Revealed: How busy mum who runs her own business saved $3,749 on her household bills – and it will only take YOU one afternoon
- Busy mum Leanne Blank spent two hours dialling her insurers, utility providers
- She managed to save $3,749 on her bills, including insurance, electricity and gas
- The IT consultant who spent an afternoon getting a better deal gave her tips
A busy mum has revealed how she saved $3,749 on her bills in one afternoon simply by picking up the telephone.
Leanne Blank, who works as an information technology consultant, was so annoyed at being ripped off despite being a loyal customer.
The woman from Sydney’s inner-west, who lives with her 20-year-old son, decided to shop around for better deals.
During a ‘quiet afternoon’ she spent two hours dialling rival car and private health insurers, along with other phone and gas providers after being unhappy with how much she was being charged.
Ms Blank was able to slash her bills by either switching provider or negotiating a better deal with her existing one.
A mother who runs her own business has revealed how she saved $3,749 on her bills in one afternoon simply by picking up the telephone. Leanne Blank, a busy information technology consultant, was so annoyed at being ripped off despite being a loyal customer
In one afternoon she saved $3,749 on all her annual bills, including $610 a year on private health insurance, $1,595 on home and contents insurance, $778 on car insurance and $333 on two mobile phones.
‘Don’t give up – its a competitive market and you just need to ask for a better deal,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It was a quiet afternoon so I thought I’d test it out and I was really surprised how easy it was to save money and get additional benefits like a $100 gift card.’
When her private health insurer refused to reduce the premiums, she switched.
Utility companies were also reluctant to cut their charges when she complained.
Her gas company, however, matched a rival offer.
‘The hardest by far was utilities – power and gas,’ Ms Blank said.
Ms Blank found electricity and gas providers were ‘the hardest by far’ to negotiate a better deal
The trick for her was to compare itemised charges with other providers by having all the paperwork at hand.
‘Firstly even understanding how to compare your bill is a chore – just stay with it – it’s usually on the last page,’ she said.
‘Then call your provider and tell them exactly what you are doing and what is their best offer.
‘After that tell them you are shopping around and will call back if you don’t find a better offer then theirs – usually, you are then put on hold and they go off and get approval from their supervisor for a better offer rather than let you off the phone.’
Ms Blank said the experience showed some insurers and utility providers didn’t value customer loyalty.
‘It’s disappointing that loyalty isn’t rewarded by companies proactively reaching out and saying, “Hey we have a better deal for you”,’ she said.
Ms Blank’s successful battle against excessive bills inspired the book Kills Bills, by consumer group One Big Switch’s campaign director Joel Gibson (pictured)
‘I’d be happy if they did that to give them say another 12 to 24 months business but really I haven’t seen this happen in a very long time.’
Ms Blank’s successful battle against excessive bills inspired the newly published book Kills Bills, by consumer group One Big Switch’s campaign director Joel Gibson.
The businesswoman likened dialling up with insurers and utility providers with bargaining for a lower price at a fashion store.
‘Just ask and you’ll be surprised – I do that in retail shops even when they aren’t having a sale and often you find there are discounts to be had,’ she said.
Kill Bills is published for Simon&Schuster