Can you transfer a mobile phone contract into someone elses name?

Freebie_Hunter_2 · 1 January 2010 at 12:35AM

Hi folks, wonder if anyone can help me here?

Had a panicky phonecall from a friend earlier. She took out a 2yr mobile phone contract for her boyfriend when she upgraded her phone last week at vodafone. Apparently he can't get a contract himself (not sure why, didn't ask as it's none of my business).

In a nutshell, it looks like the relationship may come to an end as there's strong evidence that he's straying. Apparently her boyfriend can't get a mobile phone contract and she's really upset as she feels like she is now stuck for 2yrs with this contract.
He's not malicious so is unlikely to run up a phonebill, but I have heard that some companies will transfer mobile contracts over. Any ideas?
I know his Mum would do this as she's a very reasonable woman.

(Not that I have to justify her actions, but for those who are bound to say that she was stupid etc yada yada....they are in a very serious & long term relationship. What she did was no different to what any partner would do to help out a loved one & she'd have no reason to think that it could have gone this way.)

marksaver · 1 January 2010 at 12:45AM

To transfer a phone contract across requires the person they're transferring it to to have a good credit rating, so her boyfriend wouldn't be able to get the contract owing to this.

If she upgraded over the phone, she may be able to return the phone and cancel the contract under Distance Selling Regulations, call the customer services team to check and for full details.

Failing that, call Vodafone to check your options. There are a lot of different things that change whether the account is eligible.

Freebie_Hunter_2 · 1 January 2010 at 1:21AM

Thanks Mark. She upgraded it in-store so the distance selling regs wouldn't come into it & it's unlikely that he'd give up the phone!
I did say that the store is the best place to go for advice but it's only happened in the last few hours. Just wanted something to put her mind at rest.

marksaver · 1 January 2010 at 1:29AM

There's certainly no need for her to worry unduly, especially at the New Year. Even if Voda won't let her change the name on the account, they should certainly let her change it so the Direct Debit will come out of his, or his mothers account, which would be enough to make sure she wasn't unnecessarily encumbered with fees.

Retail are most likely closed tomorrow (I know we certainly are), but tell her not to worry. Whilst the network will require contract completion, they are sympathetic to this kind of situation, and if he ever does start going over or abusing the contract, she will be able to report the SIM as lost and block it entirely so he can't anymore.

Re. him not wanting to give up the phone, if she can't come to any kind of solution re. him paying the bills, the phone remains her legal property, so she shouldn't feel she "owes" him the phone if he won't keep up her side of the bargain.

PM me once you have specifics if you need more advice, and have a great New Year!

Can you transfer a mobile phone contract into someone elses name?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free