BT Line Rental

A question about : BT Line Rental

I have an elderly relative who has a BT landline. He is a bit old fashioned and doesn't trust Direct Debits so pays quarterly as the bills come in. His phone use is not high, calls for the last quarter were Ј20, but the phone is essential as he lives on his own. BT have now increased his line rental from Ј16-99 to Ј18-99 (Line Rental Plus). When I queried it they said there were added benefits, non of which were of any use to him and the only way he could return to the old rate was to go on direct debit. They also said that the admin charge for not paying by direct debit no longer applied but this was less than the extra he is now paying. This seems to be a sneaky way to hike up the bill which is mainly line rental anyway

Best answers:

• There are other providers - he could take his number with him.
• BT Basic costs about Ј5.30 per month and you can pay quarterly at no extra charge. But look carefully at the mix of calls he makes - if not to mainly landlines the Ј20 of calls may cost more rather than be partly covered in the bundle. Should still be cheaper, though.
• As above: BT Basic gets very expensive once you exceed the miserly calls allowance.