How the State makes a killing out of premium phone lines:

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How the State makes a killing out of premium phone lines: MPs' outrage as 'vulnerable' taxpayers calling for help rack up a £56million bill

The Government was last night accused of profiting from ‘vulnerable’ people by forcing them to phone premium-rate numbers.

A damning investigation has found that more than 100million calls to State-backed offices by crime victims, pensioners, the recently bereaved and students were to high-rate numbers charging up to 35p a minute.

MPs condemned the practice - which cost callers £56million in 2012/13 - as it was revealed that even the Department for Work and Pensions, a bereavement service and the largely government-funded charity Victim Support were using the premium-rate numbers.

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Anyone who phones a government line to report the death of a spouse for tax or benefits purposes pays premium rates, while the Student Loans Company also uses the numbers, saying that doing away with them would cost it £1million in revenue

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2498592/How-State-makes-killing-premium-phone-lines-MPs-outrage-vulnerable-taxpayers-calling-help-rack-56million-bill.html#ixzz2kKbUnLNb

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Alternatives listed for 0500, 0800, 0808, 0842, 0843, 0844, 0845, 0870, 0871, 0872 and 0873 numbers.

http://www.saynoto0870.com/

So one answer is to ask for the number for use from abroad which will be a normal line.

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1. Which? in call to cut financial firms' phone charges

Financial firms have been urged to cut the cost to people calling their customer service or complaints lines.

A study by consumer group Which? found that almost three quarters of such lines were costly 084 or 087 numbers.

The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said it expected many of its members would switch to cheaper call rates for complaints in the near future.

Which? called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to act to stop the use of high-rate complaints line numbers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24977130

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2. Mobile phone users being charged up to £5 a minute to call directory enquiries .

Phone users are being charged up to £5 to obtain a single number from directory enquiries.

In a shocking rip-off, the cost spirals further if customers agree to be connected to the number, because each extra minute costs £5.

Citizens Advice raised the alarm about the extortionate prices after one man told them he had been charged more than £100 for a single call to a 118 number.

The mobile phone company O2 has set the minimum charge for calling 118 numbers at £5 – compared with £3 previously.

The £5 levy is 20 times the 25p that BT was charging when its monopoly of the national directory service ended in 2003. The onward connection fee imposed by O2 can make the cost of a four- to five-minute call £25.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508190/Mobile-phone-users-charged-5-minute-directory-enquiries.html#ixzz2ktld9wpq