The investigation

Facile.it: stalling on bills and insurance cost Italians 1.3 billion in 2025

According to a survey commissioned by the company, Italians wait on average between 52 and 74 days before changing supplier. Among the main causes are the difficulty in finding the right solution and the lack of time

by Pietro Menzani

20 May 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In the last year, indecision in choosing a new supplier for electricity, gas and car and motorbike insurance has cost Italians 1.3 billion euros. This is what emerges from the survey commissioned by Facile.it to the mUp Research institute. The study estimates that consumers, on average, delay between 52 and 74 days before switching to a new manager.

Although a timely decision is not necessarily synonymous with savings, which also, and above all, derives from the completeness of the information available and the ability to compare the various offers, according to Facile.it in 2025 the price of uncertainty stood at 370 euros per person.

The estimated losses

The research looks at four areas - electricity, gas, motor liability and motorbike liability - and refers to 2025. The data collected show that, as far as the electricity bill is concerned, indecision - estimated at an average of 60 days - resulted in losses of EUR 56 per user, totalling EUR 414 million.

With regard to gas, on the other hand, the average time elapsed from the moment the decision to change operator was made to the moment the contract was actually signed was 52 days, for an economic loss of EUR 62 per consumer (EUR 249 million in losses in total).

For car and motorbike insurance, the research reveals even longer decision-making times: 66 days for car insurance and even 74 for motorbike insurance. The estimated resulting costs are respectively 104 euros per motorist, a total of 560 million per year, and 148 euros per motorcyclist (a total of 87 million euros).

Why are we postponing

The survey commissioned by Facile.it also attempts to explain why we tend to put off choosing a new supplier. In fact, this dynamic seems incomprehensible when one considers that, according to the data collected, 64% of consumers say they want to save money on their electricity bills, 54% on gas and 53% on car insurance. And that 66% think that changing manager is the most effective way to save money.

As the research shows, the main reasons for procrastination include difficulty in finding the right provider (42%), lack of time (21%), fear of making the wrong choice (15%), contractual constraints (11%) and lack of knowledge (9%). All aspects which, as mentioned, often refer to the user's difficulty in finding his or her way through a sea of offers and in finding clear information on the characteristics and differences in prices and services offered. Fear that the process will take a long time (6%) and simple laziness (5%) also contribute to a lesser extent.

Psychologist Angelica Arbia observes that 'procrastination is a sign of a - sometimes dysfunctional - strategy to manage difficult emotions and deeply rooted cognitive biases'. According to Arbia, procrastination can be a symptom of the stress associated with change, which, combined with the tendency to keep the current situation as a point of reference, leads consumers to procrastinate not because it is convenient to do so, but 'because they overestimate immediate costs, underestimate future benefits, and try to avoid decisions perceived as complex'.

Bid comparison

According to Maurizio Pescarini, CEO of Facile.it, "we often underestimate how much money we lose by continuing to put off making savings choices that we can make safely and quickly". In fact, Pescarini explains that "today technology offers consumers the opportunity to quickly compare offers for the main items of household expenditure, to receive specialised advice if necessary and to sign the contract for the new supplier, all in a few minutes and in complete security".

In addition, the CEO of Facile.it announces that 'in the second half of the year we will add a new feature in cooperation with Consumerism Non Profit that will allow users to receive support if they find errors in their bills and mortgages'.

Luigi Gabriele, president of Consumerismo No Profit, an independent association that protects consumer rights, adds that, thanks to this initiative, 'we will become native within the Facile app to make the change safe. We want to lower the threshold of consumer fear, not the threshold of attention, which we are helping to keep high'.