Line fishing

WHETHER it’s Radio 2 presenters, cabbies, or the airport security guard, it seems people everywhere are infuriated by telephone line rental – or at least it’s the first thing on their minds when they spot me.

Perhaps it’s the idea that your pay hundreds of pounds a year for a facility, then you’re charged calls on top which makes people’s teeth gnash. Thankfully, though, for the first time, I have an answer and can write about a way to cut the cost of the line rental and calls.

Why has it taken so long?

Providers have been competing on line rental deals for a number of years, but the worry has been then they will block the use of over-ride providers that can massively cut call costs.

These are specialist companies which you access simply by dialling them up on your existing phone line.

Once connected to them, your call costs are slashed, eg, 5p per call rather than per minute to call a landline or half a penny a minute, rather than 20p to call many countries overseas.

BT is prevented from blocking access to these over-ride numbers, because of its dominant position.Yet the restriction doesn’t apply to other line rental providers. So saving a quid or two on the line can scupper your ability to get cheaper calls.

But for once, the two cheapest line rental providers have guaranteed me that they’ve no plans to block access, so you can get the best of both worlds.

Are you on a BT line?

Strange as it may sound, the company that provides your phone line needn’t be the one that you make calls with.

Unless you’re with a cable provider (see below), even if you pay line rental to another company such as TalkTalk or Sky, chances are it’s BT providing the hardware that makes it all work. As long as you’ve got that, you should be able to access these deals.

The cheapest landline deals Who to choose depends on whether you’re just looking for a phone alone or want bundled broadband too. For that, go to moneysavingexpert.com/ broadband. Here, I want to focus on phones.

The easy option

Vast numbers are with BT for line rental and calls, and can’t be bothered to switch. If that’s you, BT gives “free” calls to other landlines at weekends on its standard line rental, yet if you agree to a year’s contract, you get “free” evening calls too.

“Free” means for the first 60 minutes.

You pay after that, so simply hang up and redial to keep it cheap.

To pay the minimum £11.25 a month, make sure you pay by direct debit and ask for paperless (email) billing, otherwise it can be £14.

£9.50 line rental with evening and weekend calls

The best deal is Primus Home saver at £9.50/month, if you sign up via the comparison site Consumer Choices.

It includes free evening and weekend calls to landlines (first 90 minutes) and it’s guaranteed to allow over-ride calls.

£11.75 line rental with calls to mobiles at weekends

The Post Office’s basic Home Phone package is £11.75/month. This includes the first 60 minutes of free evening and weekend calls to landlines.

At weekends, there are free calls to mobiles and 40 international destinations.

If you make more than ten minutes of mobile calls at the weekend, you’re better off with this than BT’s basic line deal. Over-ride providers are allowed and it tells me there are no plans to change this. For more info and options on these go to moneysavingexpert.com/homephones

Now cut the cost further

As I’ve already gone on about it enough, no surprise my answer here is using no-frills override providers.

To halve many landline call costs without changing provider, set up an account with no-frills phone companies such as 18185.co.uk. Then simply dial the access code (unsurprisingly, it’s 18185), before the number you’re calling.

It charges 5p per call to daytime landlines, no matter how long you speak (BT’s 4.5p per min) and 6p/min to mobiles weekdays.

This works on BT and other lines mentioned, though some other call providers block access. If so, there are other special numbers to dial.

moneysavingexpert.com/callchecker has daily updated lists.

Tips for cable users

For most people, cable means Virgin, which took over the merged NTL and Telewest a couple of years ago. Unlike standard line rental, it automatically provides calls, so it requires specific tactics to save.

Haggle... Virgin is fighting to hold onto customers and market share.

You can use this to your advantage by noting down the best deals. Call it up and quote these, saying you are considering leaving as it is too expensive.

There’s a good chance it’ll offer to reduce your prices or give you a number of months for free. If it doesn’t, do consider leaving, as better deals are likely to be available elsewhere.

Cut individual call costs

Virgin calls can be expensive, particularly if you are calling mobiles at up to 15p/min. Yet you can legally bypass this to nearly halve the cost, just by dialling a special code before calling. The best of these override providers is again 18185. More info at moneysavingexpert.com/homephones

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Grab one of its loyalty cards in store, register, then top up £5 on it once (which you can spend on coffee) and you get the free WiFi forever.Free WiFi at Starbucks STARBUCKS now offers free WiFi in 650 of its stores throughout the UK.

Grab one of its loyalty cards in store, register, then top up £5 on it once (which you can spend on coffee) and you get the free WiFi forever.

■ TV money guru Martin Lewis runs the consumer revenge website MoneySavingExpert.com; ensure you get his weekly email so you’re constantly saving money.