Unfair mobile phone bill

Mentor88

Hi folks,

I am mentoring a 21 year old mentally disabled man who recently took out a contract mobile phone. He proceeded to use it to ring all sorts of premium numbers and tv numbers to clock up a £5,000 bill. The phone company wants him to pay it off at £30 per week (which is half his cleaning wage) and it will take him probably four years to pay off - all for one months use that he could never have evaluated or made a reasonable decision about.

Where can I go and how can I complain to ensure that the phone company act in a responsible manner and help to sort out the problem/

Many thanks

Charlie

grumbler

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/mental-health-guide ?

Wintermute

The problem is they legally can't refuse him credit (or a contract) because he's mentally disabled as that would be discrimination. He legally owes the money and the best you can really hope for is a goodwill reduction.

lucylucky

Sorry to hear about the predicament, although the phone bill is not really "unfair" as far as I can tell.

grumbler

I am no expert, but if what you say is correct, the law seems to be very stupid. They cannot refuse, he spends through the nose, but cannot pay?

In fact they can refuse a credit to anybody without giving any reasons. Not that this can help you in any way.
IMHO such people have to be allowed to get only PAYG deals.

keith1950

Its the same as giving a mobile phone to a child, if the user is not capable of responsibly using it and doesn't have any one to accept responsibility then they should not be allowed to use them. They have run up the debt so why try to wriggle out of paying it. The rest of us end up paying for this sort of behaviour.The phone company are acting in a responsible manner by recovering the debt,there is nothing to sort out. I do hope you have confiscated the phone!!

grumbler

keith1950 wrote: »

...The phone company are acting in a responsible manner by recovering the debt,...

Were they acting in a responsible manner by selling a contract with unlimited credit in the first place?

Having said that I don't know if it possible for lenders to get the information required if they want to get it. It's a pity if some stupid law disallows such information to be supplied to any lender interested in getting it.

Techhead_2

Surely, if there is a complaint it should be directed against whoever is the guardian and didn't notice him taking out a mobile phone and running up and bill.

Or if he is considered capable of running his own affairs, then its his responsibility.

Perhaps the best way of helping him would be to seek a re-assessment of his care and have the professionals sort out a plan.

kazwookie

Maybe the contract needs to be cancelled, and a PAYG bought instead with £x per month put on it once it has gone its goen till the next month.

Techhead_2

grumbler wrote: »

Were they acting in a responsible manner by selling a contract with unlimited credit in the first place?

Having said that I don't know if it possible for lenders to get the information required if they want to get it. It's a pity if some stupid law disallows such information to be supplied to any lender interested in getting it.

Is the phone company qualified to make a decision as to a persons mental or physical health ? I don't think they are, they can make a decision about extending a form of credit but not whether the person has the ability to make a proper decision for themselves.

moonrakerz

There are far too many people who want "equality" for all without realising what may ensue.

As has already been said, the phone company would probably have been acting illegally to refuse him a contract. They also have a legal duty to maximise the return for their shareholders - writing off debts does not comply with that.
What do they do ? They are damned either way !

The thread title uses the word "unfair" - it certainly is - on the phone company ............