Millions of UK mobile phone users due payouts after being overcharged - are you due a refund?

Consumer rights advice services and experts are now urging mobile networks to issue refunds to customers - but not everyone is guaranteed a refund.

Overcharged after contracts end

Citizens Advice estimated that in 2018, four million people in the UK were charged £490 million for handsets that they already owned.

In 2017, the charity also found that providers are overcharging customers by up to £450 a year after they have paid off their handset.

Am I owed a refund?

As they technically haven’t broken any rules, network providers are not legally required to issue refunds to customers who have been overcharged.

However, Martyn James, from online complaints tool Resolver, recommends customers go through their old bills if you fear they may have been overcharged, before explaining to their provider that they would have switched to a cheaper deal if they had known.

Mr James told The Sun: "If people have been overcharged, they should be refunded.

"Ofcom’s new rules will undoubtedly make things better for millions, who might have been overcharged in the future.

"But that still leaves the millions who have already been overcharged."

"In the insurance industry, the Financial Ombudsman has upheld a number of cases where customers have been overcharged on their bills.

"In principle, that applies to other sectors too."

New guidelines coming into force

New guidelines are set to come into place next month, which means that more than 1.4 million out of contract users will be switched automatically from their standard variable rate, to cheaper sim-only tariffs.