Hubby lost his job - can he get out of his 18 month orange contract?

tweedledee78

Hi all,
This is my first post so hope it's in the right place....
My husband has just recently lost his job and has made a claim for jobseekers allowance. He is approx 6 months into an 18 month orange contract which costs minimum £25/month, and quite simply we can't afford to keep it going - any ideas how to get out of the contract. We have a massive overdraft, credit card bill plus owe parents money too so in a bit of a pickle at the minute...any help or advice appreciated, thanks.

DaveLy

You may be able to downgrade once per month upto a certain level but certainly not cancel.

Perhaps posting your SOA (statement of affairs) on the correct board and get a help with what else you could cut down on.

keith1950

Hi, sorry to hear about your situation but basically the answer is no.
Same thing happened to me a few years ago and when I rang to ask they said the only way to end contract would be to pay the outstanding contract.So in your case that would be a one off payment of 12x£25= £300, which means you might as well struggle on and ring to reduce the tariff when you reach the qualifying period.

Browntoa

if the contract phone is a good model it MAY raise enough money if you sold it to CEX/Cashgenerators/Cashconvertors to pay off the remainder of the contract

Edinburghlass_2

Have a look on the Debt Free Wanna board here..

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

and try the Old Style board for trimming your food bills..

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

newfoundglory

1. investigate when you can "downgrade" the package to a cheaper one.
2. you may be able to sell the contract on to someone else (but remember, you may have to pay them to take if off your hands - so you may make a short-term loss but at least you get rid of the contract)

tweedledee78

thanks all for your replies, think we will go down the route of trying to downgrade the package....still waiting on result of jobseekers and tax credits claim then will be straight on debt free wannabe board doing a SOA.

Thanks again all

surfgeek

your best option is to take good financial advise. If your outgoings are more than you income clearly you need to act now. I would strongly recommend cccs, they are free and a charity so will not charge for advise or help managing your affairs. cccs.co.uk good luck

simax

You can downgrade to a lower plan after the first half of the contract has elapsed, however on an 18 month contract, £25 is the lowest plan available.

Hope he falls on good fortune soon