For one day only the little coastal town of Deal has been ‘renamed’ Great Deal. 

First mentioned in the 11th Century in the Domesday Book, Deal’s rebrand is being used to highlight how much money Brits miss out on in… deals.

The affluent seaside town, in Kent, gets its new ‘name’ courtesy of Lebara Mobile.

New research from the mobile company has shown that a staggering £11.8 billion is going to waste because Brits aren’t smarter with their money and it’s because many Brits simply don’t trust a good deal. We’re too familiar with the saying: “Too good to be true.” But sometimes, this costs us.

According to research, 21 per cent of us dismiss amazing deals immediately, which is the equivalent of 13.5 million smartphone users who could be missing out on savings.

Afraid of falling for a good thing, over half of people (54 per cent) are suspicious and wary of hidden costs or fees, while over a third (37 per cent) believe that low prices must mean low quality.

To mark Great Deal’s name change, the residents are being offered spa treatments and gourmet meals for just £5 in the town of 30,000.

But, even if you’re not a resident of Great Deal, Lebara Mobile is offering people the chance to get in on the action from all-expenses paid weekend in Deal and a year’s worth of free mobile SIMs. 

With 89 million mobile contracts in the UK, costing the average of £16.08 a month, the research shows that Brits could be saving £11.8 billion over a year if people were smarter with their mobile contracts. 

But this comes as a quarter of Brits (27 per cent) haven’t switched their mobile provider in over 10 years. Had they switched, they could have treated themselves to a few of the finer things in life, the equivalent of:

FIVE Michelin star dinners

23 wash, cut and blow drys

Over 60 cinema trips for two (including a large popcorn to share)

Enough petrol to drive from Land’s End to John o’Groats and back three times

Over 2,000 lottery tickets

Three return flights from the UK to New York

…or 4,400 Freddos