free calls on mobiles for dwp calls

[willowgirl]

hi, dont know if any use but just seen this if anyone can understand it, free calls from certain networks to dwp departments:

benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/...

hope its some use xx

[Gordon57]

Quite old news unfortunately - this was back in 2010 when the DWP announced that they would use 0800 numbers, and make sure they were free to call from mobiles, for initial claims to many departments. This would allow new claimants to speak to the department to register. These numbers are given on the various GOV.UK websites for anyone starting a new claim.

It does not help people who are registered but need to call the department to chase up payments, make enquiries about their claim, change details or anything else as these calls would have to go to an 0845 number for the local JobCentrePlus.

I had an argument with the DWP over the cost of calls, where I was told 'calls to 0845 are free' by a DWP operator, then got charged £6.45 for one call! Through my MP I have complained about this and I've had a couple of responses from Iain Duncan Smith about this, basically saying that their department are trying to ensure that they offer 'reasonable rates' to the majority of people calling them. I've disputed this and asked, again, why they do not have the matching 0345 numbers working - which are all active and just give a stupid message about not being in service.

It's a long, and ongoing, story. If I ever get a resolution I'll let everyone know. I don't hold my breath a lot these days...

[Hidden in reply to Gordon57]

I was talking to DWP just recently - it seems DWP is going to be replaced by something else, not sure if it is just the title or the actual DWP itself...

Paws...

[FearMor in reply to Gordon57]

Most mobile operators charge for 0800 calls. The one exception is Giffgaff. 0845 calls are not charged at local rates on landlines; they are charged at Lo-Call rates which are revenue sharing and cost about 8p a minute. The new 03xx call rate is standard rate and works from both landlines and mobiles.

[Gordon57 in reply to FearMor]

Until June 2015, when 0800 will once again be free from mobiles. Had you read my further message, below, I did explain at the time (over a year ago now) about the 03 numbers and call rates

[willowgirl]

thanks gordon, just picked it up on hu fibro site, we have taken to going into job centre to ring as it costs a fortune on mobiles, another one of those things they dont tell you about xx

[Gordon57 in reply to willowgirl]

Best thing to do is to use the JobCentre phone if you need to speak to someone. I can't get to the office here unless I can use the wife's car as it's a bit out of the way for bus services, well over my walking limit.

0845 calls are charged at a whopping 35p per minute on my Orange mobile and

at 11.24p connection charge plus 10.22p per minute from my Virgin Media home

phone. That's why my MP has passed this on to IDS to address, but the letter I got back was more 'windy' rather than constructive.

For anyone calling 0845 numbers it's worth checking what you're paying. Some BT customers have these calls as part of their call package, but that's only a percentage of the population. The DWP seem to think we should all be using the same services. I'm stuck with Cable as it would cost too much to have a BT line put in and would affect my Internet and TV too, costing me a lot more than it does now.

To try and explain for those wondering what the difference is. 0845 used to be 'local call rate' until the early 2000's when competition started to heat up and the cost of 01/02 calls dropped. 0845 was still charged at the same rate as it used to be, so you could call 01/02 for 1p a minute and still be paying 8p a minute for 0845 - even on a BT line. Charges have changed a lot since then, my cable company now have a connection charge per call and the cost of 0845 is over 10p a minute.

In recent years, Ofcom have introduced 03** numbers which are charged at the same rate as 01/02 numbers and are usually part of inclusive calls from mobiles too. Every 0845 number has a matching 0345 number waiting for the service user to use. The companies who run these services for the many companies and agencies are making a fortune as it is. The service users used to get 'call share', a revenue stream of so many pence per minute for all calls coming in to their numbers. This was stopped by Government departments a while back, but someone somewhere is still making a mint out of the revenue as the call charges remained the same, for high volume users it would have been around 2p per minute. £1.20 per hour per call !

For some reason, Government departments do not want to swap to 0345, claiming it would be confusing and they already provide 'local call rate' numbers via 0845 - sadly, they are well out of date with their information and I personally feel they are ripping people off by not allowing the matching 0345 to exist alongside the 0845 if they insist on keeping those. It would cost them NOTHING to implement this...

The result would be much fairer for everyone, calls from mobile to 0345 would normally be part of a call package, rather than a much higher rate like 35p a minute as I would pay if I was silly enough to use my mobile. Those on BT call packages with 0845 (and 0870) included would still be able to call 'free', it's a win/win situation. But, heads in the sand is how they choose to move forward...

[ginachron]

Basically, I believe they don't want to encourage people to call them. I was charged 3.26 for calls trying to get a response to a query about my benefit. Still remains unresolved.

[Gordon57]

Some success at last on Government departments and these rip-off call costs.

In a nutshell, the DWP and HMRC will introduce the 0345 numbers than match their existing 0845 numbers and run both together - 7 years after Ofcom recommended this !

It took a Government Public Accounts Committee meeting earlier this month to bring it all into the public domain - read about it in the transcript at parliament.uk/documents/com... or watch Martgaret Hodge making a few people squirm with the BBC TV recording at bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hou...

It is still full of misleading information such a pensioners being in the group who could lose out - why?, if both 0845 and 0345 exist then they will not pay any different if they don't know about the alternative. It was put forward that they get 0845 'free' as part of their call package but would pay 0.5p a minute to call 0345 - if they have a call package then 01/02 AND 03 calls are included ! Typical government minister, talking out of the wrong orifice as usual.

They've sill not said who has been getting the £1.4 million a year revenue that the 0845 calls have been generating though.

[Ian001 in reply to Gordon57]

HMRC have already swapped the majority of their 0845 and 0870 numbers to 0300 and 0345.

DWP have resisted moving to 03 numbers for several years, but have now agreed to follow HMRC's lead.

The Cabinet Office promised to formulate policy for the rest of government within "six to eight weeks".

The 'pensioners that will lose out' (if the 0845 number is no longer available once the 03 replacement is in use) are those with the 'BT Weekend' or 'BT Evening and Weekend' tariff and who make calls during the weekday daytime. They pay an unregulated 9p/min (plus 15p connection fee) highly inflated penalty charge to call 01, 02 and 03 numbers outside their inclusive call allowance. They pay a regulated and capped 2p/min (plus 15p connection fee) when calling 0845 numbers. The 0845 call price includes a 2p/min Service Charge to the benefit of the called party. BT make no profit on 0845 call origination and BT is the only provider subject to these rate caps.

Many callers use a mobile phone and most people with landlines aren't even with BT. This suggests that much less than a third of all calls originate from a BT line. However, DWP has stated they believe one third of all callers are on this capped BT tariff. This would therefore suggest that DWP seems to believe that the vast majority of BT customers have not made the swap to the AnyTime tariff. This is rubbish. BT has already confirmed, several years ago, that the vast majority of their customers are on the AnyTime tariff.

With many organisations shortly moving their customer service lines over to 03 numbers in order to comply with the provisions of the Consumer Rights Directive, the benefits of being on an AnyTime call plan can only increase. Once the "NTS Condition" is removed from BT in 2014 and once Ofcom's unbundled tariffs are in operation, the "BT 0845 pricing anomaly" may no longer exist, making the case for retaining 0845 numbers even more untenable.

BT includes 0845 numbers within the inclusive allowances of call plans. Very few providers do this. Once Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" are in operation, BT will have to charge callers the 2p/min Service Charge when they call 0845 numbers. This means that 0845 numbers will no longer be inclusive in call packages. 03 numbers are always inclusive. This is yet another reason to move from 0845 to 03 numbers.

The '0.5p/min cost' mentioned in the enquiry is the cost to the DWP of providing an 03 number. It's peanuts. This cost is also very small compared to the massive savings made by the vast majority of callers when calling 03 numbers instead of calling 0845 numbers.

Most callers are currently paying 2p to 12p/min plus a 15p connection fee to call 0845 numbers from landlines. If 03 numbers were made available, many of those callers could use their "inclusive" call allowance instead.

Callers with a contract mobile phone also have inclusive calls to 03 numbers, but are currently forced to pay 15p to 41p/min because only an 0845 number is available.

Callers using pay-as-you-go mobile phones would each save between 5p and 25p/min if 03 numbers were made available and the 0845 numbers closed down. Only one mobile network charges more for 03 numbers than for 0845 numbers, but Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" will likely cause a price adjustment that fixes that.

[Gordon57 in reply to Ian001]

Just an note for Android and iPhone mobile users - have a look at weq4u.co.uk/ for a handy app that lets you call 08 numbers FREE!

I've no connection with the company, just passing on the info.

If you don't have a phone that takes the app you can call 0333 5432111 instead and then the 08 number to connect to, the call would them be part of your inclusive minutes

I keep looking for ways to avoid these excessive call charges and this one worked for me when I last called Jobcentre Plus on their 0845 number.

To comment on Ian's explanation on 'pensioners who would lose out' - thanks for that, I'm not with BT and would use my mobile for 03 calls rather than landline. For now I understand that both 0345 and 0845 will be offered and a review will take place later. Also pleased to note that BT have already rubbished the claim about their customers losing out.

Perhaps a note could be sent out by DWP and HMRC to ALL their clients, as part of normal correspondence, to inform people of the 03/08 numbers and ask people to check what is best for them - wouldn't take a lot of doing... All the people affected would get a letter from these departments now and again.

In my opinion, and I used to be heavily involved in the supply of non-geographical numbers, 0845 should never have had any 'revenue share' available as this has made it almost impossible to change the tariff.

Ofcom stopped revenue share on a lot of 070 'personal numbers', due to abuse, but the call cost didn't come down so the phone companies benefitted from this instead!

I would still like to know who's been getting the estimated £1.4 million a year 'revenue share' from the government 0845 system...

[Ian001 in reply to Gordon57]

Calls to 0845 numbers incur a 2p/min Service Charge. This is just enough to cover the call routing costs at the recipient's end so that they pay nothing for the use of the number. This level of Service Charge is rarely enough to generate a revenue-share out-payment.

Calls to 0870 numbers currently do not incur a Service Charge and revenue-share is not permitted. Ofcom propose re-introducing revenue share to 0870 numbers some time in 2015 with a Service Charge around 10p/min.

Calls to 0843 and 0844 numbers incur a Service Charge between 2p and 7p/min. Calls to 0871, 0872 and 0873 numbers incur a Service Charge between 2p and 13p/min. Where the Service Charge is over about 4p/min, and the call is routed to a standard UK landline, a revenue-share out-payment is generated. Calls routed to other destinations, such as mobile phones and international locations, erode the level of revenue-share paid out.

Ofcom propose that call connection fees be scrapped. Instead, each network will set and declare a single Access Charge per tariff. This will be a pence-per-minute rate and will apply equally to all 084, 087 and 09 numbers.

All 084, 087 and 09 numbers will simply be defined as "numbers with a Service Charge to the benefit of the called party and an Access Charge to the benefit of the originating telephone network".

This level of call price transparency will make it clear that the Service Charge imposed on calls to 084, 087 and 09 numbers earns money for the called party, or at least pays the running costs of their non-geographic number, and that these calls are always more expensive than calling 01, 02 and 03 numbers. It will also make it very easy to compare different tariffs, simply by comparing the level of Access Charge imposed on callers.

Before all these changes happen, the provisions of the Consumer Rights Directive will pass into law and ban all 084, 087 and 09 numbers for use as customer service lines.

Ofcom introduced 03 numbers in 2008. These are charged at the same rate as 01 and 02 numbers and count towards inclusive minutes on landlines and mobiles. There is no Service Charge and revenue share is not permitted.

Users of 084 and 087 numbers can move to the matching 034 or 037 number or can choose a new 01, 02, 030, 033 or 080 number.

Ofcom also propose that 080 numbers be free calls from all mobile phones. Mobile network EE are fighting those plans.

These proposals are now running many months late. Ofcom is expected to publish more details before the end of 2013.

[Ian001 in reply to Gordon57]

You might also be interested in the more detailed comments at tinyurl.com/T10282099c1

[Gordon57 in reply to Ian001]

That's just an newspaper report, the link to the full transcript and a 90 BBC recording was given in my message about the Government Public Accounts Committee meeting above

[Ian001 in reply to Gordon57]

The instruction was to read the specific linked-to comment.

You might need to wait several seconds for your browser to automatically scroll down the page to it.

[tigger1977]

Hi there head to

. saynoto0845.com

Where U can get any 0845 or any chargable network rate over the cost .

Go to the site

U type in any prefix and it will come up with a local number so free on most mobile plans and also house phones

I have used this website for everything.

Including dwp.tax credits etc ...

Hope this helps .from caz

[0345numbers]

Due to a change in the law, all Government Departments must now offer 0345 'customer service' Numbers. These numbers do not attract a service charge and as such they should cost you no more than a call to a telephone number starting with 01 or 02.

Most mobile contracts will allow calls to 0345 numbers from your inclusive balance meaning that you should not be charged for calls.

0345-numbers.uk/category/fr...