Landline-only tariffs

musicat3

This is probably a bit niche (does anyone else not have broadband?).  My mother is registered blind, so broadband is no use to her.  Her current bill for her landline is more than £250 for this quarter.  With a bit of investigation, I discovered that she is eligible for a landline-only discount from BT; also, as she is receiving Pension Credit, she is also eligible for a cheap tariff.

So, her next quarterly bill should be less than £60, a saving of around £750 per year!

J_B

Would it be cheaper still to pay by monthly DD?

Neil_Jones

Plenty of people don't have broadband.  Not exactly a necessity, you can survive without it at home (indeed you can go to the library for example).

As for £250 a quarter, what the deuce?

musicat3

Thanks for the suggestion J_B; however, Mama is old school and does not do DDs.  Besides, I think she now has the cheapest possible tariff, it would be churlish to try to scrape even more off. She's more than happy with the new savings.

JJ_Egan

I pay circa £20 pm for BT landline  .

Where is the sixty odd pounds coming fro ,phone calls or other services .

musicat3

Hi JJ_Egan
 £20 pcm = £60 per quarter, which is what she's now forecast to pay

getmore4less

I would look at the breakdown of charges  if she is racking up £250  even £60 for a quarter is a lot.

Seeing what the call mix is might open up other options if there are not too many premium numbers or overseas.



The cheapest option is probably a Mobile just for use in the home.

Unlimited calls for £42 for 3 years with sky mobile 
with a suitable phone that could also have voice activated calling which may be useful.

How is she managing with that aspect does she have a special phone.

musicat3

Hi getmore4less,
Thanks for your advice. Yes, I did look at the itemised billing, and have now received a refund due to the tariff being inappropriate - it pays to complain (reasonably!).  She does have a special phone with large buttons that she can almost "see". But as she is old school, she does not want a mobile.

getmore4less

You can get phones that look like regular desk landline phone that work with a mobile signal.

musicat3

Hi getmore4less,
I have looked at mobile handsets that help people with various disabilities, such as blindness, but they are incredibly overpriced, probably due to the limited market for them.  It's also less easy to check that the phone is back "on the hook" after a call, or to leave it "off the hook" if she doesn't want to be disturbed.

gt94sss2

As well as the BT Home Essentials tariff for people on certain benefits, they also offer reduced line rental for all residental customers who do not have a broadband service.

@musicat3

Your mother would also qualify for BTs Free Priority Repair Scheme - see https://www.bt.com/help/landline/getting-set-up/help-people-with-impairments-or-with-particular-needs/i-rely-on-my-telephone-and-need-it-repaired-urgently