Elderly hit hardest by spiralling phone line costs

TELEPHONE companies are exploiting elderly people by hiking the cost of their phone lines — and using the cash to fund cheap broadband deals.

Older customers also fall foul of ‘increasingly complex’ prices and are more likely than younger homeowners to end up locked into poor-value contracts, the telecoms watchdog has warned.

One in ten households has a landline but no internet, the vast majority of whom are pensioners. They lose out because line rental costs are soaring and the cheaper broadband offers are no use to

them, according to a new report by Ofcom. Between December 2010 and 2015, BT raised its line rental prices by 23 pc, Sky by 44 pc, Virgin by 34 pc and TalkTalk by 33 pc, its research found.

By contrast, the cost of broadband bundles has dropped from £105 per month on average to £94 between 2014 and 2015. And if customers fail to switch every year they end up on the most expensive tariffs.

There is a growing gap between promotional discounts for new customers and the prices loyal

customers pay. Typically, if you don’t shop around you will pay 20 pc more. Ofcom says customers are often put off switching because it is hard to compare so many deals. The watchdog says older people are most likely to stick with their existing provider.

The Advertising Standards Authority recently announced plans to force companies to include the cost of line rental — which you must pay for if you use the internet — in the advertised price.

Four in five people can’t work out the true cost of the deals, the ASA says.