Help, please!

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice.
My mum (who is 82 and is starting to show signs of dementia) was given the phone number of Toople business broadband by my (idiot) brother. She ended up signed up to a two year contract at £25 a month, she says she wouldnt have done it deliberately as it is much more than she would spend on broadband. She forgot she had signed up; her phone wasn't working (coincidence, but it means she never used the line for calls) and the router wasn't connected, so she never used it for data either. (She has a laptop she never uses; my brother has a tablet which showed no signs of being used since June.) So it wasn't used for data either. She cancelled the direct debit because she didn't know what it was.
As nothing was working and she was receiving no bills (Topple send bills by email; she doesn't have email) my aunt signed her up to plusnet to get the phone line working.
Topple say it was a two year contract and she owes the remainder. After explanations from my aunt and myself, they have reduced the amount from £408.87 to £250. I think this is ridiculous - she never used the line, its a business broadband company not home broadband, she never received a statement because they went to some email address we don't even know.... I can't prove it was mis-sold but its certainly not right! And she doesn't have much money, she's on the lowest UK state pension. I just don't know where to go with this.

Comments

  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281
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    Difficult as she phoned up and signed up .
    Suggest your local Citizens Advice may give more help .
    But personally as its a lawful contract i would pay the £250 . Alternative is a debt of £400 that will be passed to debt collection agency incurring further charges .
  • If your mother lacks capacity to make financial decisions and agree to contracts, which you seem to be suggesting, perhaps look at applying to the court of protection to be made a deputy now, so you don't get a repeat of a similar problem in a few months' time.
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • Comms69
    Comms69 Posts: 14,229
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    Flip reverse it, the company provided a service she requested. She chose not to use it, but it was working for all intents and purposes.


    The money is owed.
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