Mobile phone users wasting £335m a year on handsets they have already paid for

'Misled': Which? said that bundled tariffs are leading to customers overpaying (AFP)

Confused mobile phones users are wasting £335 million a year by continuing to pay for handsets that have already been paid off, Which? has claimed.

The consumer group suggested tariffs which do not split up the cost of airtime and the handset lead to customers not being to tell when they have fully paid for their phones.

It was also found that 46 per cent of people did not immediately switch contracts once their existing deal had come to an end, leading to each customer overpaying an average of £92 on handsets.

Which? pointed out that 02, Virgin Media, Tesco Mobile and Utility Warehouse have tariffs which separate the costs, but that Vodafone, EE and Three charge their customers a bundled price.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: “Consumers are being misled and as a result are collectively paying millions of pounds each year for a phone they have paid off.

“All mobile phone operators should separate out the cost of the handset so people don’t continue to pay after the contract comes to an end.

“Mobile providers need to play fair and ensure their customers are not paying over the odds.”