7 Smart Ways to Get the Best Deal on Your Broadband Bundle

If digital TV, phone and broadband are a must in your home you need to make sure you're not paying over the odds. Here's how to find the best deal and save big on your bundle.

If you want to get a better deal on your broadband, home phone and digital TV than you can find by going direct to provider websites here’s what you do:

1. Check comparison sites

The quickest and easiest way to compare broadband, TV and phone deals is to use a comparison table, which lists each provider’s features and prices side by side.

These not only help you find the cheapest deal overall but they often have exclusive deals or discounts that could help you save a significant amount.

Decide exactly what you are looking for from your package and use comparison tables to find the media bundle that meets your needs at the cheapest price.

To compare deals on money.co.uk you can use our Broadband , Phone or TV package comparison tables .

2. Look for mobile discounts

If you have a mobile phone contract it's worth finding out whether your provider offers discounted broadband, landline or media bundles for existing customers.

If they do, compare their prices with what's available elsewhere and switch if they can give you extra savings.

3. Ask family & friends

If any of your friends or relatives work at a broadband or digital TV company they could be your key to a super-cheap package so it's worth asking whether they can get you a family & friends discount on their broadband deals.

While family & friends discounts tend to be quite generous it still makes sense to check your offer beats every other deal on the market before you sign up.

4. Refer a friend

Ask your friends and family to check whether they can net you a cheap bundle through a refer a friend scheme.

There’s no one resource for this, so it’s going to be more of a case of asking people whether they would recommend their landline and/or broadband provider and if so asking whether there's a recommend a friend scheme available.

5. Low income deals

If you’re in receipt of benefits you could make significant savings by taking out a broadband bundle through Get Online at Home (ends July 2012) or BT’s basic package scheme.

Both are designed to help families on low incomes, so if you qualify there are substantial savings to be had.

6. Investigate Group Buying

Sites like incahoot and Utility Warehouse are worth checking for deals that won’t usually be advertised direct on provider websites and again could work out far cheaper.

These sites work by employing group buying discounts for all their members, meaning they can offer discounts and cashback not on offer from the providers website.

You do need to be a bit savvy with these as some group buying sites will require you to pay a membership charge before you're able to unlock the savings. Do the maths before you sign up to see whether it's actually going to be worth your while.

7. Negotiate

Once you’ve done your research and found the best package for the cheapest price it's time to negotiate.

Try your existing provider first if you're happy to stick with them. Let them know you can get bigger savings elsewhere and say that you'll leave unless they can match or better it. You could even consider asking for your MAC code to show you’re serious!

If you want to switch to new provider then make them earn your custom; asking for a discount in return for your business will go a long way to getting you extra savings.

For more tips on driving down your price, read our guide: How to Haggle.

How to cut your costs further:

In addition it’s well worth investigating other options too, as a bundle package may not necessarily be the cheapest option for you & your household.

There may also be a number of other ways you can reduce your bills without changing your package.

Read our guide: 11 Easy Ways to Slash Your Broadband & Phone Bills to find out more.