British home phone customers wasting millions on line rental charges

Online, April 28, 2010 (Newswire.com) - • Failure to shop around and switch means customers are potentially 'throwing away' over £350million* on line rental charges annually

• Over half of British home phone customers haven't switched line rental provider in the last five years

A recent survey by Homephonechoices.co.uk of over 8,000 consumers (1) has revealed that 53% of British home phone customers haven't switched line rental provider in the last five years(2), indicating that they are likely to be paying over the odds for their home phone packages.

The availability of cheap home phone line rental deals has increased in recent years due to small niche providers competing for business with the big suppliers. The cheapest stand-alone line rental currently available in the UK is from Primus, whose Home Phone Saver package costs only £8.99 per month (3) and includes free evening and weekend calls.

Michael Phillips, product director commented:
"We were very surprised by the results of our recent survey. It is clear that line rental charges are being overlooked by consumers as a means to cut their household bills, yet it's one of the simplest services to switch and save money on. Consumers now have a wide selection of home phone providers to choose from with some very reasonable packages available. The Primus Home Phone Saver, which is the cheapest in the UK, offers fantastic value for money at only £8.99 per month with no additional call package charges.

"By failing to switch, British home phone customers are effectively throwing millions of pounds down the drain. I would urge anyone who hasn't switched line rental in over a year to get online and check what deals are available in their area using a price comparison site - the savings will be surprising and will soon mount up!"

Homephonechoices.co.uk offers hints and tips for getting the best line rental deal for you:

1. Pay by direct debit - Nearly all providers discourage payment by any means other than direct debit and impose punitive charges of anything up to £5 per month for dealing with cheques. The Post Office accepts payment by various means with no additional charges.

2. Go for paperless billing - Some providers offer useful savings if you receive your statements online, not by post. You'll also do your bit for the environment.

3. Check your small print - If you're tied to a 12 or 18 month contract, you may be faced with exit fees if you want to switch before the contract term ends. Weight up the savings and charges before making your decision as you may find the savings don't merit the switch.

-ends-

Notes to editors

1 - Homephonechoices.co.uk Customer Satisfaction Survey; Online survey conducted November 2009 - December 2009; 8,418 respondents

2 - 52.8% (4,181 out of 7,925 respondents) indicated that they had never switched line rental provider in the last 5 years

3 - Primus Home Phone Saver £8.99 per month line rental exclusive to Homephonechoices.co.uk (normal cost£9.99)

* Calculation based on number of UK Households - 24,9m (ONS, 2006 estimates) multiplied by those with fixed line telephony - 87% (Ofcom Communications Market report 2009) multiplied by those that indicated they had never switched line rental provider in the last 5 years - 52.8% (Homephonechoices.co.uk) multiplied by the annual difference between the average monthly line rental of those respondents that hadn't switched in the last 5 years - £11.61 (Homephonechoices.co.uk) and the current cheapest UK fixed line package - £8.99 (Primus Home Phone Saver/Homephonechoices.co.uk) = £359,058,553 .