READ SMALL PRINT in mobile phone insurance contracts

Herongull

You can get 150 minutes, 150 texts and 400 minutes free each month with Ovivo (PAYG), so very few people needs a contract these days.

If you need more, you can buy additional bundles.

So unless you use ridiculously high amounts of minutes or texts or data, PAYG is much cheaper than a contract.

easy

tyllwyd wrote: »

My daughter had a PAYG phone, but as she got older and started using it a bit more, it got very expensive (texts went up to 14p each, so even 100 texts over a month was £14, which is way more than a cheap contract). We've gone to a capped Tesco contract which fingers crossed will keep costs under control.

We have gone exactly the same way. My son has a Tesco capped contract which offers him OOOOODLES of texts, minutes and data for £7.50 per month. It is capped (he hasn't got near using up his limits yet, but apparently can buy top-ups if he does, which is ace), but we also sat him down and talked to him about using the phone responsibly. He knows that the contract is a privilege, he understands that it is costing his parents £90 per year, he knows that if his phone is lost or damaged thru carelessness he will have to find money to replace it. He also understands that he can't have an iphone or an S3 because it is inappropriate for a 13 year-old to be walking around with that sort of valuable tech.
Our son also set up the sim and lock pins on his phone when he got it (christmas day).

Herongull's oft-repeated warnings about giving teens contract-phones are all very well, but how do we teach young people to take responsibility for themselves, if we never give them the opportunity to do so??

Herongull

easy wrote: »

how do we teach young people to take responsibility for themselves, if we never give them the opportunity to do so??

By far the best way of teaching teens to take responsibility with a mobile phone is to put them on PAYG.

PAYG means they have to make choices and handle a budget. The more money they spend on the mobile phone, the less money is available for them to spend on other things.

They can save money on the mobile phone by:

Using wifi instead of data, using Whatapp instead of texting and using Viber while on wifi instead of minutes.

If you give teens this sort of responsibility you are giving them valuable life skills for the future.

easy

Herongull wrote: »

They can save money on the mobile phone by:

Using wifi instead of data, using Whatapp instead of texting and using Viber while on wifi instead of minutes.

And they can save their contract allowances by exactly the same methods.

I know that some folk have posted on here about disastrously huge bills incurred by their teenage progeny. But you shouldn't assume that everyone under the age of 25 is equally stupid/irresponsible.

The approach of saying "never allow a teenager to have a contract phone" is akin to insisting that all cars should have a speed limiter which stops them driving above 30mph just because some drivers exceed speed limits.

tyllwyd

Complaints about mobile phone insurance are on the news today
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/21692500

The story they've featured shows someone paying £12 per month for mobile phone insurance - did she not think of shopping around??