Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs for Carers UK talks about two of their members who are carers and why backing the Terminate the Rate campaign is important to them:

Alex and Bushra each care for relatives who have disabilities and sickness. They struggle to pay their phone bills. The calls they make are essential and cannot be avoided.

Alex and his fiancee Sarah regularly call family to update on Sarah’s health which can often fluctuate as she has Cystic Fibrosis. Alex and her also make long phone calls to the doctors when she’s unwell to make sure she’s given the right treatment. They already have extra costs because of disability, such as heating, so their phone charges make a real difference. Alex says that it is hard watching every penny and lower call charges would make a real difference to their lives, “it is not like we are making social calls - the calls we often make are an essential part of caring.”

Bushra cares for three people, her elderly and ill mother, her husband who had a stroke and her 51-year-old sister who has learning disabilities. Bushra and her family make many calls to each other’s mobiles to try to coordinate care in the care which is part of every daylife. She checks up on her mother around three or four times a day. She also has huge costs of calls to the hospital and doctors where she’s put in a queuing system and doesn’t always get through. Not only is this frustrating, she says that it really adds to her phone bills - money she can ill afford.

Alex and Bushra are like many carers. Carers UK’s research shows that 77% of carers are financially worse off since caring. 74% were struggling to pay essential bills, including phone bills and 54% were in debt as a result of trying to manage. And yet, people providing care, unpaid, save the state a staggering £87 billion a year. They cannot afford extra costs when they are already struggling to make ends meet.

If this has got you thinking more about the possibility of reducing Mobile Termination Rates then visit the main campaign site to sign the petition.