Home phone call charges explained

Ofcom's UK Calling page says the rules apply to consumer calls to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers. They do not cover calls to ordinary landline numbers (01 and 02), 03 numbers or mobile (07) numbers, or calls from payphones, international calls and calls to the UK while roaming abroad. Those calls are priced by your provider in the usual way, inside or outside your call package. Alongside UK Calling, Freephone numbers starting 0800 and 0808 became free to call from mobiles as well as landlines.

Ofcom's call costs guide calls its own prices indicative and advises checking with your provider before you dial. Virgin Media, for example, says service numbers starting 084, 087, 09 and 118 won't be covered by its bundles and cost extra (checked 9 October 2026).

• Access charge. What your phone company charges, per minute, for connecting the call. Ofcom, Virgin Media and TalkTalk all describe it this way.
• Service charge. Set by, and paid to, the organisation you're calling. It varies from number to number, within limits for each number range. Ofcom and Virgin Media say it must be clearly displayed wherever the number is advertised or promoted, and Citizens Advice says to look for it in the small print near the number.

Some numbers add a third element. Ofcom says 09 premium-rate calls may carry a one-off call cost, and 118 directory enquiries calls can include a one-off connection charge as well as a per-minute rate.

Ofcom's call costs guide (page last updated 31 January 2025) says access charges range from about 8p to 67p a minute, though its own provider table shows some plans charging more; check your provider's current price list.

The table pulls together what Ofcom (call costs guide, last updated 31 January 2025), Citizens Advice (last reviewed February 2020) and GOV.UK say about each number type. The last column is a general guide only; your provider's terms decide.

Even calls your package covers can come with conditions. These points come from Citizens Advice's call costs page (last reviewed February 2020), so treat them as a checklist and confirm each in your provider's current terms:

• Evening and weekend definitions. If your deal includes free evening and weekend calls, Citizens Advice says most providers count 7pm to 7am as evening and midnight on Friday to midnight on Sunday as the weekend.
• Hour-long limits. Free calls are sometimes limited to 60 minutes. Citizens Advice suggests hanging up and calling again if you want to talk for longer than an hour, otherwise you'll be charged.
• Fair use policies. Providers may cap the total calls or minutes you can make for free; beyond the limit, calls can be charged.
• Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Calls to 01481 and 01534 (Channel Islands) and 01624 (Isle of Man) look like ordinary area codes but aren't usually included.
• Indirect access numbers. You'll also be charged for calling a number that connects you to another number, sometimes used by international calling cards.
• Mobiles. Calls to 07 mobile numbers from a landline might be included in your free calls, but Citizens Advice says to check your supplier's website if you're not sure.

• Call diversion. Forwarding your home phone to a mobile usually means you pay for the forwarded leg. BT says diverts to anything other than a BT Mobile or BT Home Phone are charged at the standard rate (or come out of an inclusive package). Sky says you're charged for the diverted part of the call at the standard Sky Talk rate for that call type; TalkTalk says each diverted call costs you the call from your landline to the divert number, at UK call rates or from your inclusive minutes (all checked October 2026). Our guide to diverting your home phone to a mobile covers the codes and set-up.
• Return-call services. Sky says there's no extra charge for dialling 1471 to hear who last called, but there is a charge for 1471 Return Call (checked 14 October 2026).
• Feature extras. Virgin Media says its call barring is a paid subscription, and Sky lists Call Diversion and Last Call Barring as optional extras, so check your price list for feature charges as well as per-minute rates.

Ofcom says you can bar 09 numbers from being dialled from your phone. What each provider's barring covers differs:

• Sky says its premium rate and international call barring stops calls to international numbers, premium-rate numbers starting 09, the Speaking Clock (123) and 118 numbers, though 123 and 118 are only barred on the Sky network. It says the barring won't stop calls to any other premium-rate numbers, and that the account holder is always responsible for calls made from the line (checked 14 October 2026).
• Virgin Media says call barring is a paid subscription that can take up to 24 hours to activate.
• BT and EE digital home phone customers can check whether Call Barring is switched on by dialling *#34#.

If calls to some numbers suddenly fail, check whether barring is on before reporting a fault; our guide to a home phone that isn't working while the broadband is lists the other checks.

Ofcom says your access charge will be made clear on your bills and when you take out a contract. For every other rate, Citizens Advice says you should be able to find a list of call charges on your provider's website. Here's where four large providers publish theirs (all checked 9 October 2026; if a route has moved, search the provider's help site for "call charges"):

Our broadband providers hub lists the providers we cover, each with its own page. The one-page contract summary you're given before you sign sets out the main terms, such as the price and contract length; our guide to the broadband contract summary explains what to check on it.

If the price list is hard to follow, ask directly and note the date and adviser's name.

1. What is my access charge per minute for 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers on my current plan?
2. Are 03 and 0845 numbers inside my allowance, and is there any limit on them?
3. Are calls to mobiles and 070 numbers included?
4. Which numbers does your call barring block, and does it cost anything?
5. If my line moves to a digital landline, will my call package or charges change?

On the last point, our guide to the digital landline switchover explains what the move involves; ask your provider about any change to your call charges.

Check the bill against your provider's price list and the advert for the number (was the service charge clearly shown?), then contact your provider, the first step in any complaint. Our guides to disputing a broadband or phone bill and complaining to your provider take you through the process, including when you can take an unresolved complaint further.

For premium-rate (phone-paid) services, the regulator changed in 2025. The Phone-paid Services Authority's 2024 to 2025 annual report says regulatory responsibility transferred to Ofcom with effect from 31 January 2025, that Ofcom took over the PSA's responsibilities on 1 February 2025, and that the PSA was made dormant. Ofcom used to approve the PSA's Code; it now regulates phone-paid services directly, although GOV.UK's call charges page and Virgin Media's help page still mentioned the PSA when we checked on 9 October 2026.

If your household uses the landline a lot, check which call types are included, your access charge and any feature fees, not just the monthly price.

• Our broadband and phone deals page lists packages that come with a home phone, and you can compare deals at your postcode with live prices from our comparison partner. We compare deals; we don't switch you or advise on what's right for your finances, so check each provider's call charges before you order.
• If you do move, Ofcom's One Touch Switch process means you contact only the new provider; your current provider must then send you the switching information, including any early-termination charges, and the new provider arranges the switch.
• If you mainly use a mobile, broadband-only deals leave the phone out altogether.
• Our BT broadband deals page covers BT's packages; its call rates are in BT's Price List.
• If you want a phone but not broadband, our guide to keeping a landline without broadband explains the options, and our guide to a separate VoIP home phone explains getting your home phone from a dedicated VoIP provider instead of your broadband provider.