How to choose a home phone service Save on home phone calls
Switching home phone company is one way to save
If you want to reduce your home phone bills you have a number of options to consider:
- Switching home phone provider - You could save money by switching home phone provider, especially if you've never switched home phone companies before or haven't recently.
- Switching call tariff - Check you have the most suitable call tariff for you - if you make a lot of evening or weekend calls it might be worth adding a calls package.
- Bundling services - If you are looking for a broadband or digital TV service as well as a home phone, you could save by subscribing to TV package deals or broadband package deals from the same subscriber.
Switching home phone provider
Most home phone lines are still provided by BT, but don't forget that there are other providers you might want to consider switching to that might offer you a better deal.
Don't be put off switching if you don't want to change your home phone number. You can almost always keep it, even if you switch from a BT home phone line to a cable service such as Virgin Media.
Calls packages
Most standard home phone deals include at least weekend calls to other UK landlines (01, 02 and 03 numbers). You usually need to pay more for inclusive evening or daytime home phone calls. Work out how many calls you make at these times to see if it works out cheaper for you.
For example, if you opt for BT's Unlimited Weekend Call Plan, and make more than two hours of daytime home phone calls a month, it's worth paying £4.90 extra a month for inclusive weekday home phone calls with BT's Unlimited Anytime Call Plan.
Save money on calling premium and international numbers
Cheap international and mobile calls
Do you make lots of calls from your home phone to international phone numbers or to mobile phones? If so, you might want to consider one of the following options:
Add-ons and inclusive calls You could add an international call package or cheap mobile phone call add-on to your existing home phone service. Or you could switch to a home phone deal that includes calls abroad as part of inclusive calls. For example, the Post Office's Home Phone service covers inclusive weekend calls to UK mobiles as well as landlines in 40 international destinations.
Call override services You could use a call override service such as 18185.co.uk. Sign up free online and dial the company’s prefix code before the phone number you wish to reach, then you're charged by the call override provider rather than your home phone company. Savings can be big - a 30-minute peak time call to a landline in Australia would cost over £8 at BT's home phone standard rate, but just 60p with 18185.co.uk.
Making cheap calls to 0845/0870 and 09 numbers
Home phone calls to 0845, 0870 and 09 numbers are not included in all home phone companies' inclusive minutes deals and can be very expensive. Saynoto0870.com has a list of cheaper rate phone numbers for many large organisations that advertise 0845, 0870 and 09 customer phone numbers.
In recent times many home phone providers have started to include 0845/0870 numbers. BT, TalkTalk and Post Office customers on calling plans can call 0845 and 0870 numbers for free as part of their inclusive calls.
Home phone bundles
Another way to save is to combine your services and go for a package deal. Taking home phone and either broadband or digital TV services from the same provider can mean you pay much less then if you bought the services separately.
Discover the pros and cons of a range of popular deals in the phone, internet and TV package review - our exclusive survey reveals how satisfied customers are with the top package providers including BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.
