Can't pay bill due to being jobless

lee8040

Hi what would happen if you are unable to pay your monthly line rental due to being jobless but could t afford the huge fines for an outstanding contract? It's with t-mobile and I've written and nice polite letter explaining but not had a response

mije1983

Your credit rating would be shot, and they may sell the debt to a debt collection agency.

T-Mobile may well come to some sort of arrangement with you regarding a payment plan or even a downgrade of your tariff, but you would still owe the money.

If it is a desirable phone then maybe you could try and sell it to pay off some of the debt, and pick up a cheap £10 one?

Earthworm

You will be chased for debt through the normal collections routes. I would advise quickly selling the handset ASAP and paying it to T-Mobile to limit any outstanding balance.

lee8040

It's an iPhone 4 when I phoned about 5 months ago they wanted £600 to cancel early

Buzby

Sell the iPhone ASAP, downgrade the tariff (if they allow it). Use the money to pay off the bills as they arrive using a cheap phone and the same SIM.

Your change in circumstances is not a valid reason to cancel without fault.

mije1983

The cancellation fee is usually your monthly price x the number of months left.

An iPhone 4 seems to be around £150 - £200 on average on eBay. If you could sell it that would be a large chunk of the termination fee paid off.

keith1950

Hi, you don't know what's going to happen over the next few months......you may get a job so sell the phone for as much as possible and use the £200 or so to keep up the monthly payments for the time being.

As has been said about , if you walk away from this your credit rating will be trashed.

lee8040

Think I'm gonna sell then use it to pay my monthly bill off each month. Hopefully I'll get a new job soon

MillicentBystander

One of the many reasons why 24 month mobile contracts are a very bad idea....

keith1950

Not necessarily, the problem is people going for the most expensive mobiles ending up paying £40+ per month just to get the phone free.

If you work out what tariff you would actually use and act sensibly it is possible to get affordable deals.

For instance, the Tesco £7.50/month for 500 mins/5000texts and 500mb data with a budget smartphone and you can also cap the usage for children.

It can work out cheaper than some sim only deals.