Home phone Guides

Line rental comparison

Updated: Wednesday 5 January, 2011

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Are you confused by the cost of line rental? We help you compare line rental providers and prices, so you can find the best home phone deal.

A significant chunk of your monthly home phone bill will be made up of line rental - but what is line rental, how much does it cost and can you save money on line rental?

Switching your home phone service to a landline provider that offers cheaper line rental could really help reduce your bills. We take a look at what’s on offer from some of the UK’s largest landline providers and do a line rental comparison…

Compare line rental deals

These days home phone providers in the UK have the option of buying line rental (on a wholesale basis) from BT and charging their customers for it.

This essentially means that you don’t have to pay BT for your line rental anymore - you can take both your calls and line rental from a different supplier. This is not only cost effective, but could also get you a better deal - such as free evening and weekend calls, or a bundled package with your broadband and/or TV.

Some of the providers that offer line rental and calls packages include:

• YourCalls.net (www.yourcalls.net)
• Primus Saver
• The Post Office (www.postoffice.co.uk)
• TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk)
• Direct Save Telecom (www.directsavetelecom.co.uk)
• Sky (www.sky.com)

Choosing a line rental provider

The provider you choose for your line rental should depend on several things, such as:

• How do you want to pay your bills? - Providers often charge extra if you choose to pay your bills by debit or credit card, so if you can, opt to pay by direct debit
• How do you want to receive your bills? - Most providers also charge if they have to send you a paper bill, so it is best to sign-up for free online paperless billing
• What calls package do you need? - The majority of providers offer free weekend calls to other UK landlines with their line rental, at the least. It is also possible to sign-up for an Evening & Weekends call plan or an Anytime tariff, so make sure you get the right deal to suit you
• Do you want broadband too? - If you need a new broadband package as well, it is a good idea to look at what bundled deals are available, as these could save you even more money.

Once you’ve decide on the above, take a look at what’s on offer in your area by doing a landline postcode search on Homephonechoices.co.uk.

Cheapest line rental deals

Primus currently offers the UK’s cheapest standalone line rental for just £7.99 a month, including free evening and weekend calls. The Primus Home Phone Saver deal is only available to customers who switch online, exclusively through Homephonechoices.co.uk.

Other cheap line rental offers include YourCalls.net (www.yourcalls.net) at £9.69 a month, which includes free evening and weekend calls.

Auracall (www.auracall.com) also offers line rental cheaper than BT, at £10.99 a month, though free evening and weekend calls will cost you £1.90 extra a month.

If you’re bundling your line rental with broadband, then you can get a line rental-only deal from O2 (www.o2.co.uk) for just £7.50 a month. You have to pay an extra £2 for evening and weekend calls, and it’s only available to O2 broadband customers, but it is a great way to save - especially if you only use your landline to access the internet.

And if you’re an existing O2 mobile customer, you’ll be able to get an extra £5 discount on your broadband every month.

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