0800 at a glance
- Type
- Freephone
- Country
- United Kingdom (+44)
- Number format
- 0800 XXX XXXX or 0800 XXX XXX (some older numbers are one digit shorter)
- From abroad
- +44 800
- Cost to call
- Free to call from UK landlines and mobiles since 1 July 2015.
0800 numbers are freephone numbers: the organisation that owns the number pays for the call, so callers pay nothing. Since 1 July 2015 calls to 0800 and 0808 numbers have been free from mobiles as well as landlines, following Ofcom's reform of non-geographic call charges. 0800 numbers are used by banks, charities, government services, utilities and businesses that want to encourage people to call. Some older 0800 numbers have six digits after the prefix rather than seven. 0800 numbers are mostly used to receive calls, so an incoming call showing an 0800 number may be a legitimate outbound call centre or a spoofed number.
Scammers sometimes display a real 0800 number belonging to a bank or company. Genuine organisations will not mind you hanging up and calling the number on your card or statement.
Who called me from 0800?
The prefix tells you what kind of number it is (freephone), but not who is behind it. Numbers can be ported between networks and caller ID can be spoofed, so a familiar code is no guarantee. Search the full number to see its current carrier, line type and whether other people have reported it. Read our UK phone number guide for mobile prefixes, networks and the scams currently doing the rounds.