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By Tara Evans

PUBLISHED: 10:39 EST, 4 March 2013 | UPDATED: 05:56 EST, 5 March 2013

More than a third of household haven’t switched their broadband provider in four years or longer, wasting £500million collectively across the UK, according to new research.

The average cost of a broadband and home phone bundle is £62 a year – less than half the price of  four years ago when the average cost was £132 annually, according to research by comparison website broadbandchoices.co.uk.

Almost 40 per cent of households have not switched in four years, despite the dramatic fall in prices.

Switch: Broadbandchoices.co.uk says that nearly a third of people have not switched broadband supplier in the last four years - missing out on savings as prices have fallen to half the cost during this time.

Broadband and home phone customers can switch providers without paying a fee if they’re outside of a locked-in contract period – which usually last 12 to 18 months.

The research, which is based on 2,000 responses, also found that consumers main obstacle in switching is that they think it will be ‘complicated and difficult’.

Dominic Baliszewski, telecoms expert at broadbandchoices.co.uk, said: ‘A lot of customers are stuck on outdated packages and could get so much more for their money if they just switched.

'People are used to shopping around for energy, insurance or even petrol, but customers are still failing to regularly switch their broadband service, potentially pouring over £500 million down the drain each year.’

Despite regulation aimed at speeding up the process, customers are still sceptical about switching. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, introduced new rules in 2007 to make it easier for customers to get their Migration Authorisation Code (MAC), allowing them to switch suppliers, free of charge.

Your existing provider must provide the MAC to you within five working days and it’s valid for a period of 30 days. You can then contact the new provider with the code to start the switching process which should take one to two weeks to complete.

In February last year Ofcom announced that it was carrying out a consultation in to the broadband switching process. It is looking to simplify the process even further as well as looking at technical problems that slow it down.

Ofcom is expected to make an announcement on the issue in the next couple of months.