Plusnet ditches its line rental saver - meaning 10,000s face paying £30/yr more

Plusnet stopped offering the line rental saver option, which it first launched in 2011, on Monday (22 February). The change means:

• New customers, and existing customers whose minimum contract term ends after 22 February, will no longer be able to get discounted line rental, which had cost £213.12 for the year upfront (equivalent to £17.76/mth). 

• Instead customers will have to pay for line rental monthly, and pay a pricier £20.29/mth (equivalent to £243.48/yr) - which works out at £30.36 more over a year.  

If you've already paid for a year's line rental upfront and are midway through that period, there'll be no change until the year's up, and there's no change to broadband or other home phone prices.

Plusnet wouldn't tell us exactly how many customers are affected by the change but indicated that tens of thousands currently take advantage of its line rental saver option. The telecoms firm, which is owned by the BT Group, says it's replaced line rental saver with "more flexible and competitive offers". 

Check if you can cut your bill by switching or haggling

If you're a Plusnet customer who's affected by this change, then you won't be able to leave penalty free until your minimum contract term ends. But take the change as a prompt to make sure you're getting the best deal.

The cheapest broadband deals tend to be for new customers anyway - so if you are out of your minimum contract term you can likely save by switching. Use our free Broadband Unbundled tool to find the best deals. Alternatively, if you're willing to stay with Plusnet, you can try to haggle your bills down (and use the fact it's axed the line rental saver as haggling ammunition). See our Broadband Haggling guide for tips. 

Some Plusnet customers have vented their frustration about the increase on Plusnet's forum. One user wrote: "Terribly disappointing news and this results in a significant monthly increase for customers." Another added: "Being able to haggle a good deal and add line rental saver was one of the reasons why I've been happy to stay with Plusnet since May 2004. It's certainly not the same place as it was then."