Consumers have been urged to examine their household bills and not to hesitate to switch service providers in order to save money.
The National Consumer Agency said today that its latest survey revealed that switching of service providers had decreased by 8 per cent in the past six months.
The survey was carried out by Amárach Research for the agency.
NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said it showed that, over the next year, 16 per cent of consumers intended switching car insurance provider, while one in 10 intend switching provider in the mobile phone and electricity supply sectors.
“We would advise people not to be lackadaisical about switching and to examine their household bills to compare the alternative options on a regular basis. Don't put off what you can do today if you can make savings now,” she said.
"In the current economic climate, many service providers have become more competitive and we are urging Irish consumers to vote with their feet by switching to get the best bang for your euro. There is value out there for quality services and savvy consumers will reap the benefits.”
Ms Fitzgerald said the number of people who found the switching process difficult was also down again on the last wave of research to just 3 per cent, with almost four-fifths of those surveyed saying it was an easy process.
“This indicates that service providers are striving to make the process of switching as easy as possible and this is good news for consumers.”
Although overall rates of switching were down on the last such survey, there has been an increase in the number of consumers switching their electricity service provider.
Consumers continue to be most likely to have switched mobile phone provider (21 per cent), car insurance provider (21 per cent) or where they do their main grocery shop (15 per cent).
The NCA said getting a better deal was the driving factor for 75 per cent of consumers who had switched provider and some 79 per cent of consumers believed they were receiving a similar or better service since switching.
The organisation said it would shortly launch a tool to allow consumers to measure their household spending against the national average.