Home Essentials

Stay connected with
our low-cost broadband
and phone plans.

Who can get BT Home Essentials?

New or existing BT customers can apply. You’ll also need to be
receiving one of these benefits to qualify:

  • Universal Credit
    (all claimants)
  • Pension Credit
    (Guarantee Credit)
  • Employment and Support Allowance
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Income Support

Don’t forget you’ll need your National Insurance number when you order, so we can check you’re eligible. Additional checks are in place if you apply to our BT Home Essentials No Income plan - see the BT Home Essentials T&Cs.

BT’s Smart Hub is a Which Best Buy.

What do you get with BT Home Essentials?

Fibre broadband

Get a reliable connection at an affordable price.

Call-only plans

Stay connected for less with an optional home phone plan.

BT’s Smart Hub is a Which Best Buy.

12 month contract

Cancel anytime without any early exit fees.

Affordable options

Best price available for eligible households with no income.

How do I get Home Essentials?

You can switch over for no extra charge if you’re an existing BT, EE or Plusnet broadband customer who’s eligible for our Home Essentials package.

Call your provider number and we’ll handle the rest:

BT customers please call
0800 800 150
Monday - Friday 8am - 9pm
Saturday - Sunday 8am - 8pm

EE customers please call
0800 079 5122
Monday - Friday 8am - 9pm
Saturday - Sunday 8am - 8pm

Plusnet customers please call
0800 432 0200
Monday - Sunday 8am - 8pm


Frequently asked questions

You can pay your BT Bill by:
  • Direct Debit
  • online (debit or credit card)
  • by phone (debit or credit card)
  • by bank transfer
  • at a PayPoint
Yes. If you’re a BT Basic customer you can get Home Essentials, as long as you’re eligible.
If you’re new to BT, we’ll carry out a credit check as part of your application. If you have a low credit score you may have to pay a security deposit. We’ll let you know what that is before you complete your order.
If you’re an existing BT customer switching to Home Essentials, we won’t carry out a credit check.
You’ll find lots of free, useful information about money matters, looking for a job, protecting your family online and much more at Skills for Tomorrow.
Yes, our Here For You hub includes help articles and advice, plus information on services and useful products.
You can find a range of starter laptops and tablets on the BT Shop.
You can cancel your Home Essentials plan at any time without any early exit fees.
New BT customers can apply and existing BT, EE and Plusnet customers who are eligible for BT Home Essentials can switch over for no extra charge. You’ll need to be receiving one of these benefits to qualify: Universal Credit (all claimants), Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, or Income Support. You’ll need to provide some personal information when you apply, including your National Insurance Number, so we can check that you’re eligible. Further eligibility requirements apply for the Home Essentials No Income plan, see full BT Home Essentials T&Cs. We’ll process this information in accordance with BT’s privacy policy, see Privacy Policy | BT.
When you reach month 11 of your Home Essentials plan, we’ll contact you to let you know that you’re nearing the end of your 12 month price guarantee and inform you we’ll run another eligibility check on your plan’s 12 month anniversary. If you are still eligible then we’ll notify you and inform you that we’ll renew your plan for another 12 months unless you contact us to tell us you’d like your service to end. Following each renewal, you’ll be moved to the equivalent latest Home Essentials package we offer at that time and the monthly price of your package will change to the price of that equivalent latest Home Essentials package as well. See the BT Consumer Price Guide at www.bt.com/termcharges for current pricing of our Homes Essentials Plans. You can cancel at any time without early exit fees. See full BT Home Essentials T&Cs for details.
If your circumstances change and you are no longer eligible after 12 months, we’ll inform you that you will be moved onto the equivalent latest standard (non-Home Essentials) package we offer at that time. The monthly price of your package will change to the lowest available price for the equivalent latest standard package we offer at that time. In addition, the monthly price for the package will increase from March each year by the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation published in January that year, plus 3.9% (same as the monthly price for any other non-Home Essentials products you have, and all out of bundle charges and add-ons). See bt.com/prices for details. If you don’t want to proceed, you can cancel without early exit fees or upgrade to another BT plan. See full Home Essentials T&Cs for details.
As a Home Essentials customer, the Call Barring calling feature is included in your package at no extra cost. This allows you to stop certain types of call being made from your service, like international calls or calls to premium rate numbers. If you would like to remove this feature from your account, you can manage Call Barring via your My BT portal.
You'll need a BT ID to log into My BT. If you don't have one, you can register online for a BT ID .

To manage Call Barring through My BT:
  1. Log into My BT
  2. Select the Your Products tab from the top left-hand navigation
  3. Click the Manage button on the Digital Voice tile
  4. In the 'Your Digital Voice features' section, click the Manage button on the Call Barring tile
  5. Choose which outgoing calls you want to add to Call Barring by using the ON/OFF toggle to the
    right-hand side of the listed options
Important information

Δ The monthly price of the Home Essentials package will not increase from March every year by a monetary amount. However, if you have TV the monthly price for your TV service will increase every March by £2. The price of all out of bundle charges will increase from March every year by 5%. See bt.com/prices-explained for details.