This is a guest post from the folks at www.simsonlydeals.co.uk/ which looks at sim only issues. Whilst we usually blog about car and vehicle related issues we thought that as all vehicle drivers and people generally use mobile phones that this would be an informative post that our readers would find useful.

Sim Card Contracts

There are two main types of sim card plans available in the UK. Let us take a look first at the monthly contract option. With a monthly contract you are locked into a certain amount of minutes with a set payment per month. If you go over those minutes you are charged for the additional minutes. The contract is usually set up on a yearly basis, though you may find something for six months to 24 months. A contract is often cheaper per minute because the company knows you are in a contract and will have to pay the amount or pay for breaking the contract. In either case the phone service provider gets the money for the contract. It is the least flexible option when you are changing providers, but keeping your phone.

Pay as you go options with SIM only deals are highly flexible. They make the most sense if you have yet to find a phone service provider that you are happy with. A pay as you go sim only plan provides you with a set amount of minutes for 30 days of use. You can use the minutes up before 30 days and purchase more for an additional 30 days. However, you cannot let the pay as you go minutes lapse beyond 30 days as you will lose them with most phone providers.

Since you pay in advance for the minutes, the phone will not allow you to make a call unless you pay for a new plan or pay for the amount of minutes you feel you will use. You are not locked into a contract with the provider. Instead, you are sent a SIM card for that provider which you put in the phone and then use the minutes. At the end when all the minutes have been used you can switch providers.

Even if you are happy with the phone provider it can make sense to stay on a pay as you go plan. Often times with SIM only deals you get to take advantage of special promotions. In other words, you may spend less on pay as you go plans because of the special deals available. One month you may go with Vodafone, but in the next month Orange may have a better SIM only plan.

This is why you should compare the available options out there in order to determine what is best for you. If you are searching for the perfect mobile phone provider checking out each one with a SIM only deal and then signing a contract is still an option.