Bill phone

Darkest Horse

I've just moved across to the UK for work and I'm finding it very difficult to get a monthly bill pay phone. Not just the phone actually (which I have by just using my Irish one) but there is nobody willing to even give me a bill pay SIM card because I have no three years record of address or credit rating here. I'm in gainful employment for a university and have money in the bank yet I'm still using a pay as you go phone that is charging extortionate rates to call home. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Darkest Horse

Darkest Horse wrote: »

I've just moved across to the UK for work and I'm finding it very difficult to get a monthly bill pay phone. Not just the phone actually (which I have by just using my Irish one) but there is nobody willing to even give me a bill pay SIM card because I have no three years record of address or credit rating here. I'm in gainful employment for a university and have money in the bank yet I'm still using a pay as you go phone that is charging extortionate rates to call home. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone? I'm sure most people who move to the UK need to get a phone?

Ponster

What exactly is a 'bill pay' phone? Is that a monthly contract?

I'm with Three. I pay 15 pounds monthly (PAYG) for more minutes and texts than I would ever need (2500 I think) as well as unlimited data, 4G where available. As well as that the data is 'unlimited' (to the tune of about 3Gb monthly) when you travel abroad to countries which include Ireland and the USA.

It's SIM only and you can pick up in any store. It's 2p per minute to an Irish landline.

Darkest Horse

Ponster wrote: »

What exactly is a 'bill pay' phone? Is that a monthly contract?

I'm with Three. I pay 15 pounds monthly (PAYG) for more minutes and texts than I would ever need (2500 I think) as well as unlimited data, 4G where available. As well as that the data is 'unlimited' (to the tune of about 3Gb monthly) when you travel abroad to countries which include Ireland and the USA.

It's SIM only and you can pick up in any store. It's 2p per minute to an Irish landline.

Correct, monthly contract. It seems to me that the O2 package for pay as you go is just crazy expensive. How much are you paying to call Ireland? It's £1.50 a minute for me. It also costs a sh1tload to call other networks if it's not part of the 'bundle'. Sorry if I'm not making sense but I've never had a pay as you go phone in Ireland.

Jack B. Badd

I think Lebara are specifically designed for international calls so they might be a good option: http://www.lebara.co.uk
Tbh the chances of getting a contract with no credit history is slim. Since you've got a bank a/c, the next step is to get on the electoral role, and see if you can get approved for credit from your bank (overdraft or credit card). But mostly you're just going to have to be patient.

Play To Kill

I got a Giffgaff pay as you go sim when I moved, rates to Ireland are 8p to mobile and 6p to landlines.

Ponster

Darkest Horse wrote: »

How much are you paying to call Ireland? It's £1.50 a minute for me.

2p per minute to a landline, 15p to a mobile.

Forget about bill pay. Go for a 3UK or GiffGaff PAYG for some of the cheapest calls to Ireland and one of the only unlimited 3G/4G in the UK.

Darkest Horse

Ponster wrote: »

2p per minute to a landline, 15p to a mobile.

Forget about bill pay. Go for a 3UK or GiffGaff PAYG for some of the cheapest calls to Ireland and one of the only unlimited 3G/4G in the UK.

Great thanks. How much internet data have you?

Ponster

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Great thanks. How much internet data have you?

Unlimited.

From their website

Does all you can eat data come with any limits? The limit is how much your device can consume – if you were to actively use data or the Internet on your phone every second, of every day, in every month (and we would be worried if you were !!!!) you would, subject to the current traffic management requirements (which vary from time to time), use up to 1000GB per month. So in essence there is a limit of how much data you can actually consume which is up to 1000GB. All this means that you can have absolute peace of mind and enjoy all the internet you need on your smartphone, without worrying.

Michael D Not Higgins

3 also have no roaming charges in certain countries, including Ireland, so you can use your allowance of minutes and data while travelling.

kelledy

I am in uk 2 year now , full time employment and still find it hard with phones. Certain companies are more lenient than others but O2 told me what they look for is credit rating , being on the electoral role and 3 year address history.
If you don't have a current a/c , get one as this helps greatly with your credit score.

Darkest Horse

kelledy wrote: »

I am in uk 2 year now , full time employment and still find it hard with phones. Certain companies are more lenient than others but O2 told me what they look for is credit rating , being on the electoral role and 3 year address history.
If you don't have a current a/c , get one as this helps greatly with your credit score.

Thanks, have one but 3 gave me a contract no questions asked. I'm not sure about the electoral role thing. Don't you have to be a British citizen?

kelledy

That's what carp hone warehouse told me a lot of the more reliable companies look for cz it helps credit rating.
I am on the electoral role and I'm here 2 years , reason being was because I got an experian credit check done for free and there was a big red mark because I wasn't on it . So I registered solely for that purpose and there was no problem

exiledelbows

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Thanks, have one but 3 gave me a contract no questions asked. I'm not sure about the electoral role thing. Don't you have to be a British citizen?

Nope, Irish citizens can vote in virtually all UK elections. It's the one thing that will massively help your score

arctan

giffgaff is your friend, & buy a sim free phone

Dr.Sanchez

How come I was in the UK for only a year and I got an iPhone on bill pay from EE, no questions asked?

How so Joe

I got a bill pay phone from 3 about ten days after I moved to the UK - but I had to pay a deposit because I didn't have sufficient credit history. Not the worst in the world, I got it back 12 months later.

NoCrackHaving

Got a bill phone from Vodafone no questions straight away?