Post Office to hike home phone and call charges

Charges going up from January 2015, but broadband customers will be shielded from the rise.

The Post Office is the latest provider to announce a series of price hikes for existing customers.

From 1st January 2015 it will be increasing line rental and call charges.

However, it will offset some of these rises with cuts for customers on combined broadband deals.

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Prices going up

Line rental is going up by £2 a month, taking the standard monthly charge from £13 to £15, a 15.4% rise.

The cost of Line Rental Saver, which offers a saving when you pay 12 months in advance rather than monthly, will increase by £24 from £120 to £144 a year, a 20% hike.

Elsewhere the cost of the Post Office’s Evening & Weekend call package will increase by 25p, from £1.25 a month to £1.50 a month – another 20% rise.

Daytime calls to local, national and 0845/0870 numbers will rise by 1p per minute, taking the cost from 8.5p to 9.5p per minute, which is an 11.8% increase.

However, there are no changes to the cost of UK Anytime, International Saver, Mobile 100 or Mobile 500 packages.

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Prices coming down

The Post Office will cut the cost of its broadband packages to benefit those on combined home phone and broadband deals.

The cost of Broadband Essential with HomePhone will fall by £2, from £7 a month to £5 a month plus line rental. This cut offsets the line rental hike, so customers will continue to pay £20 a month in the New Year.

Broadband Premium with HomePhone will also be reduced by £2, taking the cost down from £10 a month to £8 a month plus line rental. Again this cancels out the January line rental hike, which means customers will continue to pay £23 a month.

The Post Office claims the reduction will protect 30% of its customers who are on combined deals from increases to their monthly payments.

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What the Post Office says

The Post Office follows BT, Sky , Talk Talk and Virgin Media with above inflation rises for existing customers scheduled for the New Year.

But the provider insists its service still represents a good deal.

 A spokesperson said: "Whilst we have increased some of our home phone prices we are still one of the best value providers in the market.”

What can Post Office customers do?

The Post Office will be writing to customers affected by the changes.

If you aren't happy with the changes  you can choose to leave your contract penalty-free by getting in touch and giving the Post Office two weeks' notice. Customers can call the Customer Care Team on 0345 611 2970.

You can check to see if you can find a better deal with broadbandchoices.com.

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