Premium-Rate (09) Numbers Explained — UK Rates, Risks and How to Avoid the Charge

Premium rate numbers UK are landline-style phone numbers that bill the caller an extra service charge on top of their network’s access charge. The vast majority of premium-rate calls in the UK in 2026 use the 09 range (specifically 0901 to 0911, plus the older 098x sub-range), are regulated by the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), and are capped at a maximum service charge of £3.60 per minute.

This guide explains the five categories of 09 premium-rate numbers, how the dual-charge model (service charge plus access charge) actually adds up on the major UK networks, the persistent missed-call scams that target them, and how to block premium-rate dialling on every UK landline and mobile provider.

How UK premium-rate numbers work

A premium-rate service number (‘PRS’) charges the caller for the call and shares that revenue with the receiving organisation. Day-to-day oversight sits with the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), which licenses and monitors premium operators, while the number ranges themselves are issued by Ofcom under the National Telephone Numbering Plan.

Two charges always apply when you ring a UK premium-rate number:

• The service charge, set by the organisation you are calling. This is capped by PSA rules at a maximum of £3.60 per minute (or £6 per call for fixed-fee services), and must be displayed clearly on any advertising of the number.
• The access charge, set by your phone provider (BT, EE, Sky, Three and so on). This is the per-minute fee your network charges for connecting any 084, 087 or 09 call, regardless of the destination.

Both charges are added together for every minute you stay on the line. That is why a misjudged 0906 call back can become genuinely expensive within a few minutes.

The five categories of UK 09 premium-rate numbers

Ofcom and the PSA split the 09 range into distinct sub-prefixes by intended use, with stricter rules applying to the adult and gambling categories.

0901, 0902, 0903: recorded information, competitions, TV voting

The oldest premium-rate ranges, formerly the workhorse of ITV phone-in voting and recorded information lines. Usage has fallen as broadcasters switched to SMS shortcodes, but the prefixes are still active for weather services and call-and-win competitions.

0904, 0905, 0906: live person-to-person services

Used for live operator services: psychic and tarot lines, sports tipping and ‘one-to-one’ advice. 0906 has the heaviest scam reputation because of the missed-call return fraud described below. Service charges run from a few pence per minute up to the £3.60 cap. Look up specific patterns on our 0906 page.

0907: adult chat, horoscope and pay-per-call

A mix of adult content, fortune-telling and introduction lines, subject to age verification and content rules. See the 0907 lookup page for current Ofcom-allocated block holders.

0908: adult chat

Predominantly adult voice services. Calls always carry a high service charge and are routinely blocked by default in UK business phone systems. See the 0908 reference page for the active allocations.

0909, 0911: sexual entertainment services (most heavily regulated)

The most tightly regulated 09 ranges. Operators must be pre-registered with the PSA, apply hard call-time limits, and publish charges with extra prominence. See the 0909 page for the relevant blocks.

098x: pay-per-minute helplines and other

The historical 098 range is used by corporate helpdesks, paid technical support and a long tail of legacy services. It is also exploited by ‘tech support’ scams that pose as Microsoft or Apple and ask the victim to dial in for paid ‘help’.

The ‘missed call from 0906’ scam and why it persists in 2026

The single most common abuse of UK premium-rate numbers is brutally simple. An auto-dialler rings thousands of UK mobiles in sequence, lets each ring for a single tone, then hangs up. A percentage of recipients tap to call back; the number rings into a premium-rate 0906, 0907 or 0908 line operated by the scammer, who keeps the caller on hold while the service charge accumulates at up to £3.60 per minute.

The pattern is well-documented. Action Fraud’s guidance on missed-call scams warns consumers never to return a call from a number they do not recognise, especially one starting 09 or 070. The PSA can fine offending operators and shut down the line, but new operators reappear under fresh shell companies and the cycle repeats.

If you have just seen a missed call from a UK number you don’t recognise, the safe move is to look it up first. We cover the full diagnostic flow in our guide to finding out who called from an unknown UK number, and the broader pattern catalogue in UK phone scams in 2026: the 12 patterns to know.

What you will actually pay on BT, EE, O2, Three, Vodafone, Sky and Virgin Media

The total cost of a UK premium-rate call is your network’s access charge plus the dialled service charge. Every UK provider must publish its current access charge online. The figures below are typical 2025 to 2026 access charges as published by each provider and are subject to change, so always check the live tariff before dialling.

Typical UK access charges, 2026 (per minute):

• BT (landline): around 65p per minute
• Sky Talk (landline): around 19p per minute
• Virgin Media (landline): around 30p per minute
• EE (mobile): around 65p per minute
• O2 (mobile): around 70p per minute
• Three (mobile): around 65p per minute
• Vodafone (mobile): around 65p per minute

Worked examples for a five-minute call:

• 0904 at £1.50/min service charge from a BT landline: £7.50 + £3.25 = £10.75.
• 0906 at the £3.60/min cap from an EE mobile: £18.00 + £3.25 = £21.25.
• 0908 at £3.60/min from an O2 mobile: £18.00 + £3.50 = £21.50.
• 0909 at £3.60/min from a Vodafone mobile: £18.00 + £3.25 = £21.25.

If a five-minute return call costs north of £20, you can see why the missed-call return scam remains viable. Out-of-bundle premium-rate calls are also excluded from inclusive minutes on every UK consumer tariff in 2026, so they always hit the bill in full.

How to block premium-rate numbers on every major UK provider

Every UK provider must offer a way to bar outbound premium-rate calls, either as a free network bar or as part of a call-protect package. The exact steps differ by network.

• BT (landline): dial *34*1# with a four-digit PIN to bar premium calls, or enable ‘Premium-rate call control’ in My BT. The free ‘BT Call Protect’ diverts suspected nuisance calls to junk voicemail.
• Sky Talk (landline): in My Sky, open phone settings and switch on ‘Block premium-rate calls’. Free on Sky Talk Shield.
• Virgin Media (landline): in My Virgin Media, enable ‘Premium Rate Number Bar’ under call features. Talk Shield also filters nuisance calls.
• EE (mobile): in My EE, choose your line and toggle off ‘Premium Rate’ under Call Charges. Business customers can apply the bar fleet-wide.
• O2 (mobile): dial 202 or use My O2, request ‘Bar premium-rate calls’; the change applies within a few hours.
• Three (mobile): in My3, switch on ‘International, Premium and Picture Message Bar’. Free for all Three pay-monthly customers.
• Vodafone (mobile): in the Vodafone app, enable ‘Premium-rate call bar’ under Privacy and Security. Vodafone Business ‘Spam Shield’ also covers inbound nuisance calls.

Per-handset blocking is also possible on iPhone and Android once you know the number to block. We cover the device-level steps for iOS, Android and business mobile fleets in our guide on how to block unknown callers on iPhone, Android and business mobiles.

Reporting premium-rate fraud to the right authority

If you have been charged for a premium-rate call you did not knowingly authorise, four bodies can act:

1. The Phone-paid Services Authority. Use the PSA consumer complaint form. The PSA can fine the service operator and order refunds.
2. Ofcom’s Number Checker. Look up any premium-rate number on the PSA’s ‘Number Checker’ (linked from the PSA site above) to see the registered service operator. This is a fast way to identify who is behind a suspicious number.
3. Action Fraud. Report at actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040. Action Fraud collates the data for City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
4. Your own phone provider. Ask for the charge to be removed and a premium-rate bar to be added. UK providers will typically credit a first-time disputed premium-rate charge, especially where the number is on a known PSA enforcement list.

For SME-scale fraud (where a workforce or a small finance team has been targeted with social-engineering calls), see our deeper guide on vishing attacks on UK SMEs.

How to identify a 09 caller before you call back

The Business Hub’s Who Called Me lookup covers the full UK 09 range. Enter any 11-digit 09 number and the tool returns the Ofcom-allocated block holder, the broad service category (information, adult, sexual entertainment), and recent search activity from other UK users who saw the same caller ID. The dataset is a clean copy of Ofcom’s National Telephone Numbering Plan, refreshed every Wednesday.

Quick links to the busiest 09 ranges:

• /who-called-me/0906/ for the 0906 range, the prefix most often associated with missed-call scams.
• /who-called-me/0907/ for 0907 adult and information services.
• /who-called-me/0908/ for 0908 chat services.
• /who-called-me/0909/ for 0909 sexual-entertainment regulated lines.

If you run a UK SME and want premium-rate calls blocked across a fleet by default, our business mobile plans page covers the network-level call-bar options from EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 0906 call cost in 2026?

A 0906 call costs the dialled service charge plus your provider’s access charge, for every minute you are connected. The service charge is set by the operator of the number and capped by the PSA at £3.60 per minute. Typical UK access charges in 2026 are roughly 19p to 70p per minute depending on whether you are on Sky, BT, EE, O2, Three or Vodafone. A five-minute call to a maximum-charge 0906 line from a typical UK mobile can therefore exceed £20.

Is 0906 always a scam?

No. 0906 is a regulated premium-rate range used by legitimate operators for live person-to-person services, including some tarot and advice lines that customers genuinely choose to call. However, 0906 is also the prefix most heavily abused by missed-call return scams. If you did not initiate the call yourself and the number is unfamiliar, do not ring it back; look it up first.

Are 0800 and 03 numbers premium-rate?

No. 0800 numbers are freephone (free to call from UK landlines and mobiles since July 2015) and 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as a standard UK landline call and always count towards inclusive minutes. Premium-rate in the UK is restricted to the 09 range and certain 087 and 084 service-charge ranges.

How do I get a premium-rate charge refunded?

Start with your own phone provider. UK providers will usually credit a first disputed premium-rate charge as a goodwill gesture, especially where the number is already on a PSA enforcement list. If they decline, file a complaint with the Phone-paid Services Authority; the PSA can order the service operator to refund affected callers as part of an enforcement action.

Can I bar premium-rate numbers across a whole business phone fleet?

Yes. Every UK business mobile network (EE, O2, Three, Vodafone) and every major UK VoIP provider supports a fleet-wide premium-rate call bar, typically configurable from the admin portal in minutes. The bar is free in most cases and is one of the simplest controls a finance director can apply to prevent unexplained premium-rate spend on a corporate phone bill.