Home phone Guides

Making cheap phone calls

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

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Do you use your landline to regularly call mobile phones? Calling mobiles on your home phone can be costly, but we have tips to help you reduce your bills… (Updated 27/1/10)

Nobody likes paying bills, especially when they’re expensive. UK phone regulator Ofcom says the average household racks up an annual landline bill of around £270* a year. With this in mind, you’ll probably want to do everything you can to cut your costs.

Read our guide to find out how to switch to the perfect calling plan for your home, helping you save money for something a bit more exciting than bills.

Finding the cheapest call plan

One of the quickest and easiest ways to save money on your landline calls is to switch your calling plan to one that better suits you. Most home phone suppliers will offer two types of tariff:

1. Unlimited evening and weekend calls - Make as many calls as you like to local and national UK landlines in the evenings and at weekends, for free.
2. Unlimited anytime calls - Makes as many calls as you like to local and national UK landlines, at anytime.

Work out when you make the majority of your calls, and what sort of package would help save you the most money - there’s no point in signing up for an anytime calls package if you don’t make calls during the day. If you do make a lot of calls during the day, switching to an anytime package may help reduce your costs in the long-term.

Who offers the cheapest calls?

The cheapest evening and weekend call plans in the UK at the moment are:

The cheapest anytime calling plans in the UK at the moment are:

To find the cheapest tariff for you, just enter your postcode on our home phone calculator and choose what kind of calling plan you want. We’ll help you find a new tariff in your area that lets you save money on your calls.

Making cheap calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers

Although 0845 and 0870 numbers are landline numbers, they are classed as premium rate numbers, not local or national landline numbers.

Calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers can be expensive and push up your home phone bills, especially if you’re left on hold for ages. They are often the numbers companies use for their customer services departments and helplines.

Calls to 0870 numbers can be as much as 10p a minute with some providers, and calls to 0845 numbers can be even more. So if you make a lot of calls to these numbers, you’ll want to get a package that includes them within your calling allowance.

Some providers, including BT and TalkTalk, offer calls to these numbers for free. For more information, read our guide on Free calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers.

* Ofcom The Consumer Experience 2009

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