Forget Swine Flu, never pay to call an 0800 number

The warning comes after fears were raised this morning that mobile giant Vodafone would charge callers to the National Pandemic Flu Service's freephone number (0800 1 513 513).

However, the firm issued a quick statement insisting, since the number's launch, it has waived the usual charge to call this freephone number.

Mobile operators usually charge up to 40p per minute to call 0800, 0808 or 0500 numbers that are free from landlines. Yet you can use a clever loophole to bypass these fees (see the 0800buster guide).

The other major mobile networks: O2, Orange, T-Mobile, and 3 have all agreed to waive the cost to call the helpline.0800buster

The website 0800buster.co.uk uses a simple loophole to provide you with a local-rate landline number to call a freephone number from a mobile. It then routes you to the relevant number.

If you have inclusive minutes available, you'll pay nothing. Otherwise, you pay the cost of calling a local number, which is still a substantial saving.

Further reading/Key links

0800buster guide: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/0800mobilesSwine Flu travel Q&A: www.moneysavingexpert.com/swinefluExternal links: 0800buster,National Pandemic Flu service