So, why have mobile spending caps been introduced? When do they apply? How do you set/manage your network’s spending caps? And what does the introduction of spending caps mean to you, personally? Read on to find the answers to these and other questions about mobile spending caps.
ADVISORY:
This is an Information Blog About Monthly [Mobile] Bill Capping
If, after reading through, you still have a question about [network] mobile spending caps. How a spending cap might affect your ability to access our service. Or you want to know about chat credits as an alternation to mobile billing, please get in touch.
All You Need to Know About Spending Caps
You can now cap your monthly mobile spend. Even if you go over any of your monthly allowances, you’ll never get shocked by the size of your bill. Good know, right? Well, yes and no.
In the UK, all mobile phone networks are now legally obliged to offer you the option of a ‘spending cap’ on Pay Monthly contracts.
A spending cap imposes an absolute limit on how much you can be charged by your mobile network for things outside your regular price plan. This includes premium-rate phone calls and text messages, out-of-bundle usage, international calls, and international roaming.
NB Pay Monthly mobile contracts without a cap mean the person responsible for the contract is automatically liable to pay for additional charges incurred on it.
Additional charges can result from out-of-allowance usages such as premium-rate calls and text messages (including reality TV voting), international calls and international roaming. For each of these, the charges can very quickly add up, giving customers an unexpected surprise when they get their bill the following month.
For greater control over spending, many people have chosen a Pay As You Go (PAYG) tariff.
Capped Contracts In The UK
As of 1st October 2018, Ofcom (the UK’s regulator for telecommunication services) has required every mobile network to have a “capped contract” offering. This means you’re now able to take out any Pay Monthly contract and can ask to have a “spending cap” applied to it.
By adding a spending cap to your mobile contract, you can guarantee that you won’t ‘accidentally’ run up a large phone bill by mistake. For instance, someone who has a £12/month price plan with a £5 spend cap can be guaranteed to never pay more than £17/month. If a certain type of usage is going to push your phone bill over the spending cap that’s been applied, your mobile network will need to bar that activity until you’ve given express permission to go over the limit.
Customers who took out their mobile phone contract before October 2018 may or may not be offered the option of capping their contract. There is only a legal requirement to offer to customers a spend capping who started their contract after the 1st October 2018.
What’s Included & Excluded?
International roaming charges are covered by your monthly spending cap. The spending cap on your mobile phone contract will cover additional usage charges from your mobile network above your regular monthly price plan. This includes the access charge for premium rate calls and text messages, out-of-allowance usage, international calls, and international roaming charges.
The spending cap doesn’t cover additional services or bundles you may purchase from your mobile network (e.g. entertainment or additional bolt-ons to your plan). It also doesn’t cover any RPI-linked price increases or fees (e.g. for late payment or receiving printed bills). Finally, the spending caps don’t cover other payments you may make to companies through your mobile phone. This includes applications and in-app purchases from iTunes and Google Play, for instance, so you should continue to take precautions around this when giving a phone to your kids!
Alternatives to Capped Contracts
Pay As You Go is available with no credit checks. When you take out a capped mobile contract, you’ll still need to undergo a credit check as normal. You’ll also commit to remaining on your tariff for the duration of the contract (typically for 24 months if you’re buying a new smartphone). This may sometimes cause you to pay more than you need (e.g. if you choose an expensive plan with more data than you need, or if you choose a lower-cost plan with too little data and need to purchase add-ons for more data).
For this reason, some people still prefer to get a Pay As You Go deal. With Pay As You Go, there’s no need to undergo a credit check and you have the flexibility to change your price plan as required each month. You’ll also be able to change mobile networks whenever you like, and there’s no possibility of running up extra charges beyond the credit on your account. For children, a Pay As You Go deal may also be beneficial as it can encourage independence and responsibility for managing their own budget.
- BT Mobile
In the UK, BT Mobile has offered spending caps as a key feature of their mobile network since launch in March 2015. By default, customers will receive a £40 spend cap over their normal monthly bill. However, this can be lowered through the BT Mobile website or app to as little as zero. - EE
On EE, you’ll be offered the ability to add a Spending Cap when signing up for a new Pay Monthly contract. During the checkout process, this option is listed under the “Would you like to control your mobile spend?” sub-heading. Within this section, you’ll be able to choose a spending cap of between £0 and £50 over your normal monthly bill.
Existing customers who have joined or upgraded their EE plan since 1st October 2018 can manage their Spending Cap through the My EE app. Alternatively, you can text SPEND CAP to 150 or dial 150 on your EE handset to manage your spend cap.
Once you reach your monthly spend cap, all out-of-bundle services will be barred until the end of the month. You’ll need to opt-in to “pausing your spend cap” if you’d like to access these services.
NB Customers who joined EE before October 2018 will have a data cap on their plan instead of a spending cap.
- O2
On O2, you’ll be able to add a Spending Cap to your plan of between £0 and £200 when signing up for your contract. This is listed in the checkout process under the “Your Spend Cap” heading.
With the Spending Cap enabled, you’ll receive a text message when you reach 50% and 100% of your monthly Spending Cap. Out-of-allowance usage will also be barred once you reach 100%.
It’s possible to adjust your Spending Cap by contacting O2 through their Live Chat service or by calling 202.
- Three
Three allows all Pay Monthly customers to set a monthly spend cap of between £0 and £100. You’ll be asked whether you want to “set a spending cap” during the online checkout process:
A spending cap will limit the amount you can spend on top of the cost of your monthly price plan. So, whether you’ve run out of minutes or data, or you want to make some premium rate calls that aren’t included in your allowance, you won’t need to worry about your bill.
Simply choose the maximum amount you’re willing to pay each month (on top of what you pay for your plan) and your bill will be capped so you won’t accidentally spend too much. You can choose from £10 – £100 in £10 increments, or set it at £0 if you prefer.
Existing customers can add a spending cap to their plan by calling 333 or by visiting a nearby Three retail store.
- Vodafone
Vodafone offers a free service called My Spend Manager on all Pay Monthly contracts taken out from 1st October 2018 onwards. The service can be enabled when signing up for your contract, or at any other time through the My Vodafone app.
NB If you signed up to Vodafone before 1st October 2018, you won’t be able to use the My Spend Manager service. However, you may still be eligible for data caps and roaming data caps on your plan.
- giffgaff
On giffgaff, there’s no need to set a monthly spend cap as the service works on a pre-paid basis. You can sign up to giffgaff without undergoing a credit check, and will only be able to spend money that’s been topped up to your account.
If you have a giffgaff goodybag bundle, you’ll receive a text message notification once you’ve used 80% of your data, and another text message notification once you’ve used 100% of your allowance. After this, you can choose to renew your goodybag early or you can continue using data at a reduced rate of 2p/MB on Pay As You Go.
- iD Mobile
iD Mobile has offered bill capping since the launch of their mobile network in May 2015. This was originally only made available to customers choosing a “ShockProof” price plan, but is now available to all customers regardless of which price plan they choose.
When ordering a Pay Monthly contract through the iD Mobile website, you’ll be asked to choose a bill cap between £0 and £25 per month.
Existing iD Mobile customers can also change their bill cap at any time through the My iD Mobile application.
- Plusnet Mobile
On Plusnet Mobile, a feature called Smart Cap is included by default on all contracts. This is designed to give you greater control and peace of mind over your monthly phone bill and allows you to set the maximum amount you’re happy to spend over your normal monthly allowance.
The Smart Cap can be set to any amount between £0 and £30 per month, in £1 increments. By default, it’s set to £10 unless you change it.
The Smart Cap is the amount that you’re happy to spend above your monthly SIM only plan on chargeable services (i.e. calls to premium numbers or when you’re abroad). You’ll set this during the signup process.
It’s really easy to change your Smart Cap, just go in your account and change it anytime. You can set it anywhere between low as £0.00 and £30.00.
They will try and drop you an email and a text when you’ve used 80% and 100% of your bundle allowances and when you reach your Smart Cap, but this might not be possible if one call takes you from under 80% to 100% of your Smart Cap. You’ll always be in control.
When you hit your Smart Cap, all chargeable services will be suspended until your next bill, you’ll still be able to use your remaining inclusive minutes, text messages and data allowance.
If you want to carry on using chargeable services, you can make a payment to reduce your outstanding balance or increase the Smart Cap. Easy peasy!
- Sky Mobile
Sky has offered monthly spending caps on Sky Mobile since October 2018. Both new and existing customers are able to set a spending cap on their account, of between zero and £100 per month on each SIM card (available in £1 increments).
You can change the spending cap at any time through the My Sky website.
- Tesco Mobile
Tesco Mobile was one of the UK’s first mobile networks to offer a “capped contract” option, with this having been available to customers since October 2009. With the capped contract option, you can choose a safety buffer of between zero and £100 over your normal monthly tariff price:
You’re in Control
You decide how much you want to spend on top of your monthly tariff price, from zero to £100. Your bill won’t go higher than that.
If You’re Super-cautious
If you don’t want to spend any extra, you can choose a zero bill cap. You won’t be able to do anything apart from use your monthly minutes, texts and data, so your bill will never be higher than your tariff price.
You’ll be given the option to set your “safety buffer” during the checkout on Tesco Mobile’s website.
- Virgin Mobile
If you’re on a Virgin Mobile Pay Monthly contract, it’s possible to set a spending cap on your plan of between £0 and £100 per month. This spending cap is for all additional spending over your regular monthly payment.
If you’re taking out a new contract online, you’ll be offered the option to “add a spending cap” during the checkout process.
Existing customers can manage their spending cap through the My Virgin Mobile app. If you took out your contract before November 2017, it might be necessary to upgrade to a newer price plan to take advantage of spend capping.
Mobile Bill Limit Legislation, October 2018
What is it?
The new legislation was introduced via Parliament as part of the Digital Economy Act and came into force 1st October 2018 as part of the Communications Act. It will apply to all new contracts, including re-signs, taken out from this date and aims to significantly reduce risk of “bill-shock” for end-users.
What is the Scope and what Actions Need to be Taken by Mobile Networks?
Offer a Bill Limit – each customer must be given the option to set an overall bill limit by account or by MPN at the point of sale/renewal from 1st October 2018, with the ability to manage this throughout the life-cycle as required with fair notice for the provider. Restrictions and spend values must be reset at the beginning of each billing cycle.
Notifications – these must be sent to customers if they are coming close to reach their limit and once they have reached their limit, notifications must be in writing by the preferred contact method (i.e. SMS/Email).
Restricted Charging – providers are prohibited from charging beyond the set bill limit if a customer exceeds the amount and the service is not restricted or highlighted by the provider in time. Bill providers are responsible for supplier costs that cannot be passed on to the customer.
For premium & non-standard services still chargeable (in part) – providers will not be able to pass on “Access Charges” related to Premium and Non-Geo call types. However, relevant “Service Charges” will be passed on and will NOT contribute towards the Bill Limit value. In addition, “Charge to Mobile” services or any non-mobile
usage (such as MPAY) will not form a part of the Bill Limit.
Access bundles and free services – In the event a customer breaches their Bill Limit, providers must still offer end-users access to inclusive allowances (like tariff allowances and bolt-ons), free-of-charge services and emergency services.
What Are The Biggest Challenges with Implementing This?
The biggest challenges to the introduction of this legislation are relevant to almost all ISPs and resellers, and those are:
Real-Time Billing – not currently available to Riviera Networks from network suppliers, meaning late landing
domestic and roaming traffic could always cause issues with forwarding billing for customers with bill limits.
Restriction/Barring Capabilities – as covered above, the legislation outlines that suppliers should not restrict services covered within service charges (such as inclusive bundles and free services). However, the networks do not offer restrictions to suit each and every instance. For example, if a user goes abroad to a WTS destination, they will receive the £5 per day charge until they hit their limit value. At that point, the device will be roaming barred to ensure no further daily charges are applied. If that user then goes back to the EU within the same billing cycle, they would be entitled to use roaming services. In instances such as this, the customer will experience a disruption in service that cannot currently be avoided.
What Has Been Done to Make This Work?
There are a variety of things, with both the networks and Riviera Networks, which will be subject to change from time-to-time. Below we have listed some of these:
Vodafone – have clarified they will be working on ensuring rated CDR availability times are improved. However, this will still not cater to late landing traffic but should assist in reducing the reaction time to limit breaches. They have also confirmed they are not working on new bars, but there may be existing restrictive “profiles” that can be added that are not currently in use.
02 – have advised they’re considering new bars and working on a low-risk proposition for ISP resellers. This will put the risk with the network as opposed to the Partner. However, no official details have been clarified or released yet as far as we’re aware.
Riviera Networks – need to ensure their customers have access to a bill limit service. If you’re a business mobile customer and would like to discuss your options you should contact the Riviera Networks support team.
Please ensure that you do not solely rely on any information contained within. You should contact your own legal advisor in the event you need a comprehensive and up-to-date statement of the relevant Law/Legislation. Furthermore, please be aware that the implementation of these regulations may differ from provider to provider (including networks). For example, some providers may choose to include the service charge element of a call towards the customer’s bill limit. Customers may, of course, query this or any other offerings included within their bill limit.