A new survey by Which? Mobile suggests that nearly 20 million people in the UK have never switched their mobile phone service provider. Which? also found that 5.3 million people had saved money by switching – that’s 48% of all adults who have switched in the past 2 years. This suggests that many of those who have always been with the same provider may be paying more than they need to.

Tom McLennan from Which? Mobile said: “With so many tariffs out there it pays to shop around, either through a comparison site or by checking out what different networks have to offer.”

26% of those who switched providers in the last 2 years were motivated to do so by a better tariff, whilst 16% did so to get a better handset and 14% wanted better coverage and reception.

The report from Which? Mobile also indicates that, when choosing a new phone, the handset’s features are the most important factor for pay monthly customers, whilst cost is the main concern for pay-as-you-go customers.

9 of 10 consumers still go high street phone stores to choose a new handset instead of using online comparison sites – Which? described this as “surprising”. The organisation also said reiterated its advice that people shouldn’t waste their money on handset insurance from their network operator as most home insurance policies will offer the same cover.

In an earlier survey, Which? found that Asda Mobile and Tesco Mobile were the best pay-as-you-go providers in terms of customer service. Tesco were the leading contract and SIM-only provider, followed by O2.