A viewer of the Martin Lewis Money Show Live revealed that a simple three-letter text to their mobile provider resulted in a drastic reduction in their bill. On his ITV programme last week, Mr Lewis shared tips on how not to overpay for mobile services.

He suggested texting 'PAC' to 65075 when you're ready to switch providers - a move that led to a swift and beneficial change for one viewer. The viewer, Mick, shared: "I just asked for my PAC code - within 10 minutes I got a phone call from them and my bill dropped from £31.50 to £14, could have gone lower but kept EU roaming on. Also still had 3 months of contract left. Win win."

Martin responded: "That's £200 a year. If you watch back last week I went through three steps some people getting their bill down to £3. The key to that one though it literally all he did is text PAC to 65075 which is the way of getting the code you need to leave and because they thought he was leaving they gave him a much cheaper deal. A good shortcut."

The PAC text was just one of three tips Mr Lewis recommended. The personal finance expert pointed out that millions of customers are stuck with high tariffs even after their contracts have ended.

He disclosed that roughly 14 million individuals throughout the UK are paying too much - often for deals that came with a new handset - and could potentially save hundreds of pounds. Audiences were told to check their contract status by sending 'INFO' free of charge to 85075.

If the 'Early Termination" or "Cancellation Charge' shows £0, meaning your contract has ended, the MoneySavingExpert founder recommended, 'go to a cheap SIM comparison site', where different providers will offer the same SIM package for significantly less.

"If you're on a multiple-phone contract, you won't be able to do this", he pointed out. He has previously explained how the cost of getting a new SIM has dropped - allowing consumers to access full service on their device for considerably less.

He stated previously: "Prices have been going up and up. At the same time the cost of new customer SIM deals have been plummeting. For 50gb two years ago you'd have been paying £9. Now you can get it as cheap as about £3 a month."

Mr Lewis went on to set out his three-step strategy for mobile customers wanting to cut costs. He said: "14 million people are out of contract on their mobile phone bill which means you are free to switch."

He disclosed there is a simple way to find out whether you fall into this category. Mr Lewis said: "You text 'info' for free to 85075 to check."

He noted that those with bundled family mobile packages won't get a reply, but provided his simple rule of thumb: if you haven't changed provider in two years, you're likely out of contract.

He added: "Next you do a cheap SIM comparison. Most of the deals are not available direct from the mobile phone companies because then they might have to give them to existing customers and are only on comparison sites and they tend to be short-lived."

He clarified that when people decide to switch providers whilst keeping their number, they simply need to text PAC (Porting Authorisation Code) to 85075 and give that code to their new provider, who will then transfer the number.

The MSE founder emphasised that the best deals aren't secured by contacting the big operators directly - instead, he recommended that anyone out of contract should check comparison websites. He went on: "Now I know what you're probably saying to me. You're going, 'Yeah, but I like my signal. I don't want to change'. Well, if you do remember, there are only four mobile networks in the UK.

"Every other one is piggybacking off one of those four. So you want to do a comparison that says, What's the cheapest deal on the signal that I currently have? And if you go to the cheap mobile finder on my site, money saving expert.com, you can do that type of search and see what's out there, see what's available. I mean, you have to be careful.

"My main message. Do that text, see if you're out of contract and check before prices go up. Whether you can save a shed load by switching hope that helps."

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