compares against the providers on our panel. That includes large national names and smaller full fibre networks, but it is not every provider in the UK. Treat the result as a solid benchmark rather than an exhaustive search of the market.
- The saving is calculated from the figure you enter. If that number is wrong, or leaves out line rental, the saving will be wrong by the same amount.
- Coverage is checked at area level using Ofcom data, not as a line check on your specific property. Availability varies street by street, and the provider's own order process is the final confirmation.
- Prices change frequently and promotional rates come and go. Always confirm the current price with the provider before ordering.
What to do next
If the checker shows you are overpaying, you have three options and none of them takes long.
Call your provider and negotiate, using the result as evidence. Switch, which under Ofcom's One Touch Switch process means contacting only the provider you are moving to and letting them arrange the rest. Or, if anyone in your household receives Universal Credit, Pension Credit, ESA, Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support, check whether you qualify for a social tariff, which is usually cheaper than anything on the open market.
To go further: compare broadband deals directly, check what is available at your address, test the speed you currently get, or read our guides to saving money on your broadband and mid-contract price rises. If you are not sure what speed you should be buying, what broadband speed you really need puts figures against different households.