Martin Lewis has warned consumers that they may spend hundreds of pounds extra a year by making one mistake with their email.
The financial expert urgently told all households to avoid getting an email address through their broadband provider. This is because doing to may make it more difficult to switch to a lower-cost deal.
The MoneySavingExpert co-founder appeared on ITV's This Morning, where he answered questions from people watching at home. As reported by The Mirror, one caller called Pauline broached the subject of swapping broadband providers.
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The viewer revealed she is currently signed up with Virgin Media, and said she wants to switch over to a more appealing contract with Vodafone. However, she said she felt stuck in her current deal.
Virgin Media informed her that she would lose access to all of her email accounts after the move, thereby losing access to all of her data and contacts. Lewis responded by stating that this is a common issue amongst those who set up email addresses with their broadband providers.
The money guru recommended that the public instead use an independent email provider. He stated: "On Virgin you get 90 days after giving notice. Some providers let you keep it, some don't.
"This is the classic reason for not setting up your own email address with your provider. You are going to have this issue forever.
"You're always going to find it difficult to move so here is my tip. Decide today that you're going to set up, let's say a Gmail account.
"Start telling everyone you know to email you on Gmail. Auto-forward your current email address to Gmail so that it sends it to your new email address and you should always reply from there.
"Do that for a couple of months until you're pretty sure about everything and then leave Virgin. That gives you an extra 90 days, and you do need to check that.
"After that you then have the flexibility to move."
Lewis then proceeded to discuss the financial advantages of making this change. He stated that flexibility to switch to cheaper providers could save consumers as much as £300 per year.
He continued: "It can easily save you up to £200 to 300 a year. After a few years you could easily be up to £1,000 gained by going to the cheapest provider each time.
"You need to break that habit of allowing them to lock you in by keeping your email. It will be a pain to do so but I suggest you take the time."
Millions of households across the UK are believed to out of contract with their broadband company. Another tip to save money is to try and haggle your current provider down in price if you have spotted a better deal somewhere else.
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