The one hour phone call that costs more than five hundred quid...

Ian011

Call charges for calls to numbers starting 084, 087, 09 and 118 consist of two elements. There's an Access Charge set by and paid to the benefit of the caller's landline or mobile provider and a Service Charge set by and paid to the joint benefit of the called party and their telecoms provider.

The Access Charge is
- up to 12p per minute from landlines or
- up to 45p per minute from mobiles.

The Service Charge can be
- up to 7p per minute or per call for 084 numbers,
- up to 13p per minute or per call for 087 numbers, or
- up to £6 per call or up to £3.60 per minute or a combination of both for 09 numbers.
There is no set limit for calls to 118 numbers.

These are premium rate numbers. The premium is the additional Service Charge.

Upon introduction of the new system on 1 July 2015, there were 80 Service Charge price points (replacing more than 300 price points in the old system, and with each of the 300 being charged at a different rate by each landline or mobile provider). The Service Charge remains the same irrespective of which landline or mobile provider is used for the call.

The highest Service Charge was £6.98 per call plus £3.49 per minute (after the first 60 seconds).

From 1 July 2016 an additional 20 Service Charge price points become available. Several are additional low prices for 084 and 087 numbers plus a few extra for 09 numbers. The majority are additional price points for 118 numbers and five of those are set at rates that are higher than those that have been in force for the last year.

The highest Service Charge price point is now £15.98 per call plus £7.99 per minute (after the first 60 seconds).

The link shows how much this call will cost from the highest price landlines and mobiles:
http://giffgaff.screet.co.uk/call/?n=1200t159800t79900f&via=landlines
http://giffgaff.screet.co.uk/call/?n=4500t159800t79900f&via=mobiles

This underlines the advice when calling a Directory Enquiries service to never, ever, take up their offer to 'put you through'. Write the number down. Hang up. On a new call, dial the number yourself.

A complete list of the 100 Service Charge price points can be found at:
http://checkit.uboss.com/Calling/UkNgnCallCharges/
Click a column heading to change the sort order.

The additional price points do NOT signal widespread price rises for existing services. The new price points will be used mainly for new services.