Many people these days have Pay as You Go mobile phones, and one consumer campaign group is has recently issued advice to help these people to avoid disconnection through lack of activity on their accounts.

For many people in the current financial climate a Pay as You Go mobile phone is the most effective and affordable option, and there are many users that have these phones. PAYG is also well suited to those that do not really use their mobiles all that often, and simply want to have a mobile handy for emergencies and occasional use.

However, consumers need to bear in mind that providers will disconnect an account, recycle numbers, and even remove any existing credit in the event that there is a period of no activity on the account, and one consumer campaign group, Which?, has recently issued advice to help customers to avoid being disconnected or losing their credit.

Consumers that are on PAYG should find out what their providers class as a period of inactivity. For some providers keeping an account active means making at least one charged call every six months. For others it may simply be something as simple as topping up the phone or sending a text from the phone.

Some providers, such as Virgin, will allow customer accounts to stay inactive for longer before disconnection, whereas the norm tends to be six months.

An official from Which? said: ‘With a PAYG mobile the network won’t know whether you are just an infrequent user or have stopped using the phone altogether. If you don’t use your PAYG mobile regularly, check the network provider’s policy in advance. Try and make sure you make at least one call every three to six months (depending on your network’s policy) and bear in mind if you only use your mobile for emergencies it’s worth keeping any credit to a minimum.’

Source – Which