BT to pull Line Rental Saver from 21 July

BT is giving customers a credit of at least £10 in their next bill

We’ve seen an email sent by BT announcing that it will stop selling Line Rental Saver from 21 July 2023, and the option to pay upfront for line rental will also be withdrawn.

Anyone already signed up might be able to renew for another year, but it might not be worthwhile. BT customers will also get a credit of at least £10 added to their next bill, here are the details.

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What is BT Line Rental Saver?

Line Rental Saver is the option to receive a discount on line rental if you paid for a year upfront. Those with Line Rental Saver would get a month free as a result. The offer was only available to customers that had a line and broadband bundled package.

So you’d pay £219.84 upfront, which would give you a credit of £19.99 each month. Theoretically this amounts to covering the cost of the line rental on your bill, with a month free. 

However, it didn’t protect you from price increases, as we saw this spring when BT hiked bills by 14.4%. BT didn’t hike the discount at the same time so you’d still just get £19.99 knocked off.

What the email says

If you’ve received the email you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a scam. The one we saw (sent to us by Andy’s mum) had the subject line “Driven from template” and was missing in-text details. 

Ignoring the errors, it offers existing customers the chance to renew before it finishes in July and promises at least £10 credit for those affected – more on this later.

Here’s what the email looks like, note the dodgy subject line and missing details.

Follow up email

BT sent a follow-up email that confirmed that the option to renew for an additional year until July isn’t quite the case, we’ve explained this down below. The rest of the email remained the same as the original.

Why is it being pulled?

BT says that it has bundled the cost of line rental along with the monthly broadband charges since 2019, rather than keeping it as a separate charge. 

As a result, BT has said that this could be confusing for customers, which was why it made this decision.

The likes of Virgin Media and BT owned Plusnet have already scrapped similar schemes. With BT one of the last remaining providers to offer a landline discount.

What this means for BT Line Rental Saver customers

If you’re currently a Line Rental Saver customer, you’ll keep your discount until the end of your current 12 month period. If you’re due to renew before 21 July, you’ll be able to take advantage of another 12 months of Line Rental Saver. 

You can normally only renew for another 12 months if you’re within your renewal window, which is 27 days before the expiry date. This means that if you’re due to renew before 17 August 2023, you’ll be able to renew for another year, but you would need to do so before 21 July 2023.

Ultimately, this means that those who previously took advantage of the scheme will be paying for an additional month of line rental going forward.

Credit to your account

BT is crediting customer accounts to “give something extra back”. We know that the amount you’ll get will depend on how long you’ve been a Line Rental Saver customer and it will be at least £10. We’ve reached out to BT to ask them how the extra credit will be worked out. 

How to get the credit

You won’t need to do anything to get the extra credit, it will be added to your next bill. Get in touch with BT once your bill arrives if it’s not been applied. 

What if I’ve recently renewed or signed up?

If you’ve recently renewed or signed up for BT Line Rental Saver, you’ll still get the full 12 months, but you won’t be able to renew again. 

Can I renew early to get another 12 months?

You can renew before 21 July, however renewing early wouldn’t let you add a year to your current expiry date, it will instead give you 12 months from the date you call up and pay, losing you the remainder of your current 12 months.

This means that if you’re more than a month from expiry on 21 July, you likely wouldn’t benefit from an additional year.

If your Line Rental Saver is due to expire within a month from 21 July, you might save a little from renewing, but this would be less than £20 over the 12 month period, depending on your exact renewal date.

Can I sign up now?

Line Rental Saver is being withdrawn on 21 July 2023, so you can still sign up for 12 months prior to this date. It’s unlikely you’ll be eligible for the extra credit.

More changes are coming for landlines

BT is gradually switching customers to a digital phone line called “Digital Voice” and will switch off the analogue network by 2025. Digital Voice runs via broadband, so it relies on a good broadband connection to run smoothly. It doesn’t have the benefit of staying connected during a power cut, either.