Hold on HMRC – how much is this costing us?

This is missing the point, why SHOULD we wait ages to sort out tax affairs? We are paying – we should be treated with a measure of respect. My time is not worthless. Those working in an office of factory have only 30 mins or so at lunchtime to call HMRC, how are they supposed to sort out their tax affairs? (the web service is fine, until you need help wit that). Some better organisations have a call back service – if they have long queues, they call you back when they are quieter.

Now that customer services, financial services, public services and healthcare services are no longer allowed to use premium rate 084, 087 and 09 numbers with an additional Service Charge, there should be almost no need to ever call these numbers for day-to-day routine communication with businesses and organisations.

Apart from a few companies that have failed to understand what callers are paying for these calls, and retain them for inappropriate purposes, these numbers are now the preserve of chargeable premium rate services such as chatlines, voting on a show, competitions, etc.

Getting the best deal on your landline or mobile is now all about getting the appropriate inclusive allowance covering calls to geographic numbers starting 01 and 02, non-geographic numbers starting 03 and mobile numbers starting 071-075 and 077-079. Once you have paid the monthly fee for that, and if you can avoid making calls to premium numbers starting 070, 084, 087, 09 and 118, there should be nothing further to pay.

For the vast majority of people, the days of paying a per-minute rate for calls to ordinary landline and mobile numbers are well and truly over. This applies even on pay-as-you-go. Nearly all mobile networks offer a range of inclusive deals with hundreds of minutes of calls and hundreds of texts for £5 and hundreds more for another £5.

the subject is waiting times for HMRC, not phone charges in general

All calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are chargeable. Calls to 03 numbers must be charged on the same basis as whatever you have already agreed for your calls to 01 and 02 numbers. Additionally, revenue sharing is not permitted on these numbers. These Ofcom rules have been in place since 2007.

Each caller has complete control over how much they pay for their calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers. The call price is set entirely by the caller’s landline or mobile provider. Everyone has the choice of paying either a set monthly fee for a bundle inclusive calls or paying for each call at a per-minute rate. This applies on landlines and on mobiles, even on pay-as-you-go.

In general, if you use your landline for more than 20 minutes per week or you use your mobile for more than 20 minutes per month, paying a per-minute rate for calls will be cost you a lot more than paying for an inclusive allowance of calls.

If your calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are costing a fortune, you are likely on the wrong call plan for your needs or with entirely the wrong provider. Why spend 11p per minute from a landline when £8 per month gives unlimited calls? Why spend 45p per minute from a mobile when a £5 top up will give you 200 minutes?

Most advice to consumers is firmly stuck in the past and has failed to take into account that inclusive call allowances are now the ‘normal’ way to pay for calls (to 01, 02 and 03 numbers). Phone networks can confirm that almost all calls are now made this way.