Although call charges differ according to the time of day, the individual calling plan and whether the call is made from a landline or mobile phone, calling a service number is costs attracts a higher rate than calls to landlines. The high calling charges are because service numbers are used by organisations to make additional income and to offset the costs of technical support. Most 0845 numbers include but not limited to government departments, banks, chargeable information lines and helplines, and voting in TV shows.
Due to regulation by Ofcom in 2015, service numbers including 0845 numbers are charged in two parts: the access charge, charged by the telephone company, and the service charge, set by the organisation you’re calling. BT charges an access charge for accessing the network on a standard pence per minute cost. You’ll be advised of the access costs by BT before making the call. The access charge for calling a 0845 number on BT is 11p per minute.
The service charge for calling business 0845 numbers ranges between 0p and 13p per minute. The total cost of the call is the access charge + the service charge. Usually, the access and service charges are listed separately on the phone bill.
