How to avoid paying 55p per minute to call the Universal Credit 0345 helpline...

Ian011

epm-84 wrote: »

Some people on benefits won't have a good enough credit rating to be able to get a phone contract and even if they can they might not be able to afford a contract which includes a few hundred minutes to 01, 02 and 03 numbers as part of an allowance.

Modern pay-as-you-go deals come with hundreds of minutes and texts for a £5 top-up and hundreds more for each additional few pounds extra. By around a £15 top-up many pay-as-you-go deals come with unlimited calls and texts for the next 30 days.

epm-84 wrote: »

Incorrect. On a BT landline a call to an 0300 number if free, a call to a 0345 number is the same cost as a call to your next door neighbour - which isn't free but is included as part of an allowance for SOME customers.

All 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as each other and at the same rate as calling a UK 01 or 02 number. If the caller has an allowance of inclusive calls covering UK 01 and 02 numbers that allowance also covers calls to all 03 numbers.

Where the caller has an allowance of inclusive calls, this will cover calls to geographic numbers starting 01 and 02, non-geographic numbers starting 03 and, in many cases, UK mobile numbers starting 071 to 075 and 077 to 079.

On landlines, there are three types of call plan, differentiated by the days of the week and/or the time of day where the inclusive allowance is in force:

- Unlimited Anytime call plans have inclusive calls on every day of the week and at any time of the day or night, covering calls of up to 60 minutes duration. Callers will be charged a per-minute rate for the remainder of the duration of any such call that carries on beyond 60 minutes (one provider has a 70 minute limit).

- Evening and Weekend call plans have inclusive calls on evenings of every day of the week and at any time of the day or night at weekends, covering calls of up to 60 minutes duration. Callers will be charged a per-minute rate for the remainder of the duration of any such call that carries on beyond 60 minutes (one provider has a 70 minute limit). For calls made on weekdays during daytime hours, callers pay a per-minute rate.

- Weekend call plans have inclusive calls at any time of the day or night at weekends, covering calls of up to 60 minutes duration. Callers will be charged a per-minute rate for the remainder of the duration of any such call that carries on beyond 60 minutes (one provider has a 70 minute limit). For calls made on weekdays at any time of the day or night, callers pay a per-minute rate.

For non-inclusive calls, each landline phone provider sets a single rate for calls to all UK numbers starting 01 and 02 and all numbers starting 03. This is usually somewhere around 21p per call plus around 12p per minute. This is around £7 per hour. An Unlimited Anytime call plan costs around £8 or £9 per month - barely more than the cost of one hour of non-inclusive calls.

Numbers that are free-to-caller are those starting 0800, 0808 or 116 and numbers such as 105, 111 or 112/999.

epm-84

Ian011 wrote: »

On landlines, there are three types of call plan, differentiated by the days of the week and/or the time of day where the

For someone who earlier accused another source of being a 'fake story' you keep persisting with your own fake story.

For BT landlines there is the option of having a line rental only contract. If you have that option you pay for every call you make from your phone unless it's to a free phone number e.g. one starting 0300 or 0800. An 0345 number is one which is charged at the same rate as a local call, an 0370 number is one charged at the same rate as a national call. Unlike on a mobile an 0345 call costs the same as an 0845 call and a 0370 call costs the same as an 0870 call.

Explaining all the various types of allowances you could get if you sign up to different packages doesn't change the difference in call costs to customers not signed up to one of those packages.

Prinzessilein

Not everyone has a phone (unbelievable I know!)...and those that do, do not always have tariffs that include free calls...

I don't use the phone...my autism means that speaking on the phone is extremely difficult/impossible.

I avoided a land line for many years...and although I had a mobile it was PaYG and I only ever used it to contact my mother ...and never answered it unless it was Mum at a pre-planned time.

I never topped up anything like £15 at any one time...that would have been a huge chunk of money for me!....I had a careful budget planned and adhered to - paying extra just to get free minutes that I wouldn't use was really not an option.

The DWP really needs to rethink things.

Ian011

epm-84 wrote: »

For BT landlines there is the option of having a line rental only contract. If you have that option you pay for every call you make from your phone unless it's to a free phone number e.g. one starting 0300 or 0800. An 0345 number is one which is charged at the same rate as a local call, an 0370 number is one charged at the same rate as a national call. Unlike on a mobile an 0345 call costs the same as an 0845 call and a 0370 call costs the same as an 0870 call.

Explaining all the various types of allowances you could get if you sign up to different packages doesn't change the difference in call costs to customers not signed up to one of those packages.

Where to start with that lot?

0300 numbers are not freephone numbers. That's 0800 and 0808 numbers.

Your description of 0345 and 0370 is incorrect. All 03 numbers are charged at the same rate and charged on the same basis as calls to UK 01 and 02 numbers. Distinct "local" and "national" rates ceased to exist in 2004.

0845 is generally non-inclusive and costs a lot more than 0345, and 0870 is generally non-inclusive and costs a lot more than 0370. Numbers starting 084, 087 & 09 are premium rate. The premium is the additional Service Charge.

BT confuses the situation by offering inclusive calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers but not to other 084 or 087 numbers. Calls to 084, 087 and 09 numbers attract an additional Service Charge to the benefit of the called party and their telecoms provider. They offer these inclusive calls despite 0845 numbers usually costing the same as other 084 numbers and 0870 numbers usually costing the same as other 087 numbers. This anomaly has much to do with BT being the largest supplier of 0845 and 0870 numbers to business. These numbers continue to be promoted to businesses as "free to call from a BT landline".

What BT does is, however, largely irrelevant. Some 60% of all calls made are made from mobiles. Of those calls made from landlines, 60% are made from non-BT landlines.

Any variation in call charges for calls to UK numbers starting 01 and 02 and numbers starting 03 is between which provider you make the call from, not which number you are calling.

annandale

If you signed up to an iPhone contract before you were made unemployed then continuing with the contract might be a more viable option than cancelling the contract and losing your phone plus a load of money.

I have a phone contact that I took out last year when I was working full time. I have to have access to the internet to update my UJM account and I also have to have access to a phone to phone the service centre. I estimate that I have spent around 40 hours on the phone this year alone phoning the service centre, because when I was put on UC at the beginning I was made to wait the 7 day waiting period in error. My claim had to be shut down and rebuilt which involved numerous phone calls to them.

When it was shut down I had to also call the housing benefits team in my local area as this closure affected my council tax reduction and my DHP. There are places that you have to be able to call, because they won't see you in person.

There are no phones in my local or any other job centre for customer use and not all work coaches allow you to use their phones.

As for the beer, fags and running cars comments. I get 321 pounds a month on UC and as I am single with no kids I get no in work allowance. Single people used to but George Osborne scrapped the in work allowance for single people. For every pound I earn above that 63p comes off my UC.

If you are only getting a few hours here and there, you only just manage. I don't drive. I don't smoke. I couldn't afford to run a car on what I get from the DWP.

annandale

There are people on UC who are struggling badly and there have been a lot of mistakes made with people's benefits. There are people on UC who have phone contracts but who have had their contract cut off because of being unable to pay it because they have had no income.

And gone to the job centre to use a work coaches phone there and been told no. I know someone whos payment was miscalculated. He got just short of five pounds for his months money, the bus fare to get to the job centre was 7. He missed the appointment and got a 28 day sanction of 10.40 a day.

I am aware that its always better to have a contract phone, but there are people who can't get one. Someone posted recently saying that he had just been moved onto UC. His rent was 500 pounds a month, the LHA rate was 360, so he would have to pay that from his personal element.

There are people who don't get the full element paid, there are people who don't get DHP for their second bedroom, some people are living on 160 pounds a month.

Surely you might see that in that situation many people won't have a spare 10 or 20 pounds a month to top up their PAYG phone.

I am quite aware that it does not cost 55p a min to call the DWP in every scenario. I was talking to someone the other day who was saying they were on a PAYG phone with 3 and it was 3p a minute. Even 3p a minute with the calls Ive made lately would have cost me around 80 pounds with all the calls I've made over the last six months.

The number should be free. That is the point. As for the costs from a landline, that very much depends on the landline package you have and what time of day you make the calls as has been said above.
The service centre opens Monday to Friday and during the day

annandale

"The Government has chosen a number 0345 so that the vast majority of people will be able to phone the Universal Credit Helpline for the least possible cost."

The government could make this free. Its free to call to report someone for benefit fraud.

If you wish to report the fraud by telephone you need to call the National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Says it all really, free to report someone committing fraud but not for people to call the service centre.

powerful_Rogue

annandale wrote: »

The government could make this free. Its free to call to report someone for benefit fraud.

If you wish to report the fraud by telephone you need to call the National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Says it all really, free to report someone committing fraud but not for people to call the service centre.

That's because someone could use a phone box to remain completely anonymous to report the fraud.

annandale

That's because someone could use a phone box to remain completely anonymous to report the fraud.

You can choose to remain anonymous. Your details wouldn't be passed over even if you did phone from your own phone.

As for phone boxes, in some areas there are hardly any and the ones that remain are being removed in a lot of areas.

Ian011

annandale wrote: »

The government could make this free.

There is a good case for providing a free-to-caller 0800 number to help people with new claims, to book appointments and to chase up incorrect or missing payments.

Other benefits each have a free-to-caller 0800 number for starting a new claim, one number for each benefit and this has been the case since 2010 or before. This wasn't done with UC as all new claims are made online.

There is ample evidence that this decision should be revisited. Until such time as that happens, the first post in this thread is offered to help those who may be struggling to make the money they do spend on their phone go much further or to spend much less than they currently do.

Unfortunately, I cannot offer a solution for those who have no money or no phone.

Additionally, I fear that the widespread and incorrect belief instilled by recent media coverage that "the UC helpline always costs 55p per minute" may in fact put people off from calling.