Pursued by a debt collection agency

stu-vfr

My son is being pursued by a debt collection agency regarding mobile phone contracts he took out for him and his girlfriend.
I am only just hearing about this and apparently the contracts were taken out several years ago so he can't remember many details and of course he has no paperwork.
When he took the contracts out he and his girlfriend were unemployed. What I would like advice on whether it is reasonable to suggest that the company was negligent by allowing him to have the contracts in the first place.
I look forward to any thoughts the community have. Thank you.

BoGoF

Not reasonable at all.

hollydays

How many years ago?

meer53

You could suggest it was unreasonable but don't expect them to agree with you. Checks would have been done at the time.

bris

Outrageous, how dare they treat unemployed people like anyone else. I agree with you, unemployed people should not be entitled to mobile phones or anything else for that matter.

theonlywayisup

Unless he was under 18 at the time of taking out the contract, I would suggest he is of the age to take responsibility for his actions.

stuartJo1989

stu-vfr wrote: »

Hi. This may not be the correct place to post this but here goes.

My son is being pursued by a debt collection agency regarding mobile phone contracts he took out for him and his girlfriend.
I am only just hearing about this and apparently the contracts were taken out several years ago so he can't remember many details and of course he has no paperwork.
When he took the contracts out he and his girlfriend were unemployed. What I would like advice on whether it is reasonable to suggest that the company was negligent by allowing him to have the contracts in the first place.
I look forward to any thoughts the community have. Thank you.

Has he failed to pay money which he agreed to pay?

If you were in your son's shoes and that was the case, what would you do?

I imagine you'd pay your debt if you are a responsible person. Maybe a good opportunity to set an example and guide your son.

London50

If he is now employed he now can get in touch with the company and offer to pay off the debt {along with any charges for not contacting the mobile phone company/debt collection company when they first started chasing}so problem solved.

arcon5

Based on your logic you've just condemned unemployed, single mums, stay at home parents etc etc a life without telecommunications. Not just that but with such logic why not refuse them broadband connections, music subscriptions and every other possible contractual agreement they could enter in to.

Teach your son to take responsibility for his actions by finding a legitimate solution to a problem he's found himself in. Such as a payment plan

Chickabiddybex

If you give more details we might be able to give more specific help.

However, this issue aside it sounds to me as though your son seems to think it's ok to not pay for things and it worries me that he might be bad with money and needs some education. Otherwise he could go to a payday loan company or do things that get him into more and more debt until it's out of control. This is a bad habit to have, so you need to make sure he knows. He could well have more debt already!

There is some great debt advice here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan

fatbelly

His girlfriend's age/status are irrelevant if he was the one who took out the contracts. How old was he at the time?