PAYG SIM for an old phone that is hardly ever used

penny9

I’m trying to help an elderly neighbour who needs a pay as you go SIM that doesn’t need to be used very often or is very cheap to use, as she has recently found herself disconnected from lack of use for 90 days, after her current network automatically changed her pay as you go to a £1 minimum spend and she stopped using her phone to avoid the higher charges.

She has an old phone (3G, no 4G or 5G), but doesn’t want a new one and it’s mostly used for incoming calls and texts (for 2 factor authorisation and bank OTPs - so that will all need sorting out when she gets a new number too), because she prefers her landline to make outgoing calls and has an iPad, so mostly uses iMessage for communicating with family and friends. It’s very rare for her to send a text message or make a phone call from her mobile, but she needs to be able to in case there’s a power cut (landline stops working) or on the rare occasion she might need to contact someone while out of the house. 

Looking at her landline bills, it would be cheaper for her to get a pay monthly SIM with unlimited minutes (or at least 100+ minutes) and switch to using her mobile instead of her landline for calls, but she doesn’t want to do this, so I’m looking at pay as you go for her instead. 

I’ve been looking at the MSE page here: 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/best-pay-as-you-go-sim-cards/

They currently suggest: 

1p mobile 

Cheap to use, but needs topping up every 120 days and would be far more credit than she would ever use - I know there are some ways around this, but she needs a simple set up that doesn’t require her to remember different ways of topping up or regularly doing so as she will forget how to do it.

Lebara 

The MSE information on that page is out of date as it suggests new customers can still use data on PAYG with them, but according to the Lebara website they actually stopped allowing data use for new PAYG customers who joined after 23rd May this year, so it seems it would only work for calls and texts, which would probably be ok as she probably doesn’t use data (she said she doesn’t know). Also, it’s an old 3G phone, so it will switch to 2G when whichever network she’s with turns off their 3G and then the phone will only work for calls and texts anyway. Although, if she ever needed to get a new phone and wanted to use data (even just a really small amount) then she’d have to switch to a plan (minimum £5 per month at the moment) or completely change networks again to get a cheaper deal. No regular top up is needed, but they say some credit needs to be used at least every 90 days or you lose any remaining credit. However, they give you a very generous 365 days after that before your number is disconnected. 

Three (and iD mobile) 

Three don’t have 2G, so once they turn off their 3G network the phone wouldn’t even be able to send texts or make calls, so she’d have to switch networks again when they did that. MSE specify that iD mobile need a £10 top up every 2 months or disconnection might happen. 

RWG 

Usage is fairly cheap and they do bundles from just £2 so if she ever got a new phone and wanted to use it more including data then she could stick with the same network for an affordable price (unless their prices become less competitive by then).

It does say you have to make a call/text at least every 90 days or they will restrict your account and only allow incoming calls and texts, but this is lifted if you contact them. Then if you don’t make a call/text at least once every 6 months you will be disconnected after 30 days notice. 

Asda 

If you don’t top up at least once every 180 days the account becomes restricted to incoming calls/texts only and you have to call them to top up to reactivate account. If you don’t do that, then after another 90 days you are disconnected. 

So RWG seems the best option out of these? 

No regular top up requirements (unlike 1p and Asda) and data is available if necessary (unlike Lebara) and although potential restrictions after 90 days, these can be lifted (by contacting them) without losing the credit I think?

I’m not familiar with them though, are they a good choice?

I’ve also read briefly about Tesco ‘Lite’, but I haven’t looked into the full details yet.

There seems to be no requirements to top up regularly and you only need to use credit at least once every 6 months to avoid disconnection, so there’s no 90 day restriction. It seems you have to sign up to one of their other tariffs first before switching to Lite though. Is there a cheap/free way to do this or would a rocket pack need to be purchased for the first month and then switch later? Are there any other down sides to the ‘Lite’ tariff?

Are there any other networks/plans anyone would recommend? 

Is there a possibility any of these network’s SIMs might be incompatible with her old 3G phone? 

savergrant

I have been with rwg since last August and had no problems. They actually seem to be the only network actually geared uo for very light users. We have a backup phone for my 10 yo daughter just in case and I keep the sim active by using it every couple of months. You can topup and check balance using quick dial so there is no need to create an account (their app is pretty pointless).
Rates are pretty cheap. Main alternative is to find an o2 classic sim on ebay as no longer available direct from o2.

marlot

I use RWG for a spare/emergency phone I use when out walking.  I bought their 2-year deal for £35.

savergrant

marlot said:

I use RWG for a spare/emergency phone I use when out walking.  I bought their 2-year deal for £35.

That offer was pulled last weekend. However they are offering double credit on online topups this month, so effectively halving their charges.

https://www.rwgmobile.wales/webshop/offers/£5-top-up-get-£10-in-july/

Murmansk

Whichever network you choose I think you'll find they cut you off if you never use it so best to get her to make one call or send one text each month just to keep it simple for her.

prowla

I have an RWG one in an old phone.
I just have a monthly routine where I gift data to my sons on my main EE account and also do a ping call on my spare mobiles (and charge them) to keep them alive.

savergrant

prowla said:

I have an RWG one in an old phone.
I just have a monthly routine where I gift data to my sons on my main EE account and also do a ping call on my spare mobiles (and charge them) to keep them alive.

Not sure how you can gift data to a different network?

savergrant

Murmansk said:

Whichever network you choose I think you'll find they cut you off if you never use it so best to get her to make one call or send one text each month just to keep it simple for her.

3 months is pretty safe, you may be able to find 6 months (although it may be before disconnection rather than restriction).