Phone pest

Fajita_face

My mother is terminally ill and has been in a lot of debt in the past. She has been called today by her old mobile phone company (not sure if I am allowed to say their name) and told that she still owes £750 for a phone contract that she took out for a friend (unwise I know). Her friend has refused to pay and so it falls on her.

The women on the phone is dictating that she pay £80 a month which she simply cannot afford now that she is too sick to work.

She also said that if my mum does not call her back within 5 days she will put her number on to an automated calling system which will call her twice a day until she responds?!

What I need to know is can she dictate how much she pays back? She lives in rented accommodation and has no money to her name. The only possession she owns is a tv.

I could really do with some help or advice in how to approach this one as my mum really could do without the stress.

Thanks in advance.

DUTR

Let them take her to court the court will state what is payable, the company will have to accept that, they will also have to accept that they may never get all of what is owed if your relative is as ill as you suggest.

tyllwyd

You should post on the Debt Free Wannabee board - your mum should probably go to a debt charity like stepchange or payplan or to citizens advice.

gjchester

Fajita_face wrote: »

Her friend has refused to pay and so it falls on her.

If the contract is still running you need to minimise the ongoing cost.


If you can cancel it without incurring fee's do that, if you can't report the phone stolen , and cancel the sim and request a new one.


It may be the network has already done this but it should at least stop a large bill being run up through calls and data usage, even if the monthly contacted charge is payable.


Unfortunately legally your mum is liable, but she may wish to consider legal action against the friend, but we are not in a position to know the circumstances to know if that's a worthwhile path to take.

Fajita_face

In truth there is no time for going after her friend. She has less than a year to live so it's just about trying to sort thins out so she isn't worrying about the repercussions for me at the moment. I will try and find out if it is cancelled though as I hadn't even considered that she could still be using it.

forgotmyname

Offer then £2.50 a month or tell them to take you to court.

Thats the best you can do. Just say if you dont want the £2.50 you can put it towards the bankruptcy.

Also tell them to stop hassling you by phone and only correspond by letter. Then say you are recording this call and to stop harassing you. Contact in writing only.

If you can record the call then thats great. But tell them you are either way.

macman

Fajita_face wrote: »

In truth there is no time for going after her friend. She has less than a year to live so it's just about trying to sort thins out so she isn't worrying about the repercussions for me at the moment. I will try and find out if it is cancelled though as I hadn't even considered that she could still be using it.

Sorry to hear about your Mum. There are no 'repercussions' for you, any debts left after she passes away are owed by the estate, not by you, and if there are no assets, then there is nothing to recover.
But as stated above, she needs to report the phone to the provider as being out of her possession and get it blocked immediately, otherwise there is unlimited liability for any usage of it until then-not just the monthly charge.
I wouldn't offer any payment, because that will just encourage them to come back for more. She will eventually get a CCJ, but this is presumably not a concern in the circumstances.

robbies_gal

definitely report it stolen the friend refuses to pay so they dhoulsnt be allowd to use it imo

MataNui

Firstly please dont worry about this. It would be a good idea to report the phone as stolen to get it blocked to prevent costs building up as the debt will still stand until her estate is settled but there will be no come back on you or your mum.

You dont need to pay them a penny at the moment. What will happen is the phone company will place a default on your mums credit file then pass the debt to a debt collection agency. The agency will then try to contact your mum and may be persistent or even harass and threaten but you can ignore them. The only person they can chase is your mum, you have no liability at all for any part of the debt and they dont have any powers to collect cash or seize assets. I dont want to appear blunt of unfeeling but by the time it comes to court (and it very rarely does) which would enable them to seize assets, your mum wont be around to worry about it.

The one thing you need to be aware of though is that if your mum has any assets etc, then when she passes debts need to settled before you or other relatives get any inheritance. If there are not enough assets to cover all debts\liabilities then the value of the assets must be split pro-rata to cover as much of the debt as possible. This is a legitimate debt so would need to be settled at that time. Once your mums estate is settled then that is the end of the matter whether the debt ended being payed in full or not at all. Nothing will come back to you.

grumbler

See this MSE news for some information: 'Bullying' bank ordered to pay up for harassing customer: Know your rights

Then re-post on Debt-Free Wannabe board for more advice.

Silk

MataNui wrote: »

The one thing you need to be aware of though is that if your mum has any assets etc, then when she passes debts need to settled before you or other relatives get any inheritance. If there are not enough assets to cover all debts\liabilities then the value of the assets must be split pro-rata to cover as much of the debt as possible. This is a legitimate debt so would need to be settled at that time. Once your mums estate is settled then that is the end of the matter whether the debt ended being payed in full or not at all. Nothing will come back to you.

There are no assets only a TV

The Op has the same thread running on Debt Free Wanabee https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4843720=
Also on the Consumer section
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4843742=