'I didn’t expect the scale of the savings – it's been nice to put a bit more towards holidays'

“I was a bit hit and miss when it came to finding deals. Day-to-day life definitely gets in the way. It’s hard to find time during working hours, and by the evening, I rarely have the energy or motivation to start comparing insurance quotes or mobile contracts at 9pm.”

Vicky, 42, lives in West Sussex with her two children, both in primary school, and works as a Project Sponsor for Network Rail. She enjoyed finding good deals for her household bills – but often found she was too busy to prioritise the time-consuming work of researching the best options.

Vicky joined Nous after her employer, Network Rail, rolled out membership to employees – and saved more than £600 on her broadband.

How did you manage your bills before you joined Nous?

When my contracts came to an end, I’d think, “I must renew that,” then put it off. Eventually, I’d get around to looking into it and sometimes I’d shop around, but sometimes I’d just renew with the same provider, depending on how much time I had and what I thought the savings might be. For car insurance, I usually made the effort to shop around. For energy, I was less likely to bother.

I kind of enjoy doing it, in a weird way, but it’s time-consuming. To do a proper comparison, you need quite a bit of information, and going through the process takes effort. Whether or not I do it properly depends on the time of year and how busy I am.

And then there's the complexity. I’m fine with things like energy comparisons, I can do that pretty quickly, but other areas like broadband are trickier. If you’re on a package, it’s not always clear what you’re paying for. You have to do a lot of legwork to get like-for-like comparisons and make sure the quotes actually match what you need.

What’s the trickiest thing about staying on top of your bills?

The most annoying part about managing bills is not having a clear log of what I’ve already got in place. For example, with house insurance, I’m not even sure what the contents value is or whether I’ve got cover for my bikes in the shed. 

I’ve definitely ended up paying for things twice. I realised recently I was paying for Netflix twice, once through Virgin TV and again directly. I don’t really track it all, so I end up signing up again without knowing I already had it.

How did you find the process of getting going with Nous?

I found out about Nous through a Lunch and Learn session at work and I thought, “Why not?” I entered some of my bill details and what was coming up for renewal, and someone from Nous got in touch quickly. I was a bit sceptical at first – I thought it might be the usual sales pitch with generic deals but it wasn’t like that at all.

‍Did you realise how much you could save on your bills?‍

I was pretty surprised! I’d guessed I might save about £20 a month, but I didn’t expect the scale of the savings – it ended up being over £600 a year. I was on a Virgin package with TV, broadband, and landline. I realised I didn’t need the TV part anymore, and they helped me strip it back to just broadband, which is all I really needed. 

I’ve also been doing a bit of financial housekeeping recently using Monzo to create pots for birthdays, holidays, and Christmas. It’s been nice to put less into the bills pot and a bit more towards holidays.

‍What are some of the things you like best about Nous?‍

The WhatsApp contact is brilliant. I could just say what mattered to me, like having good O2 coverage where I live. It wasn’t just about finding the cheapest deal, it was about finding the right one for me. That’s something you can do online yourself, but it takes time. 

Nous made it personal and much easier. I like knowing I’ll be switched at the right time, whether it’s the end of a fixed period or just when there’s no exit fee. Nous makes sure you’re on the best tariff for you.

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