A phone is for life not just for Christmas

New camapign by UK regulator – Phonepayplus – A phone is for life, not just for Christmas.

Mobile phones are likely to be on a lot of children’s wish lists this year but, after negotiating which handset to buy, what else do parents need to be thinking about?

For more and more young people a mobile phone is top of their list for Christmas and, with the promise of being able to contact their children at anytime, parents are increasingly happy to buy them one. Whilst mobile phones can offer great fun for young people and peace of mind for parents, thinking ahead about how to avoid the cost of that phone getting out of control is sometimes forgotten about. That is until the phone credit is used up too quickly or the phone bill arrives. With phone-paid services becoming increasingly mainstream and a part of everyday life, PhonepayPlus has the advice you need to make sure that your child has the best experience of using them and learns how to have a happy ongoing relationship with their phone.What can you do to help your child?

Thinking ahead is crucial to avoid a financial shock when the phone credit is used up too quickly or the phone bill arrives. That’s why PhonepayPlus has teamed up with Parentline Plus, a national charity that works for and with parents, to help parents understand the ongoing costs of a mobile phone and advise parents on how to put a few simple measures in place to arm your children with the information they need to use their phones without worry.

Think Safe

Contact the network provider and register the mobile phone as belonging to a child to ensure they can’t access any unsuitable internet sites from it. Many handsets are now internet-enabled – which means kids can surf the net while on the move, without your supervision.

Be Aware

Talk to your children about how they’re using their phone.  Kids love having the latest ringtones and games on their phone but, if they’re not phone-aware, it’s easy for them to sign up for a phone-paid services like this without realising that they might get charged on a regular rather than a one-off basis.  This could mean you find yourself with an unexpectedly large bill or, if your child is on pay-as-you-go, they could use up all of their credit without realising.

Read the small print

As the terms and conditions are often found in the small print and easily overlooked, it’s not surprising PhonepayPlus has found that 85% of 11-17 year olds rarely or never read the terms and conditions, which can lead to a lot of wasted credit, or a big phone bill for parents at the end of the month. Parents and children can go to www.phonebrain.org.uk where they’ll find everything they need to know about using phone-paid services – from hints and tips to jargon-busting to help you understand the small print.  The site is easy to understand and there are fun games and challenges to play, for example creating and downloading your own ringtone.

Know what to do

If you or your child is receiving unwanted texts, especially from a service they aren’t familiar with, there are ways of making that service stop.  All you need to do is reply with the word STOP and the service has to stop sending you messages. If this doesn’t happen, then you can contact PhonepayPlus for advice, and to make a complaint by calling 0800 500 212 or visiting www.phonepayplus.org.uk.

To get more info about PhonepayPlus and phone-paid services, go to http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/FAQ.aspx.