Changes to 0845/0870 Numbers

[whole diary]

[Ian01]

The Cabinet Office today (26 December 2013) published their HMG Guidance document Customer Service Lines recommending the use of 01, 02 and 03 numbers (and 080 numbers in specific circumstances) for all government departments and providers of public services.

• http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmg-guidance-for-customer-service-lines

• http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/268785/hmg-guidance-customer-service-lines.pdf

• http://kbpa.weebly.com/2/post/2013/07/john-healey-mp-welcomes-call-for-the-government-to-stop-using-high-cost-phone-lines.html#comments

• http://www.valerievazmp.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Report-Final.pdf

Paragraph 2.3 of the guidance is of significant importance. It confirms that where a non-geographic number is required, "03 numbers" should henceforth be selected as the default choice.

Although the document is titled as "guidance", since it originates from the Cabinet Office, other departments will treat it as being "policy".

Departments using 084, 087 and 09 numbers are recommended to transfer to the matching 034 or 037 number or to a new 01, 02, 030, 033 or 080 number. The old number may be retained during a transition period as long as the new number is promoted as the primary number.


See earlier posts for Ofcom and BIS^▸ (Battery Isolating Switch) announcements: http://tinyurl.com/FGW13054c24

[Ian01]

DWP today (27 January 2014) published their long-awaited announcement that 0345 numbers will be adopted in place of the existing 0845 numbers used for their enquiry lines.

• http://www.gov.uk/government/news/dwp-helps-cut-telephone-call-costs-from-march-2014

The document also confirms existing 0845 numbers will continue to be offered for the small number of callers that have a deal where 0845 calls are offered at a discounted rate (this is mostly people on "BT Weekend" who make calls on weekdays - most of whom would probably be better off with an "AnyTime call plan).

The document also confirms that existing 0800 numbers will continue to be available for new claims. DWP has a deal with six major mobile operators such that these are free calls from mobile phones. DWP pays massive fees for that.

[SDS]

There is a small list of 'exempt' 0800 numbers on the O2 list (which all mention DWP Claims) which are free to call. Along with a biggish list of 0870 and 0845 numbers.

[ChrisB]

DWP pays millions to keep those 0800  numbers free on mobile networks. Methinks this might be the driver to 03xx numbers - to reduce costs

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Western Daily Press:

Agency's crisis hotline given a cheaper tariff

A cheaper helpline for flooding victims has been opened for calls from the public after David Cameron overruled quango bosses who said it was "not appropriate" to publicise it during a flooding crisis.

The new Floodline number ^ 0345 9881188 ^ was released after complaints that callers were being charged up to 41p per minute to call the existing Environment Agency helpline on the premium rate number 0845 9881188, with the money going to a private firm.

The 0345 number had already been set up and was operational as part of a wider Whitehall move away from pricier 0845 numbers, but the EA said it was not promoting it "proactively" to avoid confusion.

But Downing Street said Mr Cameron wanted use of the premium number to be ended "as quickly as it possibly can be", and it was later revealed that the new helpline was open for calls.

The numbers will operate alongside each other for a period, providing identical information, to ensure that people with the old number are still able to get through.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: "The Environment Agency has never made any money by using an 0845 number. Most people pay nothing to call Floodline from a landline as 0845 numbers are free as part of their call packages. The cost of calls from mobiles is determined by the phone service provider.

"However we want to make sure the public do not pay over the odds to for information. An 0345 number is now running in parallel with the 0845 number as part of this transition, giving people an alternative.

"The full switch over to 0345 9881188 will take place as soon as possible. However, we have been in a heightened incident since early December and took the decision not to start to promote the new number as we did not want confuse the public and jeopardise public safety.

"We will work with Natural Resources Wales and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, who also use Floodline, to start wide-scale promotion of the new number as soon as possible."

The Agency said free flood warning information was available on its website, Twitter feed and Facebook page, as well as through the Floodline Warning Direct service via phone, text message and email and a FloodAlerts application on Facebook.

Mr Cameron said in a message on Twitter: "Calls to flooding helplines shouldn't be premium rate ^ I'm pleased the EA has introduced a cheaper UK^▸ (United Kingdom)-wide number."

[Ian01]

DWP pays huge fees to make their 0800 numbers free from mobile phones. When all 080 numbers become free calls from all mobile phones on 26 June 2015, DWPs bill for this will substantially reduce. DWP are paying over the odds for their 0800 numbers at the moment.

At the 2 September 2013 Public Accounts Committee enquiry, DWP claimed the savings they will make from the running costs of their 0800 numbers will be enough to fund the running costs of the new 0345 numbers that will shortly replace the existing DWP 0845 numbers. DWP will have to pay about 1p/min for incoming calls to their new 0345 numbers.


The long list of 0500, 0800 and 0808 numbers published by O2 covers a number of charities, lines operated by DWP and phone numbers for organisations that are members of the Helplines Association. These numbers are free from mobiles and many of these do not appear on phone bills thereby hiding the fact they have been called.

Every mobile network publishes a similar list of 080 numbers that are free to call. While the core numbers are the same on every list there are some significant differences between networks.

The long list of 0845 and 0870 exemptions published by O2 are, I believe, numbers for various customer service lines belonging to O2, rather than lines for contacting other organisations. Please correct me if I am mistaken.


EA have had the new 0345 floodline number on test since November 2013. However, they did not want to publicise a change of telephone number in the middle of bad weather, just in case it confused anyone. The extended bad weather delayed their plans further.

Had they started advertising the new number during the bad weather, it would have saved callers a lot of money. However it is also likely that EA would have been criticised for "messing around with phone numbers rather than getting on with fixing the flooding". They couldn't win either way.

EA claim they "made no money" from their 0845 number but neglect to mention that callers pay a hidden Service Charge within the call price which their provider uses to cover costs incurred in running the number and routing the call to the final destination. Callers are therefore subsidising a service already funded through taxation. It is this issue that is driving the move to 03 numbers. The fact that mobile operators massively inflate the call price by adding an excessive mark-up is a side issue and one that will be addressed by Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" system when it comes into force on 26 June 2015.

0845 numbers can pay out about half a penny per minute revenue share to high volume users. DWP declined to receive this payment so they could claim they didn't profit from the number. It is likely that EA did the same. Ofcom wants transparency here. By 26 June 2015, all users of 084, 087 and 09 numbers will be required to declare the Service Charge wherever their number is advertised, whether or not that leads to a revenue share payment.

If you have a BT line (or you are with a provider that copies BT call prices) with no inclusive calls in force at the time of day you want to make the call, or you are on Vodafone pay as you go, continue to call the 0845 number. Almost everyone else should call the new 0345 number.

[LiskeardRich]

It seems FGW^▸ (First Great Western) don't want passengers to know about their 0345 numbers. Their Twitter has confirmed they now have a compliant 0345 number. I believe the new rules about telephone numbers came in about a month ago.

In follow up to my ongoing complaint (see Frequent Poster Club for details), I visited the station in question this evening to look at what numbers they have available to customers.

I struggled to find the 0345 number but did eventually find it in small print on the local branch leaflets. I found plenty of mention of the 0845 number.

I looked at 5 publications available at the station, 4 of which only mention the 0345 number. I have copies of these leaflets, but my scan is too big to attach to the forum. The A1 posters at the station directs passengers to National rail enquiries' 0845 number.

[thetrout]

Interestingly I have just been looking at my EE Monthly Phone Bill and spotted some things that are rather worrying and in one respect, very distasteful.

• EE have charged me 12.5p for a 6 minute call to 101 (The Police UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Wide Non Emergency Number)
• Their website offered me the option in the control panel to select addons by calling customer services on an 0843 number.
• Certain Debt Collection Agencies are still encouraging people to contact them using 0844 and 0845 numbers
• Eclipse Internet have 0845 Numbers but have always listed their 01392 numbers on their website for the last few years at least
• Virgin Media Business are still using 0800 numbers which cost a fortune from mobiles
• Job Centre Plus have migrated to 0345 Numbers but several documents still have 0845 numbers
• Barclays have been using 03 numbers for a while including one in the Barclays Banking App that connects you straight through to a human and does all the authentication from the app to their systems in the background of the call
• EE have admitted that their My EE Part of their website is suffering serious technical issues and 99% of the time is not working correctly in some way or another for customers

So I contact 101 to supply evidence after police appealed for witnesses to an incident I witnessed and it's cost me 0.125p Excluding VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax). All personal thoughts and feelings aside. The bottom line is I am out of pocket for providing information to police to assist them with their investigations into a criminal case.

When I contacted Lowlifes Lowell on behalf of a "young person" one of the questions I asked was why they were stating to phone an 0844 number when 01 numbers were freely available in the public domain. The conversation was already going negative and I was told:

"It's people like you who" <I Interrupt> "Choose to use more than one brain cell and make a stance against companies using deceitful practices to gain finance in any way they can"

With EE I was told they were having serious problems with their My EE accounts system. The irony being that the girl I spoke to answered the call with the following: "Thanks for calling EE, the UKs best network..."

Such an arrogant slogan and, from my experience, a very untruthful one...

** Editted typo where 12.5p was written as 0.125p - Apologies - tt **

[LiskeardRich]

Interesting you mention Barclays, as Barclays are not covered by the changes. Banks and financial institutions were permitted to keep 08 numbers.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) sent me a cheque of ^20 to cover my additional phone costs when I raised concerns about being given the 0845 number.
The legislation states that companies can keep an 08 number as long as they pay the customer any additional call costs compared to ringing an 01,02 or 03 number.

[thetrout]

Well I had to phone Fujitsu recently because of a DOA (Dead on Arrival) piece of equipment. That's cost ^7 in 0870 numbers. I'll send them an email requesting reimbursement based on the principle and let you all know how I get on

[John R]

It seems FGW^▸ (First Great Western) don't want passengers to know about their 0345 numbers. Their Twitter has confirmed they now have a compliant 0345 number. I believe the new rules about telephone numbers came in about a month ago

I had to pick up a new season ticket wallet on Friday, as my previous one had suddenly disintegrated. Guess what - the number shown to contact FGW is still 08457 000 125.

[John R]

Interestingly I have just been looking at my EE Monthly Phone Bill and spotted some things that are rather worrying and in one respect, very distasteful.

• EE have charged me 0.125p for a 6 minute call to 101 (The Police UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Wide Non Emergency Number)

So I contact 101 to supply evidence after police appealed for witnesses to an incident I witnessed and it's cost me 0.125p Excluding VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax). All personal thoughts and feelings aside. The bottom line is I am out of pocket for providing information to police to assist them with their investigations into a criminal case.

So you're complaining about being charged one eighth of a penny to make a phone call?

[LiskeardRich]

Interestingly I have just been looking at my EE Monthly Phone Bill and spotted some things that are rather worrying and in one respect, very distasteful.

• EE have charged me 0.125p for a 6 minute call to 101 (The Police UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Wide Non Emergency Number)

So I contact 101 to supply evidence after police appealed for witnesses to an incident I witnessed and it's cost me 0.125p Excluding VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax). All personal thoughts and feelings aside. The bottom line is I am out of pocket for providing information to police to assist them with their investigations into a criminal case.

So you're complaining about being charged one eighth of a penny to make a phone call?

I think he may have been charged 12.5p as that was what I was charged recently for calling 101 from EE

[John R]

But that would be ^0.125.  Trout wrote 0.125p, which is most definitely one eighth of a penny, and I know the attention to detail and accuracy that he expects from others means he wouldn't make such a mistake himself. 

[ChrisB]

Must have been an old wallet....the new ones are grey & have a Greater West theme