According to UK comparison service provider MoneyExpert.com's new Switching Index, which tracks the nation's switching habits on a quarterly basis, British consumer apathy is on the wane, with half of the adult population having chosen to switch providers of services such as bank accounts, energy and broadband internet in the past six months.
<p>The tracker shows that, in the last half of 2006, around 39 million products and services were switched in favor of a better deal. Around 212,000 contracts changed hands each day over the last six months of 2006, across the utilities, financial services, telecoms and mortgage products markets.<br /><br />Of all products and services, gas and electricity suppliers were the most popular choice to switch, thanks to rising prices in the final six months of 2006, with approximately one in seven households changing one or both utility bills. <br /><br />Car insurance and credit cards were the next most popular choice, with 14% of consumers claiming to have swapped provider in each category. In the telecoms category, around 10.1 million broadband, landline and mobile phone accounts changed providers.<br /><br />No provider is safe from the axe if they don’t have a competitive product or good customer service. Customers aren't shirking from moving on if they're not happy, said Sean Gardner, chief executive of MoneyExpert.com. That is no truer than with utilities, where customers have been switching in their droves to ensure they keep rising costs down as much as possible.<br /><br />The tracker service also offers consumers the opportunity to review a product's price and features, as well as the level of service offered by the provider, to enable them to make a more informed choice.</p>