USwitch
Telephone providers - this company will take your phone usage and
recommend the best deals for you.
want … cheaper phone bills
A common cause of arguments in any family home is the telephone.
Arguments are usually along the lines of who uses it the most, who
has more right to use it, how long you spend surfing the Internet
and so on - and this is before the dreaded phone bill arrives.
Now we can’t help you in sorting out the arguments over who’s
got more rights to use the phone, but there are ways you can alleviate
the burden of phone bills. Choosing your home telephone supplier carefully
can help save money and remove one cause of arguments in your family.
Following these few simple guidelines will enable you to select the
most economical supplier for your household.
Obviously the primary factor to consider when choosing a home telephone
supplier is who will offer you the cheapest phone calls and consequently
the cheapest phone bills. Often the most cost-effective option is
to plump for a supplier who offers unlimited calls (to local and national
landlines) for a fixed monthly fee. And unless a member of your household
makes calls during the weekdays, you should consider an evening and
weekend package, thus reducing your fixed monthly fee.
You can use the impartial home telephone price comparison calculator
on uSwitch.com, to find the most cost-effective tariff for your household.
In addition to the home telephone calculator, uSwitch.com also has
a gas and electricity, and digital TV comparison service.
If you have any family or friends who live abroad and you make a
number of international calls through your fixed line provider, then
you could be paying 90% more than you need to. In this case you can
use a second supplier that offers cheaper international calls. Using
a second supplier involves re-routing your calls using one of the
following simple methods:
• dialling a four-digit pin before the phone number,
• plugging an auto dialler into your existing phone socket,
• registering for Carrier Pre Selection (CPS), which automatically
re-routes calls for you at the exchange (only available with a BT
line).
Jon Miller, head of sales and operations at independent price comparison
service, uSwitch.com said: “Home phone providers rely on consumer
inertia and ignorance; apathy and brand loyalty keeps consumers with
the same network and this unwittingly costs them dearly. Saving money
on your home phone bill is one of the easiest ways of reducing household
expenses.”
Another aspect that can increase your phone bill unnecessarily is
the cost of calls to mobiles. If anyone in your household regularly
calls mobile phones from your landline, then these costs can also
be cut significantly by using a second supplier. Finally, if you pay
your bill by direct debit you guarantee an additional saving on your
monthly bill. It may not sound like much, but when added together
with your other savings over the course of a year it can make a substantial
difference to your household expenses, leaving you with more money
to spend on the things you really want.
If all this information is making your head spin, use the phone comparison
calculator supplied by uSwitch.com, and it will do the work for you.
Simply enter your postcode and a few details about your current phone
usage, and the calculator will work out the cheapest deal available
to you.
Top tips for cheaper phone bills:
• Ensure you’re receiving all the discounts you’re
entitled to;
• Pay by direct debit if possible;
• Use a secondary supplier if you make international calls or
calls to mobiles regularly;
• Compare suppliers by using the UK’s first Oftel-accredited
home telephone comparison service on uSwitch. It’s free and
impartial.
10 ways to save money on your phone bills
Are you getting all the discounts you’re entitled to? If you
are a BT customer then you are entitled to Friends and Family which
offers a 10% discount on nominated numbers. Check your bills and update
these numbers frequently.
Are you on the right plan? If you are a low user then you may be
better off on BT’s standard plan rather than any of the new
BT Together options.
Can you pay by direct debit? The cheapest way to pay is often direct
debit.
Do you make a lot of local and national calls? There are numerous
tariffs that give unlimited free calls for a fixed monthly cost. Eg
talktalk 70 Unlimited and One.Tel Unlimited UK Calls. This will allow
you greater freedom to spend as long as you like on the phone.
Do you make International Calls? You can make huge savings if you
use a secondary supplier. Eg. A 3 minute weekend call to Autralia
would cost 9p with GoTalk and £1.17 with BT Standard.
Have you considered alternatives to BT? For BT customers there is
now a method of routing all of your calls automatically through a
new supplier (CPS) so you only pay BT for your line rental eg. Talktalk,
Telco or Smart Talk.
Can you use an alternative telephone supplier with cable? Yes, but
your choice is more limited. E.g. Talk or OneTel.
Are there any catches? Always check the small print as the cheapest
per minute rates do not always mean the largest savings. Connection
fees, minimum call charges, price-caps and billing increments all
need to be taken into account.
What about customer services? Oftel measures customer complaints
for a number of the larger companies and publishes this information
at www.cpi.org.uk
How can you compare one supplier against another? Use the UK’s
first Oftel-accredited home phone comparison service, www.uswitch.com.
It takes into account all of the hidden charges and you can find the
deal that’s right for you. Best of all, it’s FREE.
