Reply to: 02 being an arse

[backagain]

Well you could save yourself loads of money by using Skype or one of the 0844 crowd. Did you know most phones support a 'pause' feature. So you could have a number like 084412345678P006512345678. The number before the P is dialed, and then a pause of about 4 secs is inserted, and then the number after the P is sent. Press * 3 times on a Nokia and hold down * on Samsungs and others to get the P. You should be able to dial for about 4-10p per min depending on your contract (4 for inclusive minutes; 10p if you are paying 6p to the mobile co and 4p to the 0844 operator).

If the P is not long enough you can try PP.

I know its company money, but ultimately its your money!

I used to work in the telco business Why pay more?

PS: Skype/VOIP is better quality than telephony because you get a wider frequency range (Skype is hifi ; I believe telco does not go about 12khz ). So Internet calling is better IMHO. Telcos should be worried (and to be honest they have had it too good for too long IMHO).

I recently called an old girlfriend in Thailand for 50 mins and it cost me a fiver using an 0844 number (could not get her off the phone)

[Spacecadet]

I was planning to do this very thing with O2 this weekend.
Going to threaten to leave and get a business account somewhere else if they won't. Lots of international business related phone calls are costing me about £200 a month so it's in their interests

[Bluebird]

Orange did this for me over the phone...took 2 minutes.

ditto - seemed easy enough for orange to do - they also have a dedicated call centre for business accounts which is not located in bangalore or bombay but the UK.

much better service.

[backagain]

I have the same problem; contract is in my old Ltd Co name from 3 years back. I was on such a good deal with OneTel (now Opal; part of Carphone Warehouse) that I did not cancel it. Just changed the bank details over Now I want to move to my new co and they need to setup a new contract. Can understand the 'legal complications' of this. Going to tackle them again. Will let you know how it goes.

[TheFaQQer]

I have an account with T-Mobile (in my name) which comes with a £35 call & text allowance each month. I figured that if I was using it purely for personal calls then I'd never go over this allowance.

Therefore I only expense any additional calls & texts above this allowance which is usually about £10-£15 a month. I think this is quite easy to justify if it came to it.

The rules are quite clear - if the phone is not in the company name, then you can claim the business related call costs back without incurring a BIK.

If you claim back line rental, or non-business calls, then this needs to be declared on your P11D as a BIK.

If the phone contract is in the name of the company, then you can claim the whole lot.

[~Craig~]

I have an account with T-Mobile (in my name) which comes with a £35 call & text allowance each month. I figured that if I was using it purely for personal calls then I'd never go over this allowance.

Therefore I only expense any additional calls & texts above this allowance which is usually about £10-£15 a month. I think this is quite easy to justify if it came to it.

[Dark Black]

The problem with doing it that way round is that it takes up to a week for the old phone to be deactivated and the new phone to arrive with your old number on it (quoted to me by Vodafone Business sales last month), leaving you for up to a week without a phone.

Not quite (well at least it didn't work like that for me - nor has it when I've changed provider previously). Despite a return (prob with new phone) the replacement arrived with new sim before Orange deactivated my old sim. Hence I was never without a phone and all I needed to do when the line dropped with orange was turn on the Vodafone phone. Either I've always been really lucky or others have had bad experiences - I certainly wouldn't want to lose my number for a week.

I did do the change "over the phone" rather than online though as Vodafone's website wouldn't allow me the options I wanted even though the site showed them as valid. I rang them up and there was no problem. Maybe that made it smoother.

[r0bly0ns]

Why would you need to do it that way round though? It was Vodafone I changed to, knew my old number up front (oddly ) and all went smoothly..

The problem with doing it that way round is that it takes up to a week for the old phone to be deactivated and the new phone to arrive with your old number on it (quoted to me by Vodafone Business sales last month), leaving you for up to a week without a phone.

Oddly enough, the lass I spoke to also advised against doing it online as they have had problems with the system 'loosing' the number change request and starting the new contract without it.....


However the main reason for the warning is that most mobile phone shops do not know this and will hapilly sell you a vodafone account telling you you can phone them up when you get home to get your number changed, but you can't.

[Dark Black]

Be warned if you switch to Vodafone though.

At the moment Vodafone can only accept an incoming phone number transfer BEFORE the new contract is activated, they can not switch the number after you have your new phone like T-Mobile can.

Why would you need to do it that way round though? It was Vodafone I changed to, knew my old number up front (oddly ) and all went smoothly..

[r0bly0ns]

Sockpuppet

Do you have to stay with O2?

You could always take your number to another provider and set up that contract in the company name.

Its not always a smooth process though.

Be warned if you switch to Vodafone though.

At the moment Vodafone can only accept an incoming phone number transfer BEFORE the new contract is activated, they can not switch the number after you have your new phone like T-Mobile can.

[Dark Black]

Sockpuppet

Do you have to stay with O2?

You could always take your number to another provider and set up that contract in the company name.

Its not always a smooth process though.

This is all I did - no probs at all, got a new phone (N95) in the process. New contract now in company name, billed direct to the company account, kept old number for existing clients / pimps etc

[Anderson]

Sockpuppet

Do you have to stay with O2?

You could always take your number to another provider and set up that contract in the company name.

Its not always a smooth process though.

[smee.again]

I've been through this with Orange (new co., no credit record etc.) As I have a package on x free minutes/month, I'm told by my accountant that I can't identify work calls so can't put anything through the co.

Orange did this for me over the phone...took 2 minutes.

[fzbucks]

T-Mobile opened me a business account with no trading history and my own credit report is naff - I got 2 phones on a business 1 plan - phones on the same contract can make unlimited free calls to each other.

[TheFaQQer]

Surely if it is addressed as follows it should be OK as it is just being delivered to a person at the company?

Your Name
Your Company Name
Address..

I don't even know where all the original contract documents are, so would HMRC be able to / bother to find that out?

You honestly believe that HMRC would take it on face value? If they're going to investigate, then they could well contact your phone supplier and ask what name the account is in.

If you've gone to the lengths of changing the billing address, and the direct debit to look like it's a company phone, without changing the contract to actually be a company phone, then you're looking more at evasion rather than avoidance.

If you can't move / don't want to, then you're better off not claiming it - this would be fairly easy to prove, and once they have you on something there will be much more (painful) probing to follow.