A busy single mother who discovered she was overpaying on her household bills by more than £700 a year, after work and family pressures left her with no time to search for better deals, has urged others to learn from her mistakes. 

Lana Doran, 32, a self-employed business owner, assumed her expensive bills were ‘the new normal’ after years of cost-of-living pressure without realising that she had fallen into a trap. 

According to research from Nous – a smart AI assistant that saves people money on their bills – a typical household that is out of contract on their energy, broadband and mobile overpays by £781 every year.

This is often due to customers letting contracts roll over without realising they could save significant sums.

After signing up to the AI service she discovered she could save £713 a year on her energy and broadband bills alone.

Lana said: ‘It’s such a common topic at the moment – everyone feels like their bills are extortionate. You just assume that times are harder.

‘I knew the money going out felt awful, but I had no idea how much could actually be saved. Finding out I could save nearly £1,000 just on energy and broadband alone was insane to me.’

For Lana, the time, stress and hassle involved in comparing deals and making sure she was paying a fair price put her off tackling it.

‘Life is busy. Being self-employed while juggling everything has been challenging,’ she said.

‘Looking at my bills had been on my to-do list for a long time, especially over winter when we were at home more and using a lot more energy.

‘I knew I needed to deal with it, but putting aside the time felt almost impossible.

‘It always felt like it would take energy I simply didn’t have.’

She decided to try Nous after learning the tool handled all the admin of finding good deals and switching her over.

She said: ‘I liked the idea of someone else taking a bit of pressure off my shoulders. That really suited my lifestyle and the stress I already had going on in my head.

‘It felt like a job I could take off my list – something I didn’t have to do myself.’

According to Greg Marsh, household finance expert and CEO of Nous, the stress and complexity of getting fair deals is a key reason so many households overpay.

He said: ‘Suppliers make it deliberately difficult to see if we’re getting a fair deal or paying for services we don’t need.

‘Unless we spend hours checking and comparing, we end up overpaying.

‘That’s exactly what happened to Lana – the juggle of everyday life meant sorting her bills was the last thing on her mind, and her suppliers were only too happy to take advantage.

‘We don’t think that’s fair, and it’s exactly why we started Nous in the first place.’