A SAVVY dad cut £84 off his broadband contract by making a simple switch – and earned £200 in the process too, thanks to a clever hack.
Chris O’Boyle, 37, lives near Banbridge in Northern Ireland with his wife, Gillian, 36, and their two sons, Brody, six and Ollie, four.
Saving on broadband has long been a priority for the O’Boyle family, and it’s getting increasingly important for a lot more households, given the price hikes this “awful April” – follow our series for more.
As part of a raft of increases, which also affect energy costs, water bills, council tax and car tax, broadband prices have risen.
The exact amount depends on your provider and when you signed up to your contract.
For example, many Virgin Media broadband customers saw bills go up by 7.5% from April 1, while households using Sky services had bill increases of an average 6.2%.
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While you can’t do much about the hikes if you are within your contract term, if you’re outside of it, there’s nothing to stop you leaving for a better offering.
Chris, who works as a cyber security consultant, says his hack is a “complete no-brainer”.
He told The Sun: “I make it my mission to get the best possible deals for our family on all of our utility bills and insurance policies by regularly shopping around and switching if the provider is no longer competitive – and broadband is no exception.
“I never auto-renew – I check if there are better offers available.”
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In January 2023, just before his old broadband contract with Virgin Media came to an end, Chris did some research to see if he could save with a new provider.
“At that time, we had just recently moved house,” he said.
“After seeing what else was on offer, I realised we could save by switching to Vodafone.”
This is just one of a host of providers that offers deals for existing customers that can slash the cost of your bill.
Chris said: “As I’d had my mobile contract with Vodafone for the best part of 10 years, I got an additional discount for being an existing customer.”
Thanks to making this swap, the household’s broadband bills [in 2023] went down from £30.50 a month to £27. This is an annual saving of £42 – meaning a saving of £84 over the two-year contract.
On top of these savings, the clever dad was able to pocket a neat £200 as part of the switch. This was thanks to him being a member of Topcashback.
With this platform, you can get money simply by shopping with retailers via the cashback site.
This applies not only when buying “goods” such as clothes, make-up, gadgets and homeware, but also when purchasing insurance policies and utilities such as energy – as well as your broadband.
Once you’ve found a deal you like the look of, simply click through the link to your chosen shop or provider.
The retailer or supplier then pays the cashback site a commission for referring you.
Typically, the kickback is paid into your account within 30 days.
“I joined Topcashback around three years ago,” said Chris.
“I love being able to earn a bit back on purchases I would have made anyway. For me, it’s all about shopping smartly online.”
Another feature offered by Topcashback which Chris is a big fan of, is the site’s price comparison tool.
He said: “TopCompare makes the switching process really easy as you can see how various broadband deals stack up to find the best offer for you.
“All this comes with the added benefit of being able to pocket a bit of cash for free.”
At the start of this year [2025], Chris’ broadband was up for renewal once again.
“As before, I shopped around using TopCompare and found that Vodafone still offered the best deal for our household,” he said.
“So, I opted to renew with them.
“As I did this through Topcashback, I earned a nice little £100 in cashback. It shouldn’t be too long before this money hits my account.”
The O’Boyle family have signed up for a 24-month “full fibre 910 megabyte” broadband contract with Vodafone.
“I work from home, so having a decent internet speed is key,” said Chris.
“But price is important, too. We are now paying around £30 a month for our broadband and I’m happy with that.”
With the cost-of-living continuing to hit families hard, more and more people are searching for ways to shave money off their outgoings.
“We’ve definitely felt the effects of things such as higher food and energy bills,” said Chris.
“Every month, things seem to get substantially tighter.”
Chris now reviews all his bills every January – and keeps an eye on them throughout the year.
“It’s kind of second nature to me to regularly check over our outgoings,” he said.
“I reckon I save hundreds of pounds annually on everyday expenses by being savvy.”
Chris then turbo-charges his savings by making switches – and other purchases – through Topcashback whenever he can.
He said: “Since joining in 2022, I’ve earned money when buying all sorts of items.
“But I’ve also earned – often relatively big amounts – when doing things like switching mobile contracts, purchasing new handsets, and when taking out home and car insurance.
“Altogether, I reckon I’ve earned around £700.”
ALTERNATIVE CASH BACK OPTIONS
Aside from Topcashback, another popular site for earning cashback is Quidco. Rakuten is also free to use.
When using any such site, be sure to spend a bit of time going through the terms and conditions.
That way, you can find out when you can expect to get your cashback, along with any other requirements.
When you want to compare deals on broadband – and other utilities – you can also try comparison sites such as Go.Compare, Uswitch or Compare the Market. For broadband specifically, try Fibre Compare and BroadbandChoices.
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Don’t forget to check out our tool to help you save on your broadband – and mobile – bill.
Also note that many households may be able to save money on their internet through so-called ‘social broadband tariffs.’
CHRIS’S MONEY SAVING TIPS
Chris shares more of his top money saving tips
Before making any purchase, always take the time to seek out all the savings you can.
In addition to using Topcashback, I try to take advantage of discount codes and exclusive offers whenever possible.
When it comes to your streaming services, try regularly ‘rotating’ between different providers.
That way, you can use the “returning customer discounts” you get via email to make savings. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for streaming offers that come with broadband contracts, or with mobile SIM contracts.
Download the ‘Google Rewards’ app which uses GPS to track where you have been.
It will occasionally ask you if you visited a shop near a certain vicinity – and then asks whether you’d be willing to take a 10-second survey. If you agree, Google tops up your credit on Google Wallet. I trade this in for movie downloads. I love watching these with my family.
