Really? You’re still paying for a landline!
Millions never use their home phone but have to pay line rental for broadband. Here’s how to ring the changes – and beat the cost
HAVING a landline phone has become irrelevant for millions of homeowners who pay for something they never use. Only one in five who pay for a landline actually uses it, according to Kate Devine of comparison website MoneySupermarket.
Yet the cost of renting these unused phone lines has risen faster than inflation. Monthly line rental from BT is now £18.99 a month, up from £15.99 in August 2014.
Ed Vaizey, Conservative MP for Didcot and Wantage and a former communications minister, has called these charges ‘outdated’.
He said earlier this year that households should only be charged for usage and that providers should move with the times.
Most people who require broadband must pay for line rental, with cheap broadband plans using BT’s national OpenReach network.
Ewan Taylor Gibson, broadband expert at price comparison website uSwitch, says: ‘If you want broadband you still need to pay for the line that brings it into your property, whether or not you use it for phone calls.’
Vodafone recently stopped charging for line rental specifically, absorbing the cost into its broadband charges to give one monthly price.
Taylor Gibson says: ‘Vodafone isn’t really abolishing line rental charges, it’s simply combining the charge into its fibre broadband pricing.’
Yet he says it will not be long before Vodafone’s move is replicated by other broadband providers.
Even if your landline is included in your broadband, you still might save money by unplugging the phone – as well as putting an end to random nuisance calls.
JON Ingram, of comparison website broadbandchoices, says: ‘Customers don’t need a phone if they are unlikely to use it – the line itself just has to be active.’ To ditch the landline and save money, start by checking whether you are still paying for a call package. The cost of these can mount up. BT’s ‘anytime’ package costs £8.50 a month for landline calls, while PlusNet customers pay £6 a month.
For many people, using the mobile phone to make calls instead will save cash, especially if they regularly end up with unused minutes on their contracts. On top of the monthly fee for a landline package you will still pay for any calls you make to mobile phones – and the rates can be expensive. BT customers pay 19p every time they call a mobile, along with 7.5p a minute, while PlusNet customers pay 13p a minute to call a mobile.
In contrast, calling mobile to mobile is usually included in your monthly mobile contract, while you can also save by using internet calling services such as Skype and Facetime for free calls to friends.
Many people have kept their landlines because they fear they will have to pay for expensive calls from their mobile to business numbers beginning with 084 or 087. Yet there are ways to do this cheaply through your mobile as well.
Android and iPhone app Weq4u can transform pricey calls beginning 084 or 087 into calls that are included in your free minutes.
As a bonus, it will queue for you as well when you are phoning a helpline – reconnecting you when an agent answers. The app – which can be found at website weq4u – is free.
You can also use website saynoto0870 to find alternatives to premium rate numbers.
For some customers, it may make sense to ditch landline, broadband and line rental altogether, using just a mobile connection or ‘mifi’ for all communication needs.
For Suzie Parkus, a dating coach from London, having a landline is not worthwhile. She says: ‘I don’t need the extra expense. I also get enough nuisance calls via my mobile so why have another line to get more of the same?’
Instead, she has two mobile phones on a shared plan which gives her unlimited texts and 10GB of data.
She adds: ‘You can now call most numbers free of charge via your mobile so who needs a landline?’
She admits that she occasionally goes over her data limit, which experts warn is the major pitfall of life without home broadband.
Taylor Gibson says: ‘Data usage can spiral out of control and become more expensive than home broadband, so it’s worth doing your research.’
FOR those who do not stream films and who browse only lightly, he suggests that a SIM-only deal, such as the Life Mobile deal that gives you 1,000 minutes and 1.5GB of data for £5.95 a month, might be sufficient. He says: ‘That is equivalent to about 100 hours browsing and 100 social media posts, with photos, per month.’
Mifi, which uses a plug-in mobile hotspot to provide a broadband-like service, is also an option, though you should also watch out for limits on both data usage and the number of devices that can be connected.
At present, mifi plans are useful for those who travel and need to work on the go, though if the cost of data continues to fall they will become a more competitive alternative to broadband and line rental.
Andrew Lewis, from North Wales, pays £20 a month for Relish mobile broadband in Central London, where he works part of the week. He says: ‘I stay in a shared house, and it provides me with a fast and reliable connection.’
Many people fear that ditching a landline may have an impact on their ability to get credit because many application forms for financial products still ask for a landline phone number.
But James Jones, of credit rating agency Experian, says such fears are unfounded, adding: ‘Credit scoring has adapted to changing consumer behaviour.
‘I’ve never heard of someone being refused credit because they don’t have a fixed phone.’
For many people, ditching a landline is not an option. Those living in rural areas where there is poor mobile reception are still dependent on a fixed line. How to sell your old mobile
FIND A PEN IN YOUR POCKET
EMAILS, texts and social media have their place but for writing personal letters there is no substitute for using a fountain pen.
The history of fountain pens dates back to the 6th Century when we started using quills – typically feathers plucked from a goose – for writing notes. It was not until the 19th Century that fountain pens using pig’s bladders to hold ink from a pot started to replace quills as stationery. In 1884 an insurance salesman called Lewis Waterman patented a new design for fountain pens that allowed for smoother writing using ink. This was after losing an important sale because his fountain pen squirted ink on a client’s application form.
It paved the way for a golden age of fountain pen design in the early 20th Century – producing pens that are still highly sought after for writing today.
Simon Gray, owner of vintage fountain pen shop Battersea Pen Home in Epping, Essex, says: ‘Among the most collectable pens is the Parker 51 – a real classic that was introduced in 1941 after a couple of years of trials.
‘It was innovative in that it had a partially hooded nib that meant you could put it down for up to half an hour and then start writing again with the ink still wet – other pens would dry out. It also had a metal cap that slipped on rather than a traditional screw fitting. Earlier pen screw fittings were hard rubber or plastic and easy to break.’
Gray says that among the most valuable is the early 14-carat solid gold capped Parker 51 made in America that sells for up to £3,000. A British 18-carat version can also fetch more than £2,000.
He adds: ‘When it comes to values there are few that can beat the early Japanese pens with ornate lacquer work known as Maki-e. The Namiki company made some of the most sought-after examples.
‘Find a 1930s Namiki with black lacquer and you might pay £800 but if it has ornate and intricate designs then it could cost £5,000.’
A collector paid £183,000 for a Dunhill Namiki ‘double dragon’ Maki-e lacquer pen in 2000. It was hand-painted by Japanese artist Shogo in 1928. Other pen manufacturers valued by collectors include De La Rue, Montblanc, Waterman, Conway Stewart, Sheaffer and Mabie Todd.
Gray says: ‘De La Rue was like the Harrods of its day in the early 20th Century – but it is now better known for making bank notes, stamps and credit cards. Early examples such as the 1901 De La Rue Pelican in sterling silver can fetch up to £1,800.’
Gray points out that pens made from the 1970s onwards tend not to be so valuable as manufacturers have cut on quality to keep costs down – but there are notable exceptions.
He says: ‘Montblanc does a marvellous job marketing limited editions and its pens are always in demand.
‘A limited edition early 1990s Montblanc has risen six-fold in value over the past two decades and one in pristine condition may now be worth more than £1,500.’
SMALL CHANGE? IT MIGHT NOT BE...
BEFORE spending all that small change burning a hole in your pocket, you should take a closer look at the coins in your possession.
A Kew Gardens 50p minted in 2009 to mark the 250th
anniversary of the Royal Botanic Gardens may only be worth 50p to a shopkeeper but to a coin collector – numismatist – it could be worth £50. This is because the coin was limited to a run of only 210,000 – one of the rarest special edition 50p coins in circulation – and it is highly sought after by collectors.
Other limited edition 50p coins – such as the one minted in 2011 to explain the football offside rule – sell for as much as £5 on auction websites, while earlier this year an undisclosed number of Peter Rabbit 50p coins were released that are now being sold online for £20.
Minted anomalies, where coins go into circulation with mistakes on them, are among the most sought after. Many are known as ‘mules’ because they have mismatched sides – a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
A batch of up to 100,000 20p coins went into circulation between 2008 and 2009 without a date stamp. Today, they can fetch £100. The mistake happened when the date was moved from the ‘tails’ to the ‘heads’ side. The Royal Mint let the first batch go out with no date on either side.
An earlier mistake was a small but unknown number of 2p coins minted in 1983 with the words ‘New Pence’ instead of ‘Two Pence’. Find one of these – minted in 1983, no other year – and you may have a coin worth more than £500.
CHECK YOUR POCKET OR WRIST WATCH
THE pocket watch was invented in the 16th Century – but the earliest examples were clocks just fastened to clothing or chained around the neck.
It was not until the arrival of the waistcoat – a fashion championed by King Charles II in the late 17th Century – that watches evolved into devices small enough to be discreetly tucked inside a pocket. By the Victorian era, the accuracy of watches had developed to such an extent that every gentleman owned one.
Adam Wasdell, head of clocks and watches for Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, believes there is potential for unearthing pocket watch gems. He says: ‘Pocket watches are popular as gifts – such as Christening presents – and are wonderful statement pieces. Patek Philippe and Rolex tend to be among the most collectable makes.
‘We recently sold a Patek Philippe gold open-faced pocket watch from 1898 for £3,100 – even though it had a cracked face and an estimate price of £1,800. It may sound expensive but in the same sale a 2010 Patek Philippe gold wristwatch sold just above its estimate at £5,200. Many pocket watches are rising in value.’
In the same sale held in July, a pocket watch signed Pateck – not Patek – and made in 1870 sold for its top estimate of £500. Wasdell adds: ‘It was not a misspelt rip-off but made by a different firm. It shows the appeal of pocket watches.’
An enamel and diamond set pocket watch, signed Matthey & Compe, circa 1783, in a fitted leather case will be auctioned by Tennants in November with an estimated price of up to £7,000.
The wristwatch did not become more popular than the pocket watch until the First World War when it was seen as more practical in the trenches.
Trench watch manufacturers such as Rolex, Cartier, Omega and Longines developed their skills honed in warfare to manufacture more sturdy timepieces after the war. The Rolex Oyster was invented in 1926 as one of the first hermetically sealed case watches. A year later it was worn by female swimmer Mercedes Gleitze when she swam the English Channel.
The Rolex Submariner – inspired by this early watch – was introduced in 1953 and is now one of the most iconic watches. Its popularity has also been helped as it was worn by Sean Connery in James Bond films.
A 1958 ‘Big Crown’ Oyster Perpetual Submariner sold for a record $74,500 (£56,000) four years ago, while other Submariners from the era still sell for £10,000 – and later ones for £3,000.
These mechanical timepieces have more than 150 parts. They are much more detailed than the quartzpowered watches introduced in the early 1970s. Quartz watches that are not manually wound or use ‘selfwinders’ – but are powered by electronic pulses and microchips – are rarely sought as investments.
AND DON’T FORGET YOUR KEYS...
THOSE keys jangling in your pocket may only cost a few pounds – but lose them and you are probably left with a hefty bill.
A standard home and contents insurance policy should cover the cost of replacing locks around the home – which can cost more than £200. If burglars break into your property before you have changed the locks the insurance company can throw out your claim if it is found your lost keys were used to gain entry.
In claiming it is important to check the details of your policy to see if there is any excess to pay.
Having a set of spare keys is great insurance against loss or theft. But rather than hiding them somewhere obvious – such as under a plant pot by the front door – leave them with a trustworthy neighbour.
Modern car keys include microchips that allow you to open and start the car. This high-tech innovation can lead to a nightmare if they are lost.
Replacement key cover is standard on only about half of all car insurance policies. About a third of those policies that do not include lost or stolen keys as standard will include it as an optional extra for a yearly fee of perhaps £20.