Can I pay my line rental in advance?

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Our expert says...

Dear Sydney, thanks for your email about the new BT Line Rental Saver deal. It’s important to work out whether the new plan will be cost-effective for you, before deciding to switch your service.

Also, did you know that BT is not the only home phone provider to offer a “pay in advance” line rental deal? Primus, the UK’s cheapest landline-only provider, has an equally attractive offer, which could really help to reduce your bills if you’re willing to pay for your line rental upfront.

Read my top tips below, to help you decide whether opting to pay for you line rental in advance is right for you.

Paying line rental in advance

One of the easiest ways to save money on your phone bills is to pay for your line rental upfront. By agreeing to pay for 12 months’ worth of line rental in one lump sum, providers offer you a reduced rate, which could save you over £40 a year on standard BT prices.

While these tariffs are ideal for homes that want to cut the cost of their line rental, before switching you should weigh up the costs and decide whether you can actually afford to pay for your line rental upfront.

You may find it easier to budget if you spread the cost over the year, paying for it in the traditional, monthly way. If you’d prefer to carry on paying monthly, read the Homephonechoices.co.uk guide to finding cheap line rental, instead.

BT Line Rental Saver

BT (www.bt.com), the UK’s largest home phone provider, now offers customers the option to pay for a year’s worth of line rental in advance. The Line Rental Saver deal costs £129 for 12 months line rental, the equivalent of £10.75 a month.

If you’re considering switching to the deal, you must:

• Have an existing BT phone line (can be with another provider, but cannot be a cable phone line)
• Set-up a direct debit to pay for any additional charges, such as calls
• Sign-up for paperless e-billing
• Make a certain number of calls (these can be chargeable or inclusive calls) to meet the “minimum call commitment”.

If receive your bills monthly, you’ll need to make at least two calls a month. If you’re billed quarterly, you’ll need to make at least six calls each quarter. Otherwise you’ll be charged £1.50 a month (£4.50 a quarter).

You will also only be eligible for Line Rental Saver if you have one of the following call plans:

• Unlimited Anytime Plan
• Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan
• Any bundled packages, such as phone and broadband.

It’s important to note that if you leave BT before the end of the 12 months, your Line Rental Saver payment will not be refunded.

Primus Saver Plus

Primus recently launched its own pay-in-advance line rental deal - the new Primus Saver Plus line rental package. Customers can cut the cost of their line rental to just £8.25 a month, when paying for it in advance.

The packages costs £99 for 12 month’s worth of line rental, and is suitable for anyone with an existing BT line. When switching to Primus, you’ll also get free evening and weekend calls, and you can keep your existing phone number.

If you were to switch from a BT pay monthly tariff to the Primus Saver Plus deal, you could save as much as £54 a year.

How to switch provider

If, after weighing up your options, you think that paying upfront line rental is right for you, switching is really easy and can be done in minutes.

If you’d like to switch to BT’s Line Rental Saver deal, visit www.bt.com or call 0800 028 4474.

Or, if you’re considering the Primus Saver Plus package, visit www.primussaver.co.uk or call 0800 036 0170.

If you can pay for your line rental in one lump sum Sydney, it is definitely worth considering this as a cost-cutting measure. However, if you don’t want to pay upfront, read our top tips for reducing your bills for other ways you could save money.

Ask us a question

If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at ourexpert@homephonechoices.co.uk