We found out from one of our customers on Monday that a new law has come into force in the UK since 13th June 2014 around Customer Service telephone numbers.
It is now illegal to provide a new 0845, 0870 or similar telephone number for a customer complaints helpline.
If you have an existing 0845 number you can may continue to use it as long as the 0345 is displayed as prominently.
The new law has been put in place as a part of ensuring that Consumers do not have to pay extra for attempting to rectify existing problems which are not their fault.
The changes only apply to telephone lines dealing with existing customers.
Companies can still use 0845 and similar for customer advice helplines such as Technical advice as long as the charges for the call are clearly advertised.
Here is the link to the government notice detailing the change in law:
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
The following common numbers all need to be changed (084x, 087x and 09x).
- 0843
- 0844
- 0845
- 0870
If you have existing 084 telephone lines that you need to switch it might be easiest for you to change to a 03 number. For example, 0845 becomes 0345.
As part of your contract with your existing provider, you should already own the 03 version of your current 08 number.
Little Forest can help…
If you have a large website and need help finding all the pages that list your 0845/0870 telephone numbers please contact us.
Our LFi software will quickly and easily inform you of all web pages that need updating to your new telephone number.
We also offer a content editing service to quickly change your pages listing your telephone numbers for you.
Good luck with your change over.
