Mobile phone users are paying for a full 24 hours worth of calls that they never use, and are wasting more money than ever on contract phones that come with more minutes and texts than they need, according moneysupermarket.com’s third annual Mobile Money Report.

Consequently, mobile phone companies are raking in £10billion a year from more than 20 million customers who are not using up their inclusive minutes and texts that come with the tariff, the research found.

Almost half of those with free calls waste 122 minutes of airtime a month, while about half of those with texts included in their tariff waste 94 messages a month – equating to more than 1,000 a year.

And moneysupermarket’s monitoring of the market has found that Brits are getting increasingly lax about getting the best value out of their mobile phone contracts, wasting more and more each year. British adults are wasting almost 25 per cent more minutes and texts now compared to the numbers revealed by the 2007 report.

It’s clear from our annual research a significant amount of mobile customers are on the wrong tariff and, as a result, are throwing money away every month.” commented James Parker, manager of mobile phones at moneysupermarket.com.

“Whilst it’s always good to be under your monthly allowance and avoid any extra costs, it’s important to get the most out of your contract. To do this you need to asses what your monthly usage is and find a contract that suits this best. If you’re a heavy talker, look for a package with a bundle of free minutes. Alternatively, if you like texting there are plenty of unlimited text deals out there to suit your needs.”

© Fair Investment Company Ltd