Stolen phones and contracts

whizzing

My son has had a mobile for years and has had them on contract for the past 3 years or so. He is careful with it and has never lost it or had it stolen. He now needs a new one but won't be living at home from August.
The salesman told him that if he has a phone on contract and it gets stolen he will have to pay for the rest of the contract life and won't be able to use the contract i.e with a new handset. Is this true or is the salesman just trying to sell him insurance. The contract is £25 a month with a free handset and to insure it would be another £8 a month. Should he just get a pay as you go incase it is stolen. I can't justify £33 a month. I thought what would happen if it was stolen was you would have to buy another handset and they would cancel your sim, give you a new sim and maybe charge an admin fee or charge you for usage between losing it and cancelling. Can someone tell me what does happen and should you look for this in the terms and conditions?

Astec

Your right, the sales rep is trying it on. You may need to pay for a replacement sim, prehaps £15-20 max, and wouldn't get a replacement phone free.

You won't be able to cancel the contract, but you can still use it. Only other thing to bear in mind is that you are liable for all calls until it is reported stolen.

Personally I've had a mobile over 10 years, never lost one and only broken one once. At £8 a month, I've saved about £1000....

RisingJoe

right..

what i think the salesperson is meaning is:

Phone on contract is

£xx Per month + £8 Insurance


If you have to claim on insurance then you will have ot carry on paying the £8 insurance for the rest of the contract (like car insurance) if you dont claim and you decide you dont want the insurance then you can at any point.

if you claim and recieve a new handset, then the old (lost or stolen one) will be unusable nad locked by the operater deeming it "unusable.

you will still have a replacement handset and able ot use the contract as normal

Hoep that helps.

mchale

Its also worth have the security pin number activated on yr phone, so you have to put yr code in when you switch it on

hieveryone

I thought it read like the salesman said even if the phone gets stolen the lad will still need to pay for the rest of the contract, which is correct.

You also don't need to continue having the insurance if you don't want it, you can cancel at any point.

On a contract most operators will give you the first replacement sim card for free, and you can keep the same number even if it is stolen.

esuhl

Whatever happens, you have to pay the line rental till the contract is up. If you lose the phone, you can buy another one and get a replacement SIM from the network operator. You may have to pay a small charge for this, and will probably be liable for any calls made until you reported the phone lost/stolen.

Personally, I'd activate the phone lock & SIM lock (so you enter a code when you turn the phone on or unlock the keys), maybe get the network to set a £100/month credit limit, and then put £8/month in a jar. Hopefully, if you ever lose the phone and need a new one, you'll have a few quid in the jar to offset (or cover) the cost.

I had insurance for my first phone. The salesman said I had accidental damage cover, but when I tried to claim and read the small-print I found that I was not covered. I rarely buy insurance now (except when I couldn't cover a loss - like on a house or car) and ALWAYS read every letter of the small print first!

hieveryone

esuhl wrote: »

maybe get the network to set a £100/month credit limit,

Bear in mind not all networks will do this for you.