SIM Cards for old people

[nogojones]

I've sort of taken over the care of a very distant relative. All his closer fam are back in Ireland so I've stepped up. I met him for the first time a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to sort a few things out for him. One is, he has no phone. He wants a mobile. We've chosen the mobile and that was a bit of a struggle in its self. He's 87, doesn't want a flat screen (or one that's too cheap). As for a SIM he want's pay as you go. "I'm not paying them feckers if I'm not using it!"

So I'm trying to find him a deal that is just about calls, he ain't gonna be using the internet or texts and doesn't want any of this bundle stuff. Ideally I'd like it to be easy to top up as well as he's pretty much housebound.

I was looking at this one UKs cheapest PAYG mobile tariff It's cheap, runs off EE so it'll have pretty good reception round these ends, but he'll need to top up by text, which might be beyond his ken. Is there an easier solution? I'm a bit shit with phones myself so I'm finding it all a bit much. I remember trying to get one for me Mum and she wouldn't use it because she didn't like the smell of it. Help!

 

[spudulike]

Go for it. We've been using them for a couple of years for a "house mobile". We seem to spend around £25 per year on outgoing calls from that phone.

You can set it to auto-topup i.e. when your credit drops below £2, it can pull a payment from your Paypal or card.

So you have to top up minimum £10 every 120 days (say £30/year) but you never lose credit - if you build up way too much you could send a £5 text donation to a charity for instance.

We have a Doro 5516 mobile - it has a nice big "assist" button on the back. Press it, and after various warnings it will text/call 3 people (e.g. relatives/carers/neighbours) to let them know you need assistance (my daughter may need it, but it's intended for elderly). There may be a better/newer model, ours was £25.

 

[dessiato]

My f-i-l is 89 and uses Tesco PAYG, he finds it easy, and cheap to use. He has no internet, he can’t see why anyone could find it of any value or use despite loving the Skype video calls we’ve made when we’ve been there.

 

[nogojones]

Go for it. We've been using them for a couple of years for a "house mobile". We seem to spend around £25 per year on outgoing calls from that phone.

You can set it to auto-topup i.e. when your credit drops below £2, it can pull a payment from your Paypal or card.

So you have to top up minimum £10 every 120 days (say £30/year) but you never lose credit - if you build up way too much you could send a £5 text donation to a charity for instance.

Nice one. I'll see if I can set that up for him, otherwise I guess it'll be me doing the topping up.

 

[dessiato]

Go for it. We've been using them for a couple of years for a "house mobile". We seem to spend around £25 per year on outgoing calls from that phone.

You can set it to auto-topup i.e. when your credit drops below £2, it can pull a payment from your Paypal or card.

So you have to top up minimum £10 every 120 days (say £30/year) but you never lose credit - if you build up way too much you could send a £5 text donation to a charity for instance.

I saw this after posting about my f-i-l. It sounds a real bargain. If I get back to U.K. I’ll look at getting this. 50GB will just about be enough for me in a month.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Giffgaff is six quid a month for unlimited minutes and texts. That's what we have. Mrs Sas, who didn't want a phone 'I wouldn't use it, waste of money' is using my old phone, and does about 600 minutes a month.

Your relative might find that they would use it more if they were paying just the six quid.

 

[nogojones]

Giffgaff is six quid a month for unlimited minutes and texts. That's what we have. Mrs Sas, who didn't want a phone 'I wouldn't use it, waste of money' is using my old phone, and does about 600 minutes a month.

Your relative might find that they would use it more if they were paying just the six quid.

I tried to persuade him into this as it would be easier for us both, but he wouldn't have it. He want's pay as you go and won't hear of anything else. He's a good laugh, but he's a stubborn fucker

 

[Guineveretoo]

My 90 year old father has got a Doro 6620 phone and I have got him on giffgaff, which is not quite pay as you, but is not a contract either. He pays £6 a month for it, and mostly uses it to phone me, because giffgaff to giffgaff calls are free....

 

[Guineveretoo]

I tried to persuade him into this as it would be easier for us both, but he wouldn't have it. He want's pay as you go and won't hear of anything else. He's a good laugh, but he's a stubborn fucker

pay as you go will end up dearer, from my understanding, as you have to pay a specific amount each month in order to be able to receive calls or something?

Tell him that he is paying to be able to RECEIVE calls, not just to make them. Surely he will understand that? We all used to have to pay an extortionate amount to British Telecom to "rent" the phone line just to receive calls.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Go for it. We've been using them for a couple of years for a "house mobile". We seem to spend around £25 per year on outgoing calls from that phone.

You can set it to auto-topup i.e. when your credit drops below £2, it can pull a payment from your Paypal or card.

So you have to top up minimum £10 every 120 days (say £30/year) but you never lose credit - if you build up way too much you could send a £5 text donation to a charity for instance.

We have a Doro 5516 mobile - it has a nice big "assist" button on the back. Press it, and after various warnings it will text/call 3 people (e.g. relatives/carers/neighbours) to let them know you need assistance (my daughter may need it, but it's intended for elderly). There may be a better/newer model, ours was £25.

I had to disable the "assist" button on the back because my father kept accidentally phoning his next door neighbour! He doesn't need it anymore because he now has one of those help button things older people wear round their necks anyway.... He still presses the button by accident every now and then, but the company who answer are paid to do so, so it is not as annoying as when he kept phoning his next door neighbour.

 

[nogojones]

pay as you go will end up dearer, from my understanding, as you have to pay a specific amount each month in order to be able to receive calls or something?

Tell him that he is paying to be able to RECEIVE calls, not just to make them. Surely he will understand that? We all used to have to pay an extortionate amount to British Telecom to "rent" the phone line just to receive calls.

I know, I'm paying like £5.50 a month for everything. He wouldn't have it though. There's a whole load of shit that needs sorting out for him, I've fended off one crew of bailifs already - with him shouting in the background "if them cunts want the money they can send a proper fucking bill"

 

[spudulike]

Your relative might find that they would use it more if they were paying just the six quid.

True, we thought that too. We are low users. 18185 for landline calls meant I knew what we used in a typical year. At first we went with a similar package (£5/month from ID mobile back then). After a couple of months we hadn't increased our usage. Rather than £60/year, we dropped down to £30. ID mobile only required one month notice to quit.

 

[two sheds]

I use GiffGaff too and am really pleased with them. I only use it if I'm going somewhere that I need to phone someone, which is about once every six months. I bought a £10 credit about 3 years ago and haven't used it all yet. They e-mail me every few months to remind me that I should make a phone call to keep using them so I just phone my landline.

 

[spudulike]

I use GiffGaff too and am really pleased with them. I only use it if I'm going somewhere that I need to phone someone, which is about once every six months. I bought a £10 credit about 3 years ago and haven't used it all yet. They e-mail me every few months to remind me that I should make a phone call to keep using them so I just phone my landline.

Same here, I have a mobile on GiffGaff last topped up a few years ago - rarely use it, kept in my motorcycle jacket pocket. And GiffGaff are great for that as they don't require a top up. If I call on that phone I use 18185's mobile number prefix (2p/min to a landline rather than GiffGaff 25p). Of course I have to call the house phone via GiffGaff once every few months to keep my number and credit.

 

[two sheds]

It's been so long since I actually paid money to them I can't remember how I have to do it.

 

[Boudicca]

Bumping this thread mostly to explain to nogojones why he has a like for something he posted in 2021!

I'm trying to get an elderly friend a backup mobile phone as her landline phone always seems to be going wrong. I bought a cheap Doro handset which looks fine, but all the sim cards seem to want me to create an account via the internet which won't work for her.

I looked at 1p mobile mentioned above but the only way I can get a sim is to link it to my bank details.

She just needs a PAYG sim which you can top up in a shop or on the phone like you used to in the olden days. She doesn't go out much, it's really just for emergencies.

Anyone done similar recently?

 

[furluxor]

Bumping this thread mostly to explain to nogojones why he has a like for something he posted in 2021!

I'm trying to get an elderly friend a backup mobile phone as her landline phone always seems to be going wrong. I bought a cheap Doro handset which looks fine, but all the sim cards seem to want me to create an account via the internet which won't work for her.

I looked at 1p mobile mentioned above but the only way I can get a sim is to link it to my bank details.

She just needs a PAYG sim which you can top up in a shop or on the phone like you used to in the olden days. She doesn't go out much, it's really just for emergencies.

Anyone done similar recently?

Not sure if that's what you're looking for but my phone (old type Nokia) has a Lebara SIM, which gives me a bunch of minutes and texts for £5 pcm. I top up via voucher bought at a shop (by texting or calling and entering the number). It then automatically takes £5 from my balance each month until I'm out of money. No contract, no ID, bank account, etc.

 

[MBV]

I sorted my mum out a Lebara sim which was very cheap and now I pay the £5/month since the offer has finished. Something similar may work for your friend?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

Similar deals can be found here.

 

[tony.c]

I sorted my mum out a Lebara sim which was very cheap and now I pay the £5/month since the offer has finished. Something similar may work for your friend?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

Similar deals can be found here.

Thanks! I just sent off for a Lebara sim.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I thought this was an exchange thing

 

[UnderOpenSky]

1p mobile still do such a thing. Use the EE network, 1p a min, 1p a text, but needs £10 to be topped up every 120 days if you've not used the credit by then.

 

[Boudicca]

1p mobile still do such a thing. Use the EE network, 1p a min, 1p a text, but needs £10 to be topped up every 120 days if you've not used the credit by then.

I looked at that but you can only set up by giving your bank details online and she doesn't use the internet.

 

[Boudicca]

I sorted my mum out a Lebara sim which was very cheap and now I pay the £5/month since the offer has finished. Something similar may work for your friend?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

Similar deals can be found here.

The problem here is the 'I pay' bit. I don't want to get involved in the financial side of this.

(I sorted my mother out with a gifgaff sim and have ended up paying for it, initially as she wasn't really using the phone and I felt a bit guilty forcing her to have one. She now uses it for online banking and I'm still paying for it. )

Anyway I went to Tesco today and they gave me a 'triple credit sim' for £10. I was told it was only 8p per minute with no minimum spend per month, but when I double checked it online, it said 25p per minute. But as soon as you add £10 credit they triple it to £30, so that takes it back to the 8p. I wish I didn't have to explain this nonsense to my friend....

 

[UnderOpenSky]

The problem here is the 'I pay' bit. I don't want to get involved in the financial side of this.

(I sorted my mother out with a gifgaff sim and have ended up paying for it, initially as she wasn't really using the phone and I felt a bit guilty forcing her to have one. She now uses it for online banking and I'm still paying for it. )

Anyway I went to Tesco today and they gave me a 'triple credit sim' for £10. I was told it was only 8p per minute with no minimum spend per month, but when I double checked it online, it said 25p per minute. But as soon as you add £10 credit they triple it to £30, so that takes it back to the 8p. I wish I didn't have to explain this nonsense to my friend....

It's almost like they want to take advantage, they must know that old people are the ones most likely to get such a "package". Talk about price gauging.

Glad you've found something though.

 

[Boudicca]

It's almost like they want to take advantage, they must know that old people are the ones most likely to get such a "package". Talk about price gauging.

Glad you've found something though.

It's not a bad deal as she only wants it for emergencies and the £10/£30 will probably work out cheaper than the £40 minimum yearly spend which 1p mobile want.

It's just the triple credit thing is a stupid and unnecessary added complication.

She would be better off with a smartphone and no landline, but I doubt I'll be able to convince her of that.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It's not a bad deal as she only wants it for emergencies and the £10/£30 will probably work out cheaper than the £40 minimum yearly spend which 1p mobile want.

It's just the triple credit thing is a stupid and unnecessary added complication.

She would be better off with a smartphone and no landline, but I doubt I'll be able to convince her of that.

Yes. It's to much. I remember being so fustrated with how much my Dad spent with BT, but he'd do things like turn off a Nokia mobile with many days of battery of when he wasn't using it...

 

[Sir Belchalot]

1p mobile still do such a thing. Use the EE network, 1p a min, 1p a text, but needs £10 to be topped up every 120 days if you've not used the credit by then.

You need to top up every 90 days now so £40 a year.

 

[nogojones]

I thought this was an exchange thing

You're worth at least three SIM cards Saul

 

[Saul Goodman]

You're worth at least three SIM cards Saul

So long as a couple of them are EEs, I'm in!

 

[King Biscuit Time]

I've just got my son a Nokia flip non-smartphone. The best deal I could find was Asda mobile - PAYG but there's a bundle for £4 a month for unlimited calls and texts. No data but he doesn't need it.