Can a Bankrupt sign up to a mobile phone contract?

markbass

Just wondered if being bankrupt prevents me from taking out a mobile phone contract?

cheers Mark

jamesb1239

markbass wrote: »

Just wondered if being bankrupt prevents me from taking out a mobile phone contract?

cheers Mark

No it doesnt as you are not taking more than £500 of credit, but if the company asks you have to inform them that you are BR. I recently got one with Orange whilst subject to a DRO, if you cant get a standard contract with phone then try for a sim only deal.

philnicandamy

Its doubtful you'll pass a credit check while bankruptcy sits on your credit files for 6yrs..as Jamesb1239 if you cant get a standard contract then try t-mobile/O2 or even three for a rolling 30 day contract (they seem to give these to bankrupts and if you can keep the account in good standing pay ontime etc they "might" even consider upgrade to a full contract in 6mnths or so..

Tinytim

As phil says, t-mobile do a sim only contract which both I and my OH were accepted on The sim only cotracts are far better value than PAYG - our have 300 minutes and unlimited texts for £15. The best thing about the sim only contracts is that if you exceed the minutes/texts, you can't build up a bill - it simply becomes PAYG for the rest of the month. The only disadvantage is that they do not permt non-geographical numbers in the included minutes such as 0800 and 0845, so I topped up with £5 to cover these, and still have credit after 3 months. If you have a compatible phone, you can even access the internet at £1 a day from your PAYG balance.

jonathon01

What about if you took out a contract of say £30/month for 24 months? Does this constitute taking out more than £500 credit as the total minimum obligation is £600?

tigerfeet2006

You can take out more than £500 credit as long as you tell the creditor you are a BR.

jonathon01

Yes, but does the example I gave constitute taking credit of more than £500?!

dojoman

My friends daughter who works for o2 and is in an IVA, cannot take a contract out due to her failing the credit check. Therefore as Phil says, there is very little chance of a BR passing the credit check either so really it is a non starter.

Minxz

Oooh.. this has made me think- what about current phone contracts?
I have a T mobile contract, that has another 10 months to run- so do I phone them and tell them I'm br? I didn't include them in the BR as I am not in arrears etc, so are they likely to stop my contract? And if they do.. what happens to the next 10 months payments, will they want it back?!

tigerfeet2006

If you are not in arrears and want to keep it then just carry on as normal. No need to let them know.

Johnathon I would say, yes you would have to inform them as you are signing an agreement for that ammount but as has been pointed out they credit check you anyway and you would fail it because of the BR.

jonathon01

If you were to sign a new contract immediately after you had been declared bankrupt then the marker would not yet show on your credit report. I guess, to play it safe, and avoid potentially being reprimanded for obtaining credit of over £500 without declaring BR, then you just have to make sure that your minimum commitment (monthly repayments x term) doesn't exceed £500.