Contract phone for a minor

simon123

Hi all, need a bit of advice please. I know this question was asked before but can't find it in the forums.

My girlfriends brother has a contract phone with virgin which he's had for a few months. Problem is he in only 17 (stupid of him to get I know, but being naive at that age is the reason you can't get a mobile contract!)

Anyway, he's stuffed and has no real way of paying for it.


He applied online and obviously didn't verify his age. He added his DOB with two years put on to make him 18.
He's not a fraudster, just did something silly.

He's called Virgin and told them he's 17 but they say he has to honour the contract.

Now I know that a minor can't enter into a credit contract in this country so in effect I'm guessing the contract is void. My issue is that he falsely put an incorrect date of birth on his application.

My question is can he get out of this contract and should mobile phone companies be doing more to protect children from getting into these messes?

Thanks

Glass_Half_Empty??

simon123 wrote: »

Hi all, need a bit of advice please. I know this question was asked before but can't find it in the forums.

My girlfriends brother has a contract phone with virgin which he's had for a few months. Problem is he in only 17 (stupid of him to get I know, but being naive at that age is the reason you can't get a mobile contract!)

Anyway, he's stuffed and has no real way of paying for it.


He applied online and obviously didn't verify his age. He added his DOB with two years put on to make him 18.
He's not a fraudster, just did something silly.

He's called Virgin and told them he's 17 but they say he has to honour the contract.

Now I know that a minor can't enter into a credit contract in this country so in effect I'm guessing the contract is void. My issue is that he falsely put an incorrect date of birth on his application.

My question is can he get out of this contract and should mobile phone companies be doing more to protect children from getting into these messes?

Thanks

I have read about this on here before and although I am not 100% I am pretty certain they can't force him to pay up. I would try the financial ombudsman or citizens advice for this as they have people to give you legal advice and also to have it out with Virgin who have still broken the law seeing as they haven't verified his age. It does extremmly strange to me though that they never asked for proof of age? address? bank account? Very poor from Vigin in this day and age and as such I would imagine they will keel over. If I was him I would not bother applying for Virgin tele in the next few years though

gazza975526570

i think you should make him get a job to pay for it so that he understands the result of his actions. It may teach him an important lesson

Its not like he was a young kid just trying it on - he clearly knew what he was doing

simon123

gazza975526570 wrote: »

i think you should make him get a job to pay for it so that he understands the result of his actions. It may teach him an important lesson

Its not like he was a young kid just trying it on - he clearly knew what he was doing

Clearly, but I'm not asking about the moralities of it. Just some sound advice about the contract.

Thank you half glass empty for your help

diamonds

contract is null and void, call virgin..........effectively he has broken the law but i dont think Virgin will involve any authorities as it shows them more in a bad light than the 17 yr old, he chanced his mick and struck GOLD !

I done this years and years ago with vodafone back in the early 90's, I think I was the only 16 year old in town with a mobile if not the UK lol, talk about pulling power although my dad would moan like hell about having to call me as I didnt have a landline ( well I was paying like 30.00 a month for it before calls :eek: )

saying that I was 50p a minute voda 2 voda - OUCH ! incoming mainly obviously! ( an afterthought - I was a MSE then @ 16 ! just well impressed myself there !!! lol )

davidjones90

Few of my mates actually have contracts in their name and are below 18, but they do pay up....

Banks arn't allowed to disclose personal information by law...or so I been told. Companies include 3, vodafone and orange and now virgin.

z4kir

I thought a credit check with experian/equifax would highlight a persons age? Factors such as not being on the electoral role are often reasons why a person is denied a contract...

thesaint

simon123 wrote: »

He's not a fraudster, just did something silly.

He's a fraudter who did something silly.

simon123

Thank you all for your advice. Much appreciated:beer: