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How to reduce your phone bills

By Seamour Rathore - seamour@consumerchoices.co.uk

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Over 73%* of us have never considered switching our home phone supplier, despite the savings to be made. Many people are put off switching because of concerns about cost and reliability with a different company, but switching needn’t be a hassle. (Updated 07/01/10).

Get a Virgin call plan from £3.45 Unlimited calls to UK landlines Line rental just £11 a month

Unlimited Calls - £5.99 a month Unlimited calls to UK landlines 20 premium call features included

You can save money and make the most from your landline by following the steps in our guide to cutting your phone bills:

• 1. Get a better deal
• 2. How are you charged?
• 3. Hidden costs
• 4. Get round expensive numbers
• 5. Barring premium rate numbers
• 6. Use a phone card for calling abroad

1. Get a better deal

Even if you don’t want to move away from your current phone company, you might still be able to get a new deal. You should negotiate with the customer services team and, if necessary, mention that you're thinking of leaving. You may well find you get a better deal.

You can save plenty of money by switching. Some offers give you cheap line rental - with Primus Saver you can get line rental for £9.15 and that includes free national evening and weekend calls.

Others, such as TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) offer free weekend calls to a selected number of international destinations as part of their line rental deal. Use our home phone comparison calculator to compare packages and prices.

2. How are you charged?

Make sure that you know exactly how your service provider charges for calls. If you know this, you can manage your calls and control your costs.

For example, if you’re only charged after you talk for more than an hour, you could keep a timer next to the phone to remind you to put it down and then call back. That way you can talk for as long as you want without paying.

Also look out for call connection fees - a one-off fee charged for each call you make, regardless of its duration. For instance, BT’s call set-up fee is 9.30p for calls outside its main plans, while others such as YourCalls.net (www.yourcalls.net) has charges 6.00p per call. Call connection fees are sometimes called call set-up fees or a minimum call charge.

Most companies offer a basic package with unlimited free calls to national numbers at weekends, a mid-cost package with free calls at weekends and evenings, and an "anytime" package which includes calls to national numbers at any time of day. This is where it's really important to know what sort of calls you make most often, so that you can pick a suitable package.

3. Hidden costs

Beware of hidden costs that you might not have noticed when you chose your provider. You might incur an installation fee, or be charged for things like retrieving your answer machine messages. Make sure that you read the small print and are clear on all costs.

If you find you are being billed for calling features you aren’t using, you should consider whether you really need them - if not, get them removed from your service.

4. Get round expensive numbers

Numbers which start with 0870 and 0845 are charged at different rates from fixed geographic ones. These also tend to be the numbers where you will be on hold the longest, and are not included in free mobile minutes.

Get round this by going to the Say No To 0870 website. There you can search for a company’s cheaper, geographic number.

In January 2009, BT led the way by saying that it would include calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers in its inclusive calling plans - so you can make the calls you need to make, such as to your bank or energy supplier without worrying about the cost of being stuck on hold. Other providers also offer free calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers.

5. Barring premium rate numbers

You can have a bar put on your phone line to stop people dialling premium rate numbers, which can cost up to £1.50 a minute. You might want to do this if you have children or lodgers, or if you just want to put an end to your own expensive habits.

6. Use a phone card for calling abroad

Using a national or international prepaid phone card before you make calls can massively reduce your expenditure, especially if you have friends and family abroad whom you regularly call. You simply buy a phone card from a company, dial the prefix code and then call your friend’s number at a discounted price.

* Ofcom Consumer Experience report 2008

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