A third of us have not changed our home phone provider in over 5 years and are likely to be wasting big money as a result
As the credit crunch bites, most of us have made a real effort to reduce our household bills. The most obvious targets are energy, car and home insurance, mortgages and personal loans. The slightly more determined amongst us have also no doubt, looked at our digital TV and broadband bills, as there are big savings to bundle the services together.
But it is the humble home phone line that often gets overlooked, particularly as we all rely increasingly on mobiles for the majority of our calls. Indeed, recent research by home phone, broadband and digital TV comparison service Simplifydigital.co.uk, shows that a third of households have not changed their home phone provider in over 5 years. The net result is that the majority of households are sitting on a big potential savings without even knowing it.
Home phone costs consist of the line rental (paid monthly) and the cost of the call plan on top. There is not much variation in the cost of line rental, which varies from £10.50 to £11.25 per month depending on your home phone supplier. But there is a huge potential difference in the cost of the calls depending on which call plan you choose from which supplier, relative to where you make the majority of your calls.
Identifying the exact potential cost saving for a household is complex as it is dependent on the household’s unique pattern of calls. So for simplicity we have grouped households into catagories to determine a likely potential cost saving.
Busy family making regular daytime calls during the week
Let’s assume that the family regularly makes local and national calls during the day, as well as regular calls to mobiles.
In this example there are big savings to be had by getting a call plan with all inclusive daytime calls, because if you make calls during the day without an inclusive talk plan, you will be paying through the nose.
For example, BT charge 4.5p per minute for daytime calls, so a family spending 20 minutes on the phone per day to landlines will be spending £18 per month on national calls alone.
If for example they are spending another 20 minutes per day on calls to mobiles (which BT charge at 12p per minute), this would add up to another £50 per month, making a total of £68 per month excluding line rental! In contrast the pick of the anytime call plans are listed below.
Sky Talk Anytime (£5 per month for Sky TV customers)
This package is very good value and gives you unlimited free national daytime calls, plus free calls to 20 international destinations including France and the US. And importantly calls to mobiles would be just 9p per minute. So instead of paying £68 per month, the family would pay a total of £41 per month (excluding line rental) and benefit from the free international calls – making a saving of about £27 per month or £324 per year.
TalkTalk UK Anytime
The TalkTalk package is another great value plan. For £4.49 per month you get free daytime calls (this rises to £5.49 per month after 12 months). Calls to mobiles are 12p per minute and you also pay for calls to international destinations. But on this basis you would still expect to save about £186 per year (£15.50 per month)
BT Unlimited Anytime Plan
This plan costs £4.95 per month for free daytime, evening and weekend calls. Calls to mobile cost 12.5p per minute and BT’s standard international call charges apply. But by switching to this plan, the family would still save £13 per month or £157 per year.
A major drawback of the BT package is that it ropes you in to a 12 month “renewable contract” which automatically gets extended to an additional twelve months, after the completion of the initial 12.
Working couple calling in the evening and weekends and overseas
The savings for a family making the majority of their calls in the evenings and at weekends are smaller, but the savings to be had on international calls are potentially very large.
Let’s assume that the couple regularly call France, the US and India. Again, taking the standard BT rates as a benchmark, BT charge 17p per minute for calls to the US; 21p per minute for calls to France and a whopping 28p per minute for calls to India. So if the family call abroad for just ½ an hour per week, they are likely to be racking up a bill of around £26 per month on international calls alone.
Sky Talk Anytime (£5 per month for Sky TV customers)
This package would suit the working couple as well as the busy family as it offers free international calls to 20 destinations including France and the US. Calls to India would be 26p per minute. So the couple would save about £21 per month or £252 per year on international calls alone.
Orange Home Phone and Second Line (existing Orange customers)
Existing Orange customers can get a great value home phone and broadband service for just £4.18 per month. The service gives you free evening and weekend calls on your main phone line, plus the Orange Second Line service included for free. This internet phone service from Orange allows you to call UK landlines for free at anytime, and make free calls to 30 international destinations. You will need broadband from Orange in order to use Second Line.
The package also offers free calls to Orange mobiles, so if our couple are existing Orange customers it would be an excellent choice.
Skype
The working couple might also consider a VOIP service like Skype. They offer big opportunities to save, but require a broadband connection (as the calls go over the internet). Skype offers free calls to other Skype users wherever they are in the world and also offer a package of free calls to domestic landlines anytime for £3.39 per month. And unlimited calls to landlines in over 40 countries worldwide for £7.99 per month.
In summary, if you have not reviewed your home phone package in a while it is definitely worth digging out the bills, checking what call plan you are on, and seeing if you can save.
Comparison sites such as the Ofcom accredited Simplifydigital (www.simplifydigital.co.uk) offer an excellent place to start. Simplifydigital also offer impartial advice free over the phone on 0800 1 388 388. Their experts will note your exact call behavior and find the best fit package for the biggest saving.
Written by Charlie


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