Home Phone Billing and Call Charges Guide

Paying for Home Phone

1. How and when do I pay for the service?

We'll take your subscription fee via Direct Debit at the same time as your broadband subscription.

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2. Do I still have to pay line rental to BT?

No. You pay us for your line rental and call plan.

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3. Why is the first payment different to my normal monthly amount?

The first payment is a pro-rata payment to cover the time between your line transfer completing and your next broadband billing date.

After this you'll be billed the normal amount each month at the same time as your broadband.

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4. How do I check my bill?

Use the Home Phone Control Panel. You'll be able to see charges for:

• Line rental
• Call plan
• Calls you've made
• Call features

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5. What happens if I miss a payment?

If you miss a payment, your calls (apart from emergency and operator) will be redirected to our Support Team so you can arrange to pay the outstanding bill.

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Credit Limits

6. What's the credit limit?

It depends on which call plan you take

• Talk Evenings & Weekends has a £55 credit limit
• Talk Anytime has a £75 credit limit

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7. How do credit limits work?

Throughout the day, we'll update your Itemised Bill as calls are confirmed.

At the end of the month you'll be charged the total amount that's been deducted from your credit limit for that month

Sometimes it takes a while for a call to be confirmed. If a call is not confirmed before your next billing date, the cost will be added to your next invoice but the call will appear on the bill for the month it was made in. Have a look at your Recent Calls to see unconfirmed calls on your account.

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8. What if I use my credit before the end of the month?

If you reach your credit limit, all calls (apart from emergency 999/112 and operator) will be barred and a charge of £5.76 will be added to your next bill.

Before this happens, we'll email you as you reach £15, £10 and £5 available credit.

You'll need to top-up and have at least £5 credit available before we allow calls on your line again.

You can prevent this by topping up your credit through the month using the Home Phone Control Panel.

You can top-up by £5, £10, £25, £50, £75 or £100.

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Call and Feature Charging

9. How are calls charged?

Please note: This information applies only to chargeable calls. Inclusive calls have no charges associated with them.

1. Calls are charged for a minimum one minute duration
2. Call durations are then rounded up to the next minute
3. A setup charge of 8p is added
4. The final total is rounded up to the next whole pence
5. Check the Home Phone Tariff Guide for call costs

Example: A call of 1 minute 3 seconds
Call duration rounded up to 2 minutes
Final cost is for 2 minutes call plus setup charge rounded up to next whole pence.

Setup Fee

The following call types are subject to an 8p set up fee:

• Non-inclusive 01,02 or 03 landline calls
• 0845/0870 (NTS) calls
• UK mobiles
• International mobiles
• Premium rate services

The following call types are not subject to a set up fee:

• Inclusive calls
• Fixed fee calls
• Calls to Plusnet Support

Inclusive Calls

Package	Inclusive Calls
Talk Anytime	Calls to numbers starting with 01, 02 or 03 300 Anytime minutes to the Top 20 International Destinations (including US and Canada mobiles) 25% off Mobile calls
Talk Evenings & Weekends	Calls to numbers starting 01, 02 or 03 between: Evenings: 18:00-06:00 Mon-Fri Weekends: Anytime on Saturday or Sunday 300 Evenings & Weekends minutes to the Top 20 International Destinations (including US and Canada mobiles)

Calls to Plusnet Support and other Home Phone customers are free at all times.

Inclusive calls are only free for the first 60 minutes (30 minutes for international numbers).

After this, calls are charged for at the standard rate (see Home Phone Tariff Guide).

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10. How are call features charged?

For more information on the costs and features available, please see our Call Features Guide.

If you add features with a total cost less than £3 a month, you'll be charged for them on your next bill. If you add features costing more than £3 in total you'll be charged for them immediately.

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11. How can I query premium rate call charges?

Firstly you should check the equipment connected to your telephone line (other than your telephone handset). One or more of these may be dialling out to premium rate numbers without you knowing.

• Fax dial-up modem (not your broadband router) - You should disconnect this from your telephone line and run a virus check on your PC. A virus may be dialling out to premium rate numbers when you switch your PC on.
• Security and fire alarm systems - Many of these connect to a telephone line. (This is because if a break in or fire happens an alert can be raised, as well as to ensure that the alarm is still connected to the alarm company). You should contact the alarm company and ask under what circumstances the alarm system automatically dials them.

You can find out more about who provides any premium rate number at the Phonepay Plus (the premium rate services regulator) website. This won't always show you the company, but will let you find out the operator (e.g. BT operate '09' numbers for other companies).

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This page last updated 1st July 2009