My phone line has a fault

Sometimes you may find that your phone isn't working as you expect and seems to have a fault. Here are some basic steps you can take to find out what's going on.

1. Troubleshooting steps
2. Priority repair service

Troubleshooting steps

1. Check the telephone cable has not been caught and pulled out of the socket. This can happen without you realising and is easy to miss - if it's loose, this can also cause crackling.
    
2. Check your telephones
    
   • Do the batteries need replacing?
      
   • Are all of your handsets on the hook?
      
   • Is there a problem with just one of your phones or all of them? If it's just one, it's likely that handset is faulty and will need returning to the place you bought it. You can test this by plugging in a spare phone or trying your phone at a neighbours home to see if it has the same issue.
      
3. Unplug all of your wiring and equipment (Sky, Fax machines, extension leads, etc) from your sockets and try again with just the phone plugged in.
    
4. Try plugging your phone into the NTE test socket as this will help you work out where the issue is. You can find help on how to plug your phone into the NTE test socket here.
    
5. If you've followed all of the steps above and the problem still persists, please call our network faults line free from a KCOM landline by dialling 151 (or 01482 602151 from any other phone), this is a 24/7 service for reporting a phone fault.

Priority repair service

If you're unable to leave your house due to a disability or illness, a telephone becomes a vital lifeline. We offer a free priority repair service for customers who may be at risk in the unlikely event of a fault occurring on their line.

If you wish to know more about our priority repair service for vulnerable customers, please visit our contact us page.