CONSUMERS IN IRELAND are more likely to change their car insurance provider than any other service, according to a report out today.

The National Consumer Agency found that fully one-quarter of us told our old car insurance provider to hit the road in the last 12 months.

This is compared with the 17% who switched electricity provider, and 15% who got tired of their gym membership, among others.

At the other end of the scale, we appear to be most loyal (or least apt to change over) when it comes to financial services.

In the last year, the report found, a mere 1-5% of Irish consumers cashed in on their credit, savings, mortgage, or credit card providers, and found a new one.

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Overall, nearly half of us (43%) switched one product or service provider, and the vast majority of those (80-90%) say it ended up saving them money.

Looking around for a new health insurance provider looks to be the most lucrative, with the average monthly savings being €34.51 after making the switch.

By contrast, throwing out the trash when it comes to your bin provider only saved an average of €8.66 per month.

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Despite the number of Irish consumers being proactive about getting better deals, there is still a sizeable proportion (36%) who “tend to stick” with the same companies.

Those over the age of 65 are particularly unlikely to switch things up, the report found, and perhaps not surprisingly, the under-35s are more apt than any other age bracket to kick unsatisfactory companies to the kerb.

The largest single group, however, is the 38% of us who generally stay with their current service providers, but do “look around” for better offers.

Scroll down to read the report, conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes, in full.

Read: Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Greyhound among companies pursued by consumer agency>

Poll: Have you ever made an official complaint about a company?

http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2014/08/consumer-switching-behaviour.pdf