Cheapest way to keep a dormant UK phone number

Loosestrife

Any recommendations on the best provider nowadays to keep a UK phone number that will not be used for some years, with no monthly contract? 

Idea would be to port the number to a PAYG provider and make a small top-up credit payment, and but with no monthly plan.

I see discussions of this here ~10 years ago, but the provider Web sites don't seem to make it easy to find details of current top-up options, with their monthly plans much more prominent. 

But from what I can glean this approach *might* still be possible with Giffgaff or Three (I can't tell for the others), though both requiring some kind of chargeable activity every six months?

Any tips or pitfalls? 

Murmansk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6628495/classic-pay-as-you-go#latest

Loosestrife

Thanks @Murmans, that's very useful for options. Now need to work through each of those to understand their policies on what usage they require to keep a number active..  The information seems to be rather buried for some of these..  Some chargeable activity within six months seems to be typical?

singhini

Loosestrife said:

Any recommendations on the best provider nowadays to keep a UK phone number that will not be used for some years, with no monthly contract? 

Idea would be to port the number to a PAYG provider and make a small top-up credit payment, and but with no monthly plan.

I see discussions of this here ~10 years ago, but the provider Web sites don't seem to make it easy to find details of current top-up options, with their monthly plans much more prominent. 

But from what I can glean this approach *might* still be possible with Giffgaff or Three (I can't tell for the others), though both requiring some kind of chargeable activity every six months?

Any tips or pitfalls? 

Who is the number with at the moment?

i had a monthly contract with EE for my mobile number and decided to get them to switch this to PAYG (topping it up with £10 [all done instore]). Now i make a phone call from this number every 3 months at a cost 40p each time so that's an annual cost of £1.60 and I'm yet to top-up my credit and its been 4 years since i converted it to PAYG. 

PS - EE require chargeable activity every 6 months / 180 days but i choose to make a call every 3 months / 90 days so i dont fall foul to this rule (otherwise the annual cost would be just 80p). 

Loosestrife

It's currently with Lebara.

lr1277

Other problems you might encounter:

If you are away from the UK with no UK address, you will probably find your UK bank account closed. Are there providers who accept card payments over the internet? Assuming you can get a debit/credit card in your new location. 

Moving onto the banking side of things, you might be required to present yourself in branch and/or prove your ID at your address.

Even internet/mobile only banks seem to have T's and C's which say you have to be resident in the UK. 

Sorry have no solutions to these problems, but these are things I have seen on the forum. 

MyRealNameToo

Loosestrife said:

It's currently with Lebara.

So its not just to have some form of number but to keep a very specific one?

Loosestrife

Yes, to retain and have the same UK number to come back to.

Detail_Merchant

Loosestrife said:

Yes, to retain and have the same UK number to come back to.

Just to help get relevant answers, would you be in a position to make a call every 2 or 3 months within the UK?

I think I've read previously people saying that the phone companies get funny if the only calls from the phone are from abroad for a prolonged period.

Emmia

Loosestrife said:

Yes, to retain and have the same UK number to come back to.

How long are you intending to be away for?

Loosestrife

Yes, absence will be > a year, but will be able to arrange calls every n months from within the UK, so I think we have a plan. I'll first try to find out whether Lebara, as the existing provider, would allow move to a classic PAYG..