A cap on mobile phone bills run up by thieves after handsets are stolen will bring relief to millions of consumers, campaigners say.
Five service providers - EE, O2, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone - say the £100 cap will be activated providing the phone is reported lost or stolen within 24 hours of it going missing.
Consumer groups welcomed the move which they said would protect victims of crime from the added frustration of receiving huge bills.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: "Victims of phone crime should not be paying excessive bills run up by thieves.
"A cap on bills from stolen mobile phones will come as much-needed relief to consumers targeted by phone fraudsters. Citizens Advice has been calling for a cap to be put in place after helping consumers landed with bills as high as £23,000.
"We will be keeping a close eye on the phone providers' caps to see if they do really protect phone crime victims from the worst bills."
Among other measures to protect consumers the five firms have drawn up a code of conduct which will oblige them to:
:: Provide clear pricing information and alerts when consumers reach data bundle limits.
:: Provide information on how to avoid roaming charges.
:: Provide a barring function so users can protect themselves against unauthorised or inadvertent calls to premium rate services and in-app purchases.
Kip Meek, of EE, said: "We advise customers to protect their phone as they would their wallet and make full use of the security features, including SIM lock.
"If a phone is lost or stolen, however, it is crucial customers let us know as soon as possible - we have a 24 hour hotline so customers can report loss or theft at any time."
An O2 spokesman said: "This cap builds on the safety and security advice we already give to customers and should provide additional peace of mind if their phone goes missing."
Mark Bond, customer operations director at Vodafone UK, said: "We will continue to do everything we can to protect customers from theft and believe our new cap will improve our customers' experience at what can be a upsetting time."
Hamish MacLeod, chair of the Mobile Broadband Group, said: "This announcement is a major new protection for customers and is in line with the industry's long standing commitment to help our customers protect their mobile and its contents."
Ed Vaizey, Minister for the Digital Economy, said: "By working with the mobile operators, we have secured an agreement that will provide consumers with real benefits as well as offer peace of mind."
It comes as the number of smartphone thefts has plummeted thanks to so-called kill switches.
Apple, Samsung and Google have all implemented techniques for owners to effectively render a phone useless if it is stolen. As a result, smartphone thefts have fallen by half in London.
London Mayor Boris Johnson added: "We have made real progress in tackling the smartphone theft epidemic that was affecting many major cities just two years ago."
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