Martin Lewis shares warning over EU mobile roaming charges – how to avoid ‘scary bill’

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Since June 30, phone operators no longer have to send Britons a text message with pricing details when they arrive in a foreign country. Martin Lewis called on telecoms regulator Ofcom and the Government to help protect consumers and make rules clearer.

Martin Lewis explained: “I’ve no faith in mobile firms to self-regulate. When we left the EU, they promised not to reintroduce European roaming charges…

“Yet most of the big networks have broken that promise.

“So our report calls on Ofcom to not trust voluntary promises. We need to reintroduce the formal, compulsory consumer protections.”

The money-saving expert also claimed some of the daily roaming rates are confusing and travellers can face unexpected costs when going on holiday.

He asked operators to make things clearer: “We need to ban a daily roaming fee charged for use ‘up to 11.59pm’ without even mentioning in which time zone.

“Instead, we recommend all providers must define a roaming ‘day’ as a 24-hour period from first use, clearly explain that in the arrival text, and alert customers at least an hour before the daily charges end.”

How can you avoid a big holiday phone bill?

Alice Beer appeared on This Morning to share the best ways to avoid roaming charges when going on holiday.

She explained: “If you are going abroad within the EU or outside the EU, you have to check your plan and the charges that they apply.

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“Check if they have a fair usage policy and that means… how much can I download before a cap sets in?”

“You have to be careful”, she warned, “if you have a member of your family who is happily carrying on downloading things, you are going to face a very extortionate bill when you get home.”

Alice also recommended asking your company about the add-ons.

“Can you pay every day to use your phone as normal? What do you have to do to use your phone as normal?

“It varies depending on the provider,” she explained.

Alice continued: “Next, and this is very important, put a spending cap in place. You can choose to set your cap at zero, so your phone is suddenly going to stop working but you are not going to get a scary bill when you get home and that’s very easy to do.”

She explained travellers can do this by simply calling their provider and say: “I need to alter my spending cap and I want to set it at zero,” Alice explained.

“This is especially for your children,” she warned.

Finally, she said don’t forget to turn off your roaming data.

“When you get on that plane, or get on that ferry, but before you leave the country you turn off your roaming data.”

People can do this by going to “settings” on their phone, “mobile data” and turning the roaming off.

Alice added: “When you get to the country you are going to be jumping on the wifi or you can also buy a local SIM card.

“Or you can just turn your phone off and enjoy your holiday!”

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