Mobile phone company error results in £1500 debt!

Jess10_2

Hi,
My partner has recently been informed by his mobile phone company that he owes them £1,500 as he has not paid his direct debit for 3 years! This came as a complete shock to him as he has been receiving bills and emails every month from the company stating how much they were debiting his account.
It turns out that half way through his contract, the company mixed up his bank details with another customer, who has only just realised that he has being paying 2 phone bills for the last 3 years!

My partner is now left with a huge bill that he cannot possibly pay all in one go (even though the company are insisting he do this) all because the company have made a big error in mixing up the bank account details on their customer profiles.

Does anybody know what my partner's rights are? Surely this is THEIR error and he should pay the money (if any!) back at his convenience?
The latest offer from the phone company is dropping the full amount by 20%, but he would need to pay up in 10 months - which is still impossible with his financial situation.
If anyone can offer any advice or help with this situation it would be much appreciated!
Thanks

Jon_01

The obvious question is, why didn't he notice that the monthly contract fee wasn't being taken from his acc?

Jess10_2

He was receiving a monthly bill in the post and a monthly email stating his account was being debited - why check his account? Surely the bills are a confirmation that the the account is being debited!
I know I don't check my account monthly for every direct debit set up....

robt_2

Jess10 wrote: »

He was receiving a monthly bill in the post and a monthly email stating his account was being debited - why check his account? Surely the bills are a confirmation that the the account is being debited!
I know I don't check my account monthly for every direct debit set up....

Well you should for exactly this reason.

I'm sorry but not noticing your direct debit has not been taken for three years is just absurd.

jimbms

Although the company is in error it can still ask for payment but it cannot ask for any interest or aditional amounts and if I remember correctly, (you will have to check with CAB on this), they can only request at most you pay a monthly amount equal to the average monthly amount covering the period they was in error. Now what you could consider is offering to pay twice that amount or more and still ask for a discount otherwise insist on paying the minimum allowed. They know they have messed up and so long as you say you will pay over time they know they cannot issue any kind of default.

HopeAndDriftWood

Did he not notice that he had the extra money?
Anyway, if they are willing to offer 20% off, I'd try to pay it within 10 months. Work out how much that is per month, and how much you can afford, and see if there are ways you can make up the difference.
If not, you could try to get a credit card or loan to cover the amount, and see if they will give you a higher percent off if you pay faster, but obviously this will depend on your credit rating.
Final option, fill out an SOA honestly and send it to them. They'll see how much he can reasonably be expected to pay, and probably accept this.

Kaos_2

Although some people may find it hard to comprehend, I can see how easy it would be to not notice the lack of debits from the bank account bearing in mind he was receiving bills etc. Many of us have lots of direct debits going out each month (for me... rent, water, gas, electric, TV, broadband, landline, mobile x2, 2 subscriptions, CC, savings and more) and if a smallish one of those suddenly stopped (say, for me, a subscription) I don't think I would notice for several months, if at all! As long as I was still receiving the goods/service and also getting bills saying I was paying by DD, I would have no reason to doubt that I was paying!

I'm sorry I can't help with the query, I'm sure someone qualified will come along but I just wanted to say that because I think there will be a lot of people who can't comprehend a missing payment being overlooked

Edit: It just occured to me to think about the other customer who had been paying 2 bills for 3 years... now that is something I WOULD notice.. the same company debiting twice a month from my account, lol!

Jess10_2

Thanks for the responses.
I'm aware it may appear 'absurd' to not notice, but when it's £30 a month and he was receiving confirmation, there was no need for him to check.
Anyway, don't want to debate whether or not he should've noticed, the fact is he didn't and I really want to help relieve him of the huge stress he is feeling with this.
Thanks Jimbms - I will suggest to him your advice on taking the average monthly payment.
And thanks to Saucysecrets - He would do as they ask just to sort it out, but this monthly payment is too high with his additional costs.
I am of the opinion that this is totally their error - their mistake thorugh botching up the bank account details and he should be able to pay £5 a month back, no matter how long it takes! I thought others would agree?? Maybe I'm just feeling angry and naive

Jess10_2

Thanks Kaos!
You have summed up in your response exactly why he didn't realise - and additionally adding another customer didn't know they had 2 bills coming out their account for three years shows that it's easy to do!!

Kaos_2

It may be useful to go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau, taking with you all paperwork etc, as they should be able to give advice and maybe even liaise on your behalf.

Fifer

Jess10 wrote: »

Surely the bills are a confirmation that the the account is being debited!

Obviously not or the situation wouldn't have arisen.

Jess10 wrote: »

I know I don't check my account monthly for every direct debit set up....

Too late now for him now, but we check our account every week as a minimum against all our DDs (22 each month), withdrawals and deposits. Might be an idea to start doing so? Once bitten ...