Mobile stolen abroad

rev_henry

Posting on behalf of a friend here, whose phone was stolen from him whilst in Spain last week. He filed a police report there, as it being lost, and his mother has since had a bill for £900 or £2000 (not sure quite what's going on there but those are the numbers he's mentioned). Anyway I said I'd try and sort it. Thus far his mother has spoken to O2 who have advised writing in and pleading their case, that is all.

They simply don't have that kind of money, well, ANY money to be perfectly honest. Any advice please?

My first thoughts are CAB and his uni legal service which I'm sure must exist...

daindian

Did he inform O2 of it being stolen??

DUTR

Good luck with sorting it out, it's amazing howmany have their phandsets go missing only to find they have a massive bill, as I understand the calls are laible at least up until the sim was reported missing, perhaps they may get a payment plan to clear the balance. In future it is best for your friend to adopt all the hinderance features such as pin/sim locks or better yet store the phone in a secure place.

rev_henry

He did not realise it was stolen, merely lost, until this bill came through, so as far as I know only filed a local police lost property report. Would his travel insurance cover him?

gjchester

rev_henry wrote: »

He did not realise it was stolen, merely lost, until this bill came through, so as far as I know only filed a local police lost property report. Would his travel insurance cover him?

His insurance may cover him, but he'll be liable for all calls made until the phone was reported as stolen. He may be able to work out a repayment plan with the network or get a good will reductions but it's at the networks discression.

Closing the door after the horse has bolted but a SIM and phone PIN would have prevented this.

rev_henry

Some more details now, apparently the phone was stolen in the early hours of Monday, and reported to police that morning. If the calls were made after that time, is it possible he won't be liable?

Tony5101

I believe that he'll be liable for the call charges up until the time that the phone was reported stolen to the network.

horace_2

[QUOTE=rev_henry;discussion/4058241]Posting on behalf of a friend here, whose phone was stolen from him whilst in Spain last week. He filed a police report there, as it being lost, and his mother has since had a bill for £900 or £2000 (not sure quite what's going on there but those are the numbers he's mentioned). Anyway I said I'd try and sort it. Thus far his mother has spoken to O2 who have advised writing in and pleading their case, that is all.

They simply don't have that kind of money, well, ANY money to be perfectly honest. Any advice please?

My first thoughts are CAB and his uni legal service which I'm sure must exist...[/QUOTE]

In Spain? No money? Please pull the other leg.

h

zagfles

gjchester wrote: »

Closing the door after the horse has bolted but a SIM and phone PIN would have prevented this.

Yes, too late for the OP's friend but it's about time people started realising that having a contract mobile without a SIM and phone PIN lock is as bad, or even worse, than writing your PIN number on your bank cards.

Mobile thieves know exactly what they're doing and can probably run up a bigger bill on a stolen mobile than they could spend or withdraw with a stolen bank card.

Forwandert

rev_henry wrote: »

Some more details now, apparently the phone was stolen in the early hours of Monday, and reported to police that morning. If the calls were made after that time, is it possible he won't be liable?

He will be liable for all calls until he notified the o2 the phone was stolen. Anything they take off the bill will be goodwill.

You mention his mother has received the bill, is the contract in her name?

NFH

If he lost his credit or debit card, would he likewise not report it to the bank to ensure it is blocked? Why did he not do the same with the SIM card? Sorry to be blunt, but this was negligent.