Using your mobile abroad

The rules apply when UK consumers are roaming within the European Union, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The European Union countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Charges for using your phone outside of these countries can be much higher. Speak to your provider before you travel to understand the charges for the country you are visiting and any packages or discounted rates it offers for the place you're travelling to. Alternatively, it might be worth considering buying a SIM for the country you are visiting.

Regardless of where you travel, when you enter another country, your provider must send you an automatic message (unless you have opted out of receiving such messages) notifying you of basic pricing information.

Most consumers travelling within the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein will benefit from the ‘roam like at home’ tariff and will be charged no more than they would pay when using their mobile phone in the UK.

However, under very strict conditions, some providers may be granted an exemption from the rules. Currently, no provider has been granted such an exemption.

Providers are also allowed to adopt a fair use policy to prevent abusive or excessive use. However, there are specific rules on when a fair use policy can be applied, and it should generally allow consumers to use their service for periodic travel in the same way they would at home.

To check whether your provider applies a fair use policy to your specific tariff, check the current terms and conditions for your contract, or contact your provider before travelling.

You may also be charged differently if you have opted into an alternative tariff to  ‘roam like at home’ after 15 June 2017.

Unless you have opted into an alternative tariff, if you are travelling in the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and you exceed your provider’s fair use policy, they can charge you an additional surcharge of up to:

• €0.032 (around £0.027) excluding VAT per minute for calls made;
• €0.01 (around £0.008) excluding VAT per text; and
• €7.70 (around £6.50) excluding VAT per GB of data.

Where a surcharge is applied, the total sum of the domestic charge and roaming surcharge must not exceed:

• €0.19 (around £0.16) excluding VAT per minute for calls made;
• €0.06 (around £0.05) excluding VAT per text; or
• €0.20 (around £0.17) excluding VAT per MB used

In addition, unless you have opted into a different limit, providers must also apply a €50 (excluding VAT) cut-off limit on data. Unlike the price caps above which only apply whilst roaming within the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, this cut-off limit should be applied regardless of where you travel in the world.

Please note that the conversion rates above are updated annually on 1 July. They are also provided for information only and have been rounded down for convenience.

Last updated: 16 August 2017

Under the rules, and unless requested otherwise, where a customer reaches the data allowance set out in a fair use policy whilst roaming within the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, providers must send a notification informing the customer of the additional cost that will be applied if they continue to use data services.

If your provider offers roaming services you should automatically be registered for ‘roam like at home’. However, some providers may also make available alternative offers for roaming services, but consumers must actively opt into these before they are applied.

Where a consumer opts into an alternative tariff,  the provider must make clear what benefits they will miss out on by opting out of ‘roam like at home’.

Mobile phones used in coastal areas or at sea may not be able to connect to landbased 2G, 3G or 4G networks and may instead seek out the ship’s satellite connection. The ‘roam like at home’ tariff and worldwide data limits do not apply to these and charges can therefore be high.

If you think you will need to use your phone at sea, check with your provider before you travel how much it will cost to use your phone via a satellite connection. You could consider manually selecting a preferred network on your handset while you are on the boat/ship to avoid satellite connections but signals can vary and this will mean you wouldn't receive calls or texts when out of range of the selected network.

If you receive a voicemail whilst roaming in the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you should not receive a charge. However, if you are travelling outside of these countries, check with your provider, as some charge every time a voicemail message is left on your phone when you are away.

If they do, contact them - you may be able to switch off voicemail while you are away by keying a code into your handset, or your provider may be able to temporarily disable your voicemail.

Remember, you may need to contact them again to reactivate your voicemail on your return. You will, in any case, be charged to listen to voicemail messages while you are away.

While ‘roam like at home’ does not apply when roaming outside of the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, unless you have opted into a different limit, providers are required to apply a €50 (excluding VAT) cut-off limit on data, regardless of where you travel in the world.

Your provider must send you an alert to your mobile device when you reach 80% and then 100% of the agreed data roaming limit. Operators must stop charging for data at the 100% point, unless you agree to continue to use data.

To help you manage when your phone accesses data, you can turn off data roaming on your handset.

These video guides show you how to turn off data roaming on some of the most popular smartphones.

If your smartphone isn't featured – or you're having problems – speak to your provider or look on their website for more information.

If you want to regularly browse the web on your phone, use local Wi-Fi hotspots instead of your phone's mobile internet connection.

You can usually access Wi-Fi in places like cafes, restaurants and hotels, sometimes for free, or you can pay to access the internet for a set time period. Some phone apps can seek out Wi-Fi networks and prompt you to connect to them so that you don't have to do this manually.

This is particularly useful for downloading maps, checking emails or browsing social networks - all of which would otherwise soon rack up data charges if a mobile internet connection was used. Remember, you don't need 'data roaming' switched on to access Wi-Fi. But this does mean you will need to stay within range of the Wi-Fi to avoid losing your connection. If you haven't turned data roaming off while using Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi signal drops, your phone may automatically seek out a mobile network to keep you connected and you may therefore incur data charges.

If you're not using Wi-Fi, avoid data-heavy activities such as watching videos, updating social media with photos or downloading music. Also, if you are checking emails, avoid opening large attachments.

Be extra careful when taking your phone abroad as thieves often target tourists.

You should take care when using your phone in public, don't let it out of your possession.

Not only are many smartphones worth hundreds of pounds, but thieves can quickly rack up huge bills on stolen phones.

You may be liable for all charges run up on your phone when it goes missing up until you report it as lost or stolen to your provider. Therefore, it's important you contact your provider as soon as possible to avoid facing high charges as a result of unauthorised use.

If your phone goes missing and you are with Three, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, EE or O2 for mobile services, you should only be responsible for paying up to a maximum of £100 for any unauthorised usage outside of your allowance - if you report your phone as missing within 24 hours.

If you are with Vodafone and you miss the 24 hours but report your phone as missing within five days, you should only be responsible for paying up to £500 for unauthorised usage outside of your allowance. See the Government's announcement.

Therefore, if your phone goes missing when you're abroad, it's important you contact your provider as soon as possible to avoid facing high charges as a result of unauthorised use. Even if there's a slim chance you may find your phone, it's worth talking to your provider about whether a temporary bar can be placed on your account.

Once you have reported your phone as lost or stolen, your provider can bar your SIM to stop calls being made on your account. Your provider can also stop anyone else from using your phone by blocking its IMEI, a unique 15-digit serial number. You can get your IMEI number by keying *#06# into your handset or by looking behind your phone battery. Make a record of this number, as well as the make and model of your handset and keep it somewhere safe.

You can also download an app which can trace your phone if it is lost or stolen and can enable you to wipe details remotely - such as findmyiphone and Android device manager.

Some mobile insurance policies may provide some cover for unauthorised use so it is worth checking the terms and conditions of your existing policy, or when considering a new policy.

Remember, if you do decide to take out mobile phone insurance, you may be obliged to let your insurer know if your phone is lost or stolen within a certain time frame too.

You should still also let your mobile phone provider know.

Make sure you put a passcode on both your handset and SIM to make it more difficult for thieves to use. These video guides shows you how to do this on some popular handsets.

iPhone

Android (ICS, Samsung Galaxy)

Android (4.2, Jelly Bean)

Windows Phone 8

Blackberry

Ofcom's guide on keeping your smartphone secure and the Met's guide on protecting your phone are also useful sources of advice on how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of phone crime.

To report your phone lost/stolen