Complain about a premium rate phone charge or text message

If you have an unexpected premium rate charge on your phone bill, you should first get in touch with the company running the premium rate service to make a complaint and get a refund. Most companies will have a complaints procedure that you can follow.

If the charge came from you calling a telephone helpline, you won’t get a full refund - you’ll just get the difference between what you paid and what the call would’ve cost if you’d called a basic rate number. 

If you don’t recognise the number, you can use the Phone-paid Services Authority service checker. You can also check the cost of a call with Ofcom. 

Report an unexpected premium rate charge

You can report a company to the Phone-paid Services Authority if you think they didn’t make it clear that a phone number was premium rate. You can also report a premium text message service if you think the company didn’t make the costs clear enough. 

Premium rate numbers include 118, 0870, 0871, 0872, 0873, 070 and 09 numbers.

Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA)

Telephone: 0300 30 300 20

Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 12.30pm

How to report unexpected phone or text charges

Helplines for products and services you’ve bought can't charge more than the basic rate (exceptions are package holidays, timeshares and property). 

You can report financial firms breaking this rule to the FCA Consumer Helpline and report all other companies to Trading Standards. 

If you were charged too much for a 118 call

When you call a number that starts with 118, you can’t be charged more than £3.65 for a 90 second call. If you’re charged more, you can find out how to get a refund on the Phone-paid Services Authority website. If you can’t get a refund, you can report it to the Phone-paid Services Authority on their website.

Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA)

Telephone: 0300 30 300 20

Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 12.30pm