Martin Lewis has issued a warning to holidaymakers who use their mobile phone abroad.
The Money Saving Expert has said UK travellers could be hit with unexpected mobile roaming costs for using just a minute of data abroad. Firms were previously banned from charging additional fees to use your UK allowance while holidaying in the EU.
However, Brexit has meant holidaymakers are no now no longer protected from these charges. Many networks have reintroduced roaming costs and Martin has urged travellers to be aware of how much each company is charging.
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In a report published on MoneySavingExpert, he said: "I've no faith in mobile firms to self-regulate. When we left the EU, they promised not to reintroduce European roaming charges… yet most of the big networks have broken that promise.
"So our report calls on Ofcom to not trust voluntary promises – we need to reintroduce the formal, compulsory consumer protections.
"And it's time too, to define time. We need to ban a daily roaming fee charged for use 'up to 11.59pm' without even mentioning in which time zone. Instead, we recommend all providers must define a roaming 'day' as a 24-hour period from first use, clearly explain that in the arrival text, and alert customers at least an hour before the daily charges end."
EE, Three and Vodafone have reintroduced £2 daily roaming charges for customers to access their UK data allowance. EE defines a day use in the EU as anything up to 11.59pm UK time, the same day. This means if you sign up at 11.58pm, you would only get a minute's worth of data for your money.
Vodafone's £2 charge lasts 24 hours from first use in the EU. However, in the rest of the world, it charges £6 for roaming and this ends at 11.59pm in the capital of the country being visited.
Three customers are also charged 24 hours from first use. The network provider also offers £5 a “day” data passport for unlimited data in the UK and 89 destinations. This only last until 11.59pm UK time.
Smaller piggyback networks have introduced charges too. Virgin Media O2 is the only network giant still offering roaming at no extra cost - although it has changed its “fair use” policy, which is separate to roaming fees.
An Ofcom spokesperson said in response to the report: "Ofcom is currently considering the options for future roaming protections for customers, looking at the risk of consumer harm and how to best protect customers in this area. We will take these findings into account as part of this process."
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