08, 09 and 118 Phone Numbers: The Cost Of Calling From Your Mobile

Find out how much it’ll cost to call special phone numbers from your UK mobile. Includes 08, 09 and 118 phone numbers.

From July 1st 2015, the cost of calling special phone numbers is changing in the UK. Special phone numbers, which beginning with 08, 09 and 118, are often used by companies in the UK. They’re also used for premium rate services, for TV show voting and for directory enquiries.

On all UK mobile networks, it’s now totally free of charge to call an 0800 or 0808 phone number.

For 084, 087, 09 and 118 phone numbers, the cost of your phone call is now divided into two parts. There’s an access charge from your mobile network operator (this varies from 5p/minute to 55p/minute). There’s also a separate service charge which goes to the company or organisation running the phone number.

Calls to an 084, 087, 09 or 118 phone number are not normally included in your monthly allowances. Pay Monthly customers will see a charge for the phone call appearing on their next bill. Meanwhile, Pay As You Go customers will see credit being taken from their account. Customers with a Pay As You Go monthly bundle will need to top-up extra money to pay for 084, 087, 09 and 118 phone calls.

At A Glance: Per-Minute Call Charges to Special Phone Numbers (08, 09 and 118 Numbers)

The following table gives a quick overview of how much you can expect to pay when calling 08, 09 and 118 phone numbers from your mobile:

Mobile Network	Calls to 080 numbers	Calls to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers
1pMobile	Free	5p/min access charge + service charge
Vodafone (PAYM)	Free	55p/min access charge + service charge
ASDA Mobile	Free	4p/min access charge + service charge
BT Mobile	Free	30p/min access charge + service charge
EE	Free	44p/min access charge + service charge
Lebara Mobile	Free	45p/min access charge + service charge
Lycamobile	Free	29p/min access charge + service charge
O2	Free	55p/min access charge + service charge
Tesco Mobile	Free	25p/min access charge + service charge
Three	Free	45p/min access charge + service charge
VOXI	Free	45p/min access charge + service charge
Vectone Mobile	Free	12p/min access charge + service charge
Virgin Mobile	Free	45p/min access charge + service charge
Vodafone (PAYG)	Free	45p/min access charge + service charge
giffgaff	Free	25p/min access charge + service charge
iD Mobile	Free	45p/min access charge + service charge

Sources: 1pmobile.com, vodafone.co.uk, mobile.asda.com, bt.com, ee.co.uk, mobile.lebara.com, lycamobile.co.uk, o2.co.uk, tescomobile.com, three.co.uk, voxi.co.uk, vectonemobile.co.uk, store.virginmedia.com, vodafone.co.uk, giffgaff.com, idmobile.co.uk. Last updated on 14th October 2022.

For 084, 087, 09 and 118 phone numbers, a service charge should always be advertised along with the phone number. For instance, you might see: “calls cost 20p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge”. In this case, the service charge will be 20p/minute. You should add this to your mobile network’s access charge to find the total cost of calling that phone number.

0800 and 0808 Numbers

It’s now always free to call an 0800 or 0808 phone number. This is regardless of whether you’re calling from a UK landline or UK mobile. Your monthly allowance of minutes will not be affected when calling an 0800 or 0808 phone number.

Prior to July 2015, it was only free to call these phone numbers from a UK landline. Call charges from a mobile phone could vary wildly (in some cases, you could pay as much as 40p/minute).

084, 087, 09 and 118 Numbers

When calling an 084, 087, 09 or 118 phone number, the cost of your phone call is now divided into two parts. There’s an “access charge” from your mobile network operator (this varies depending on your network). There’s also a separate service charge from the company or organisation running the phone number. The service charge should always be advertised alongside the phone number.

Enter the per-minute service charge below to see the total costs of calling from each network:

Once you've entered the service charge for the number you want to call, the total calling charge from each UK network will be shown below:

Mobile Network	Access Charge	+	Service Charge	=	Total Charge (per minute)
ASDA Mobile	4p	+	10p	=	14p/minute
1pMobile	5p	+	10p	=	15p/minute
Vectone Mobile	12p	+	10p	=	22p/minute
giffgaff	25p	+	10p	=	35p/minute
Tesco Mobile	25p	+	10p	=	35p/minute
Lycamobile	29p	+	10p	=	39p/minute
BT Mobile	30p	+	10p	=	40p/minute
EE	44p	+	10p	=	54p/minute
Virgin Mobile	45p	+	10p	=	55p/minute
iD Mobile	45p	+	10p	=	55p/minute
Lebara Mobile	45p	+	10p	=	55p/minute
Three	45p	+	10p	=	55p/minute
Vodafone (PAYG)	45p	+	10p	=	55p/minute
VOXI	45p	+	10p	=	55p/minute
Vodafone (PAYM)	55p	+	10p	=	65p/minute
O2	55p	+	10p	=	65p/minute

At present, The People’s Operator has the cheapest per-minute rates for calling an 084, 087, 09 or 118 phone number. There’s a 5p/minute access charge plus the normal service charge. You can order a free SIM card from The People’s Operator to take advantage of the rates.

Customers on EE Pay Monthly who regularly call 084 and 087 phone numbers can buy EE’s £3/month service number add-on. The add-on gives you 300 minutes for calling 084 and 087 phone numbers. The add-on isn’t currently available on EE Pay As You Go.

Other Phone Numbers

For all other phone numbers, the cost will depend on the type of phone number you’re calling:

• 01, 02 and 03 phone numbers are geographical (they’re charged as a landline phone call). You can use the inclusive minutes on your tariff or bundle to call any of these phone numbers.
• 0500 phone numbers are historical “freephone”. They’re only free when calling from a landline (you should check with your mobile network operator to find out the costs of calling an 0500 number). The 0500 number range will be withdrawn from the UK in 2017.
• 07 phone numbers (excluding 070 and 076) are a UK mobile phone. You can use the inclusive minutes on your tariff or bundle to call these numbers.
• 00 phone numbers are based in another country (you’re making an international phone call). Typically, you won’t be able to use your inclusive minutes when calling another country. For more information, see our article on international calling rates.

For more information, please see our in-depth article on UK phone numbers and how they’re charged for.

More Information

For more information regarding the July 2015 calling price changes, it’s worth seeing the official UKCalling website. For further information about the charges on your network, you should see your mobile network’s website.