Phone Call Bill Cap 14 December 2021 at 2:15PM edited 14 December 2021 at 2:17PM in Broadband & internet access 8 replies 201 views

jezzer_72

Hi all,

I’ve done a search but cannot find anything but is anyone aware of any broadband and line rental companies that also provide a cap on spending for phone calls? I know Talk Talk do provide a cap but I’m not sure if there is anyone else in the market that does and I’m coming to the end of my current contract with Talk Talk. 

I know Vodafone, Sky and Now didn’t provide this 18months ago. If anyone is aware of a change please let me know. 

Thanks in advance.

Neil_Jones

Get an inclusive call package.  As an example, Plusnet's is £9.41 and includes:

• Unlimited calls to UK landlines
• 2,000 minutes of calls to UK mobiles
• Calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers
• Free calls to Plusnet numbers
• Free calls to Plusnet Support

Calls capped at 1hr I believe for everything, after that nang up and redial if you don't want to be charged.

Pays for itself if you make more than an hour's worth of calls a month.  So that caps the total monthly bill to somewhere around £30 a month if you lock in for long enough.

There is also the old BT Basic option (now Home Essentials) which caps your charges but that's a social tariff you have to be eligible for that.  Cost wise it wipes the floor with the rest of the market but of course if you're not eligible...

jezzer_72

Neil_Jones said:

Get an inclusive call package.  As an example, Plusnet's is £9.41 and includes:

• Unlimited calls to UK landlines
• 2,000 minutes of calls to UK mobiles
• Calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers
• Free calls to Plusnet numbers
• Free calls to Plusnet Support

Calls capped at 1hr I believe for everything, after that nang up and redial if you don't want to be charged.

Pays for itself if you make more than an hour's worth of calls a month.  So that caps the total monthly bill to somewhere around £30 a month if you lock in for long enough.

There is also the old BT Basic option (now Home Essentials) which caps your charges but that's a social tariff you have to be eligible for that.  Cost wise it wipes the floor with the rest of the market but of course if you're not eligible...

Thanks but that wouldn’t be suitable as some won’t hang up the phone. Need a tariff that includes a cap, a little like you get on mobile calls and data usage so that you don’t spend above a certain amount. 

Neil_Jones

jezzer_72 said:

Neil_Jones said:

Get an inclusive call package.  As an example, Plusnet's is £9.41 and includes:

• Unlimited calls to UK landlines
• 2,000 minutes of calls to UK mobiles
• Calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers
• Free calls to Plusnet numbers
• Free calls to Plusnet Support

Calls capped at 1hr I believe for everything, after that nang up and redial if you don't want to be charged.

Pays for itself if you make more than an hour's worth of calls a month.  So that caps the total monthly bill to somewhere around £30 a month if you lock in for long enough.

There is also the old BT Basic option (now Home Essentials) which caps your charges but that's a social tariff you have to be eligible for that.  Cost wise it wipes the floor with the rest of the market but of course if you're not eligible...

Thanks but that wouldn’t be suitable as some won’t hang up the phone. Need a tariff that includes a cap, a little like you get on mobile calls and data usage so that you don’t spend above a certain amount. 

That is a cap.  The £9.41 in my example is a cap.  Other providers are available with inclusive calls as well at their own prices.

If that doesn't answer the question then I'm confused.  What are you trying to do exactly?

jezzer_72

That is a cap.  The £9.41 in my example is a cap.  Other providers are available with inclusive calls as well at their own prices.

If that doesn't answer the question then I'm confused.  What are you trying to do exactly?

I need a cap that works like the cap on your mobile… i.e. your bill will never be above £x. 

With inclusive calls, you need to hang up and restart the call which means that if you don’t do this, your bill will be any amount for the costs outside of your inclusive calls. For instance dealing 118. Also, any calls that fall outside of the inclusive calls are chargeable and you can still have a £100 bill for instance.

Talk Talk allow you to cap your bills so that your line rental is say £25 and your total bill will be no higher than the capped at £30. I.e. Once you have spent £5 outside of inclusive mins (increasing your bill to £30) you can no longer make any more calls unless they are inclusive of course. 

This is what I need in my particular circumstance. I have been with Talk Talk for years because they offer this but the cost for their service is now £26 to new customers or £35 to continue out of contract.

Broadband (30mb) can be had for £17 with some companies after discounts and offers maybe lower. I was just wonder if anyone had or is with a provider other than Talk Talk that offers a bill cap.

zagfles

You could use a VOIP service that you top up, then like PAYG mobile you can't spend more than your credit. I use sipgate, their call rates are reasonable although if you make loads of calls they won't be as cheap as an inclusive package. Calls to mobiles are quite expensive.

But this depends on what you're trying to achieve. Is there someone in your house that you don't trust? If you have broadband with a phone line then someone could still use your landline rather than the VOIP service. You could get a broadband only contract, ie no phone line, although they can be more expensive.

notbritishgas

OP

Plusnet do one.
If you Google. Plusnet credit threshold, it explains it.

jezzer_72

notbritishgas said:

OP

Plusnet do one.
If you Google. Plusnet credit threshold, it explains it.

I’ll take a look. Thanks. 

cx6

you could switch to a broadband only service ie no.phone calls, no dial.tone, no.phone number. You would only have broadband coming over your landline

Then you use a voip phone for your phone calls 

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/voip/

Ss an example you could use a sipgate voip package 9.95 a month unlimited calls

https://www.sipgatebasic.co.uk/