Yahoo Finance How one mum pocketed $250 for no work
When Melbourne mum of two, Fiona Hall, realised she’d be both working from home and homeschooling her boys during the pandemic, she knew her bills would skyrocket.
“I was quite aware our electricity usage was on the rise,” Hall told Yahoo Finance.
But she took action almost immediately: “I was on the lookout for an independent facility that could find me a way to make the best saving.”
Hall searched the internet, and found Bill Hero - a Melbourne-based company that identifies savings opportunities for Aussies on their bills.
The platform allows customers to upload their electricity bill to the server, and automatically calculates the potential savings Aussies can make if they switch providers.
“It was so easy, I just said, ‘Can you research this for me?’ and gave them all our details, and they were able to save us $243 per year,” Hall said.
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“We’ve got solar panels, which have reduced our bill already, but even with that they were still able to find a saving that I thought was quite significant.”
The platform will even switch providers for you: “They do all the leg work,” Hall said.
If you choose to switch providers, Bill Hero charges an annual fee of $49.
It does however guarantee a saving of at least $100, with most households saving an average of $350 on the first switch. It’ll also monitor your bills down the track, to see if you need a switch again.
Bill Hero founder and CEO Richard Foxworth told Yahoo Finance that energy, insurance, telco and financial products are “difficult, confusing, expensive and unavoidable”, but comparison sites are largely unhelpful in navigating this.
“Comparison sites actually work for the vendors, not for the buyers, and their real interest is to complete any sale so they can get a commission, not to ensure that the buyer gets the best product and price,” Foxworthy said.
“Bill Hero is a savings service, not a comparison site, and we save our subscribers time, effort, annoyance, confusion, and of course money on all those difficult and unavoidable purchases.”
And now, more than ever, Aussies need to be tightening their grip on their finances.
“It’s an extremely difficult time for families and individuals all over the country at the moment.
“With thousands applying to withdraw their superannuation early, and astonishing queues at Centrelink centres across the nation, there has never been a more important time to save money on everyday expenses.”
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