BT to ditch line rental saver discount leaving users paying £20 a year more – here's what you need to know

Below we explain what's happening and what you can do about it. 

If the shake-up means you now want to find a new landline provider, use our free Broadband Unbundled tool to find the best deals.

Here's how BT's line rental saver discount currently works – and what's changing

BT's line rental saver is a longstanding product offered by the telecoms firm that gives customers with both home phone and broadband a discount if they pay for their line rental upfront. Currently, it costs £219.84 for the year, but you then get a discount of £19.99 a month off your bill for the next 12 months – an effective saving of £20.

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.

However, you'll no longer be able to renew your line rental saver after 21 July. When your contract ends after 21 July, you'll start pay the full monthly cost of your line rental once more. 

Line rental saver will also be removed from sale for new customers from 21 July. 

Some customers are unhappy about the shake-up, though BT is offering at least £10 in bill credit to placate users

BT says it's making the change to simplify its product offerings by combining its broadband and line rental packages, so users only pay one price for both. Plusnet, which is also part of the BT Group, axed its similar line rental saver product in 2021. 

To help placate users, BT is giving all of its line rental saver customers at least a £10 bill credit. This will be automatically added to your BT account and can be used towards your next bill. BT says the value of the credit will be based on how long you’ve had line rental saver, though it will be at least £10. 

Some BT customers are unhappy about the move though. Here's a selection of some responses we've seen:

Use this as an opportunity to check if you can save by haggling or switching – or renew your line rental saver now if you want to stick with BT

If you're affected by this change, use it as a prompt to make sure you're still getting the best deal.

The cheapest broadband deals tend to be for new customers, 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 want to stick with BT and your line rental saver has ended or is due to end before Friday 21 July, you can sign up again for one last year. To do so, call BT on 0800 800 150. 

If your line rental saver is due to end after 21 July, you may want to weigh up if you'd be better off cancelling now and then taking the product out again before 21 July. You can cancel line rental saver penalty-free and you'll be refunded the proportion of unused upfront payments.

If you're willing to stay with BT you can also try to haggle your bills down and use the fact it's axed the line rental saver as ammunition. See our BT Haggling guide for tips.