These 17 refer-a-friend deals could earn you hundreds of pounds

The old adage goes that there is no such thing as a free lunch - but that doesn't mean your second meal of the day can't be easily earned.

With companies increasingly offering refer-a-friend deals, you can cash in on your loyalty.

What is a refer-a-friend deal?

These promotions essentially use current customers as salespeople, encouraging them to recruit people they know, in return for a cash sum or voucher.

This is mutually beneficial to both the organisation and consumer, with the former tapping into a new market via word of mouth and the latter receiving cash for very little effort.

Whether a family member is changing energy supplier, broadband or bank, it could be possible to cash in hundreds of pounds worth of referral deals.

Here are some of the best refer-a-friend deals currently up for grabs...

Finance

Nationwide

You can refer up to five friends a year, getting £100 each time and £100 for your friend (nationwide.co.uk).

Yorkshire Bank

Refer a friend for a mortgage and both of you will receive £100 in Love 2 Shop vouchers. This offer can be carried out five times (ybonline.co.uk).

Alliance Trust Savings

Earn a £50 Marks and Spencer voucher when you get a friend to open an investment dealing account, Isa or Sipp. The person being referred also gets £25 worth of vouchers (alliancetrustsavings.co.uk).

Habito

Receive £100 cash to the referrer and the friend who takes out a mortgage using its service. You don’t need to be a Habito customer to earn money referring people (habito.com).

Newcastle Building Society

Recommend a friend and you’ll earn £100 and they’ll earn £50. Plus you’ll both be entered into a prize draw to win a further £100 (newcastle.co.uk).

Phone and TV

Virgin Media

Provides a £50 discount for you and your friend on your next bill (virginmedia.com).

Three Mobile

Offers a £25 Amazon voucher for you and your friend (three.co.uk).

Sky

£50 pre-paid Mastercard for both referrer and friend (sky.com).

Vodafone

£50 Amazon voucher for referrer and 10% off monthly plan for friend (vodafone.co.uk).

Airbnb offer a £15 travel discount to customer who invite friends to the service (Photo: Shutterstock)

Energy

First Utility

Offers a £50 voucher to the switcher and the referrer. You can choose between Amazon, John Lewis or Tesco vouchers (first-utility.com).

Bulb Energy

Provides £50 to both parties, which can be taken as credit or cash (bulb.co.uk).

Ovo Energy

Gives a £25 M&S, Argos or Amazon gift card for both the referrer and the friend (ovoenergy.com).

Good Energy

Slash £25 off your bill when you refer a friend to Good Energy (goodenergy.co.uk).

Utilita Energy

Refer a friend and receive £20 off your bill with Utilita Energy. Your friend will also receive a £20 Amazon voucher (utilita.co.uk).

Travel

Airbnb

Refer a friend to Airbnb and receive £15 in travel credit when they complete their first trip. They will also receive £25 credit as a result (airbnb.co.uk).

Travelzoo

Earn you and your friend £10 each when you invite them to use Travelzoo (travelzoo.com).

Original Travel

Refer a friend to Original Travel and earn a £100 discount on your next trip (originaltravel.co.uk)