Calling a 0345 number costs exactly what a call to an ordinary 01 or 02 landline costs, and it comes out of the inclusive minutes on your mobile or landline plan. That is Ofcom's rule for every 03 number (0300, 0333, 0344, 0345, 0370 and the rest), not a courtesy some companies choose. If your plan has unlimited UK minutes, a call to a 0345 number costs you nothing extra. If it does not, you pay your normal rate for a UK landline call.

How much does it cost to call a 0345 number?

Ofcom's guidance on what 03 numbers are sets two rules:

A call to an 03 number must cost no more than a national-rate call to an 01 or 02 number.
It must count towards your inclusive minutes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls.

These rules apply to every UK provider, mobile and landline. So the honest answer to "how much is a 0345 call" is "whatever your provider charges for a normal UK landline call".

In practice that means:

Pay monthly mobile with unlimited minutes: nothing extra.
Pay monthly mobile with a minutes bundle: the call uses minutes from your bundle, just like ringing a friend's landline.
Landline with an inclusive calls package: covered if your package covers UK landline calls at that time of day.
Pay as you go, or out of bundle: your provider's standard rate for UK landline calls.

For a sense of the range when you are out of bundle, GOV.UK's call charges page lists 03 numbers at up to 16p a minute from landlines and 3p to 65p a minute from mobiles (as of October 2026). Those are wide ranges because every provider sets its own geographic rate. Your own tariff sheet gives the real figure.

To see why the bundle matters, take a 20-minute call to a bank's 0345 line, most of it on hold. Inside your inclusive minutes it costs nothing extra. Out of bundle on a mobile, the GOV.UK range works out at anything from 60p (20 minutes at 3p) to £13 (20 minutes at 65p). Pay as you go customers are the ones who should check their rate before a long call.

The 03 ranges and who uses them

All 03 numbers follow the same pricing rule. The second and third digits only tell you what kind of organisation holds the number, and sometimes which old number it replaced.

Range	Typical users	Often replaced	Cost to call
030 (for example 0300, 0303)	Government, councils, NHS bodies, charities and other not-for-profit organisations	No fixed match	Same as 01/02, inside inclusive minutes
033 (for example 0330, 0333)	Any business, including retailers, insurers and online services	No fixed match	Same as 01/02, inside inclusive minutes
0343, 0344, 0345	Banks, utilities, councils and large companies moving off 08 numbers	0843, 0844, 0845 (same last digits)	Same as 01/02, inside inclusive minutes
0370, 0371	Companies moving off 087 numbers	0870, 0871 (same last digits)	Same as 01/02, inside inclusive minutes

The 034 and 037 blocks were set aside so an organisation could swap 08 for 03 and keep the rest of its number. That is why you often see a company's old 0845 number and its new 0345 number side by side with identical last seven digits. If you find an old 0845 number for a bank or energy supplier, try the 0345 version. It may well be the same line, and it costs less to call.

GOV.UK lists the 030 range separately at up to 10p a minute from landlines and 3p to 40p from mobiles (as of October 2026), which is slightly lower at the top end than the general 03 range.

Why 03 numbers are not premium rate

People are wary of 03 numbers because they look unfamiliar and because 084 and 087 numbers have a long history of costing more than expected. The difference is how the money flows.

No revenue sharing. Ofcom does not allow the organisation you call to take a share of what you pay for an 03 call. There is no business incentive to keep you on hold, because they earn nothing from the minutes.
No service charge. With 084, 087 and 09 numbers, part of the price goes to the company you are calling. 03 numbers have no such slice.
Treated as geographic. Your provider has to price and bundle them like an 01 or 02 call, so they cannot sit outside your allowance.

That is also why so many public bodies moved to 03. Ofcom notes that many public sector organisations switched from 0845 to 0345.

03 numbers compared with 0800, 084, 087 and 09

The quickest way to judge any UK non-geographic number is to look at the first three digits. Figures below are from GOV.UK's call charges page as of October 2026.

Number starts with	What it is	How you are charged
0800, 0808	Freephone	Free from UK landlines and mobiles
03	UK-wide number	Same as an 01/02 call, counts towards inclusive minutes
0843, 0844, 0845	Business rate	Up to 7p a minute service charge plus your provider's access charge
0870 to 0873	Business rate	Up to 13p a minute service charge plus your provider's access charge
09	Premium rate	Up to £3.60 a minute plus your provider's access charge, plus 5p to £6 per call
118	Directory enquiries	Up to £3.65 per 90 seconds plus your provider's access charge

The access charge is a per-minute amount your provider sets and publishes on its price list. The service charge goes to the organisation you are calling and is usually printed next to the number ("calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company's access charge").

Two practical takeaways:

Within the UK, 0800 beats 03 and 03 beats 084/087. If a company advertises both an 0844 and a 0344 number, always ring the 0344 one.
From abroad, the order flips. Many 0800 numbers cannot be reached from outside the UK at all, while 03 numbers usually can. Our guide to calling UK 0800 numbers from abroad covers the workarounds for freephone lines.

How to call an 03 number from abroad

An 03 number works like any UK landline number when you dial in from another country. Drop the leading 0 and add the UK country code, +44.

On a mobile, the + symbol replaces your local exit code, so this is the easiest format:

0345 123 4567 becomes +44 345 123 4567

(That is a made-up example to show the format, not a real line.)

From a landline, or if your phone will not accept the +, dial your country's exit code instead:

Calling from	Dial	Example for 0300 222 0000
Any mobile	+ 44, then the number without the 0	+44 300 222 0000
US or Canada	011 44, then the number without the 0	011 44 300 222 0000
Most of Europe	00 44, then the number without the 0	00 44 300 222 0000
Australia	0011 44, then the number without the 0	0011 44 300 222 0000
Japan	010 44, then the number without the 0	010 44 300 222 0000

The example is a real one: HM Passport Office lists its Passport Adviceline as 0300 222 0000 in the UK and +44 (0)300 222 0000 from outside the UK. The "(0)" means you leave that 0 out when dialling from abroad.

When the 03 number does not work from abroad

03 lines usually accept international calls, but an organisation can still restrict them or route overseas callers to a different team. If you get a "number not recognised" message or the call drops straight away:

Check the organisation's contact page for an "outside the UK" number. HMRC is the classic case: its income tax helpline is 0300 200 3300 in the UK, but HMRC publishes +44 135 535 9022 for callers outside the UK. Our guide to calling HMRC from abroad lists the other HMRC lines.
Try the old 084 or 087 version if you know it, or a geographic 01/02 number listed for overseas customers.
Use email, webchat or a callback request if the organisation offers one.

What an 03 call costs when you are outside the UK

The Ofcom rule that makes 03 calls cheap only applies to calls made on UK networks. Once you are abroad, what you pay depends on how you place the call:

On your UK SIM while roaming. If your plan includes roaming in the country you are in, calls back to UK numbers often come out of your allowance. Outside those destinations, roaming call rates apply. Check your provider's roaming page before a long call.
On a local SIM in your new country. The call is an international call to the UK at that carrier's rate, which can be high on pay as you go.
Over the internet. A call from a browser or app is billed as a call to a UK number, at the calling service's rate.

That last option is where BoraPhone fits. It calls real UK numbers from your web browser, with no app or SIM, and shows the per-minute rate for the exact number before you call. At the time of writing (October 2026), calls to UK landlines start at $0.04 a minute and UK mobiles at $0.07 a minute, billed per minute and rounded up. Non-geographic ranges such as 03 are priced separately from 01 and 02 numbers, so check the rate the dialer shows for your 03 number. You pay as you go in US dollars from a $5 minimum top-up, failed calls are refunded and your first call is free. The full rates list covers other countries.

For more on dialling formats, exit codes and mobile versus landline numbers, see our guide to calling the UK from abroad.

How to keep 03 calls cheap

A few habits make sure an 03 call never costs more than it should.

Check your bundle, not the number. If your plan includes UK landline minutes, 03 calls are included. The number itself is never the expensive part.
Look up your out-of-bundle geographic rate if you are on pay as you go. That is your 03 rate.
Swap 084 for 034 and 087 for 037. Try the same last seven digits with 03 in front. Many organisations kept both running.
Ask for a callback on long calls such as insurance claims or bank disputes, so the organisation pays for the hold time.
Do not confuse 03 with 09. Only 09 and 118 numbers carry the large per-minute and per-call charges.
Abroad, find the overseas number first. It saves a failed call and tells you whether the organisation expects international callers.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to call 0345?

A 0345 call costs the same as calling an 01 or 02 landline number on your plan. If your mobile or landline package includes UK landline minutes, the call comes out of those minutes at no extra cost. Out of bundle, it is charged at your provider's normal geographic rate, which GOV.UK puts at up to 16p a minute from landlines and 3p to 65p a minute from mobiles (as of October 2026).

Is the phone number 0345 free?

No, 0345 numbers are not freephone numbers. Only 0800 and 0808 numbers are free to call from UK phones. However, because 03 calls must count towards inclusive minutes, many people with unlimited or bundled minutes pay nothing extra to call one.

How can I call 0345 from my mobile for free?

Use a plan with inclusive UK minutes, since 03 calls have to come out of the same allowance as 01 and 02 calls. If you are on pay as you go, there is no free route, but you can keep the call short by asking the organisation to call you back. Some organisations also publish an 0800 number for certain services, so check their contact page.

Are 0345 numbers free from EE?

Ofcom's rules apply to every UK provider, including EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. On an EE plan with inclusive or unlimited UK minutes, a 0345 call uses those minutes just like a call to an 01 or 02 number. If you are on pay as you go or have used up your allowance, EE's standard UK call rate applies, so check your price guide.

Can I call a 0345 number from outside the UK?

Usually, yes. Dial +44, then the number without its first 0, for example +44 345 followed by the remaining digits. A few organisations block overseas calls to their 03 lines or list a separate number for callers abroad, so check their website first if the call will not connect.

0345 Number Cost: What 0300, 0333 and 0344 Calls Cost