Looking for a traditional payg sim only

DarrenLee02

I'm looking for, what I've learned is called 'traditional payg', that is a sim only but with *no* contract. You just top up as and when needed, and the credit lasts as long as it takes to spend it. I don't use use my phone that much, sometimes only a  dozen or so texts a month and the odd pic or two, so even a £7/month sim contract is way more than I'd use. I've Google'd quite a bit and can find no clear answer or provider, every sim-only payg seems to be a £x/month contract.
I think the 'traditional' implies this is how all payg went, but now it's hard to find one that doesn't require a monthly payment. Mildly infuriating.

Anyone know of such a provider, I can't find one?

***Upon much further research, I found 1pmobile.com, are they too good to be true?

sdduk

If you can get a signal Three network does a Payg sim 321 it's 3p min 2p text 1p meg data.
Just go on there website and order a free Payg sim.
all Payg sims you need to make a phone call or text message ever 120 days i think or you will loose it and your credit but you don't have to top-up every month only when you want to.

Farway

DarrenLee02 said:

***Upon much further research, I found 1pmobile.com, are they too good to be true?

Yes, from their web site "To keep your account and SIM active, just make at least one £10 top-up every 120 days." so that's £30 per year just for owning the SIM

JJ_Egan

Been with Giffgaff for years all they require is a text or phone call to be used roughly once every 3 months .

EssexExile

I know tariffs change but I'm on 02 & the wife is on 3 & neither of us top up within 120 days, it can be years between top ups for us. We just make a call or send a text every now & then.

Frozen_up_north

EssexExile said:

I know tariffs change but I'm on 02 & the wife is on 3 & neither of us top up within 120 days, it can be years between top ups for us. We just make a call or send a text every now & then.

Beware that O2 have changed the T&Cs for new customers of their Classic PAYG 

DarrenLee02

Thanks for the suggestions. Three doesn't work here, no reception.

I saw GiffGaff, but they are doubling their payg rates in a week according to an announcement.

Re: O2, yes I read they stopped the classic payg last year. Amazon sell a classic sim but from replies it seems they don't honour it and auto-bump you onto a monthly bundle.

It does seem to be they are all trying to force everyone, or as many as they can, onto monthly contracts, which is pretty rubbish for the consumer (in that it removes or prices-out the option of old style payg), but good for them.

1p look too good, I wonder how long that business will last, unless they get you some other way.

DarrenLee02

Farway said:

DarrenLee02 said:

***Upon much further research, I found 1pmobile.com, are they too good to be true?

Yes, from their web site "To keep your account and SIM active, just make at least one £10 top-up every 120 days." so that's £30 per year just for owning the SIM

Oh that's the catch, but it still works out cheaper than monthly packages, but it makes it a lot less attractive.

callum5

DarrenLee02 said:

I'm looking for, what I've learned is called 'traditional payg', that is a sim only but with *no* contract. You just top up as and when needed, and the credit lasts as long as it takes to spend it. I don't use use my phone that much, sometimes only a  dozen or so texts a month and the odd pic or two, so even a £7/month sim contract is way more than I'd use. I've Google'd quite a bit and can find no clear answer or provider, every sim-only payg seems to be a £x/month contract.
I think the 'traditional' implies this is how all payg went, but now it's hard to find one that doesn't require a monthly payment. Mildly infuriating.

Anyone know of such a provider, I can't find one?

***Upon much further research, I found 1pmobile.com, are they too good to be true?

Looking at the reviews on Trustpilot of 1pmobile (uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.1pmobile.com) they seem to be a good network with happy customers, they run on the EE network which has many awards including best overall network you can check their coverage here - coverage.ee.co.uk/coverage/ee

Upon further research MSE created an article on PAYG sims (moneysavingexpert.com/phones/best-pay-as-you-go-sim-cards/#occasional) and it states there that you need to top up £20 every four months to keep sim active which eliminates 1pmobile from your search

If you look carefully on the ASDA Mobile website they offer a traditional PAYG service with the only catch being you have to use the phone (send a text, call, etc. every 180 days) Their website states it in the FAQs section (mobile.asda.com/help/topping-up/top-up-expire) The prices are a bit higher than other network (see picture below) but for occasional use it might be the best option 

Hope the information helps 

callum5

callum5 said:

DarrenLee02 said:

I'm looking for, what I've learned is called 'traditional payg', that is a sim only but with *no* contract. You just top up as and when needed, and the credit lasts as long as it takes to spend it. I don't use use my phone that much, sometimes only a  dozen or so texts a month and the odd pic or two, so even a £7/month sim contract is way more than I'd use. I've Google'd quite a bit and can find no clear answer or provider, every sim-only payg seems to be a £x/month contract.
I think the 'traditional' implies this is how all payg went, but now it's hard to find one that doesn't require a monthly payment. Mildly infuriating.

Anyone know of such a provider, I can't find one?

***Upon much further research, I found 1pmobile.com, are they too good to be true?

Looking at the reviews on Trustpilot of 1pmobile (uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.1pmobile.com) they seem to be a good network with happy customers, they run on the EE network which has many awards including best overall network you can check their coverage here - coverage.ee.co.uk/coverage/ee

Upon further research MSE created an article on PAYG sims (moneysavingexpert.com/phones/best-pay-as-you-go-sim-cards/#occasional) and it states there that you need to top up £20 every four months to keep sim active which eliminates 1pmobile from your search

If you look carefully on the ASDA Mobile website they offer a traditional PAYG service with the only catch being you have to use the phone (send a text, call, etc. every 180 days) Their website states it in the FAQs section (mobile.asda.com/help/topping-up/top-up-expire) The prices are a bit higher than other network (see picture below) but for occasional use it might be the best option 

Hope the information helps 

After looking into it further iD mobile seems like a better choice, they are owned by Carphone Warehouse and run on the 3 network, your phone must be used once every year (365 days) to avoid being cut off and rates are cheaper than ASDA Mobile 

iD Mobile FAQ (States expiry time and other useful info) www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/faq
Rates www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/call-charges

Frozen_up_north

DarrenLee02 said:

Thanks for the suggestions. Three doesn't work here, no reception.

I saw GiffGaff, but they are doubling their payg rates in a week according to an announcement.

Re: O2, yes I read they stopped the classic payg last year. Amazon sell a classic sim but from replies it seems they don't honour it and auto-bump you onto a monthly bundle.

Point 1, I am on Three and struggle to find places it doesn't work. You can check measured performance of all four UK networks via:

http://webcoveragemap.rootmetrics.com/en-GB

2. GiffGaff are all about "goody bags" where you effectively have a monthly payment but no contract.

3. O2 Classic, as far as I know, still continues at 3p/min, 2p/SMS, 1p/MB, for existing customers. However, activating a new (old stock) SIM may not be considered to be an existing customer.

So unless you really don't have coverage from Three, you are a bit stuck if you just want to make the odd call for 3p.