SIM-only plans
What the different plan lengths actually commit you to, how to work out the allowance you need from your own records, and the free settings almost nobody switches on.
Sections on this page
The facts
- Rolling monthly
- Cancel any time; costs a little more
- Twelve months
- Cheaper; a year’s commitment
- Twenty-four months
- Cheapest monthly; write the end date down
- Deciding factor
- How settled you are, not the price gap
What it means for you
The few pounds between a rolling plan and a fixed one are not the point. What you are really buying with a rolling plan is the right to walk away if the signal turns out to be poor, if you move, or if your circumstances change.
So the test is not “which is cheaper” but “is anything about my situation unproven?” If the answer is yes — new address, untested network, possible move, uncertain job — take the rolling plan and treat the extra few pounds as insurance.
| Situation | Sensible choice |
|---|---|
| New address you have never lived at | Rolling |
| Network you have never used | Rolling |
| Settled home, signal already proven | Fixed |
| Several people on one account | Fixed, with multi-line discounts |
The facts
- Where to look
- Your current provider’s app
- How much history
- Three months
- What to buy
- That average plus modest headroom
- Common mistake
- Buying for the worst month ever
What it means for you
Nobody needs to guess this. Your app has the answer already, and three months of it covers holidays, unusual weeks and everything else.
Buy that measured average with a little headroom on top. The recorded gap between what people think they use and what they actually use runs at around double — over a two-year contract, that is a serious amount of money spent on nothing.
The facts
- Biggest data consumer
- High-quality video
- Second biggest
- Cloud photo and file backup
- Both fixable
- For free, in under a minute
- Effect
- Often removes the need for a bigger tier
What it means for you
Two changes cost nothing and usually do more than upgrading would.
- Drop video quality one step in the streaming app — on a phone screen the difference is marginal, the data saving is not.
- Restrict backups, photo sync and app updates to home Wi-Fi.
- Switch off autoplay video in social apps.
- Download anything you will watch twice instead of streaming it twice.
The facts
- Spend cap
- Free, about a minute
- Price-rise disclosure
- In pounds and pence before signing
- Exit itemisation
- Before you commit to leaving
- Annual review
- Ten minutes a year
What it means for you
Four things protect you and three of them cost nothing at all.
| Protection | What it does |
|---|---|
| Spend cap | Stops any charge beyond your allowance |
| Cash-terms disclosure | Makes any mid-term rise foreseeable before you sign |
| Exit itemisation | Shows any leaving charge before you commit |
| The annual review | Catches the quiet drift after a term ends |
The spend cap is the one people skip, and it is the one that prevents the bills people ring us about.
Still unsure after reading this?
Ring the desk and we will go through it with you. There is nothing to buy at any stage.