Many of us here in the UK will know someone that unfortunately has become a victim of 'bill-shock'. This is when an unsuspecting consumer goes on holiday and uses their mobile phone as normal. Unaware of the cost when calling, texting and using data whilst abroad, which is is also known as data roaming. On their return they will receive their monthly bill and instead of it calculating to around £30 for example it may be in the hundreds. In Australia there has been reports of charges that ended up costing several consumers over £1000. Which were obviously contested and complaints were made.

If you were to become victim of such a thing would you know what to do?, the first step involved will be to contact your service provider. It is important to not only check if the bill is correct but also ensure that there has not been any miscalculations that have caused the bill to be incorrect.

It is important that a letter is sent with the reasons for disputing the bill, this should include a photocopy of the bill. Most providers have a number that can be called from a handset which will not cost any money.

The second step involves complaining further by contacting the Ombudsman or the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS). If there has been several months of back and forth with the service provider and no progress is being made then its vital that communicating to a third party is sought. Ombudsman Services and the CISAS exist to provide dispute resolution for the communications, energy, property and copyright licensing industries. This service is completely free for all UK consumers that have a problem that needs resolution. They have also been approved by the UK communications industry regulator Ofcom.

Fortunately for consumers here in the UK and in Europe there has been new roaming regulations passed by the European Parliament that will help protect consumers against these expensive bills, and seek to increase the affordability of roaming throughout Europe. Australia have also been discussing the possibility of introducing similar measures.

The new proposals were introduced in July, 2012. The benefits included:

• A new cap in place to limit the cost of calls, texting and using mobile data whilst roaming in the EU.

• Providers to increase transparency on charges and costs.

• Calling when in another country is to be reduced to €0.19 by 2014.

• The cost of using mobile data when in another country will be capped at €0.20 per megabyte by 2014

• The cost of using text messaging will also drop to €0.06 in 2014.

Its recommended to conduct plenty of research before planning on using your mobile phone in another country. Its recommended to consider other options such as strictly using Wi-Fi or consider using an international SIM card, for example.

Whatever option you chose, remember that calling back home or having friends calls you whilst at the other side of the planet should no longer cost the earth. Whether cheap calls to Spain, USA, India, Great Britain or free calls via Wi-Fi or Voice Over internet Protocol (VoIP) don't be caught out with exorbitant bills during your next trip.