0870 telephone numbers

My telephone service provider charges 10p a minute plus a connection fee for dialling 0870 numbers. This is the maximum allowed under the regulations.

0870 calls are excluded from your telephone bundle and are charged at a higher rate. Check with your telephone company to find the cost to you. Banks, credit card companies, debt collectors, utility companies, police forces and even doctors surgeries use them. They take a cut of the revenue from each call.

Use the link on this page to find alternative geographic numbers which are much cheaper.

Payphoneplus - the industry regulator for premium rate calls - has no control over these numbers. 0870 numbers are outside their remit and they referred me to Ofcom. At 10p a minute some would judge them to be at premium rate. At the very least, warning notices should be printed alongside the number.