Cut off by Talk Talk - now what?

kisto

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can help with my current telephone/broadband dilemma, please. Be gentle.

Shortly before my ex husband left (over a year ago) he signed up to Talk Talk (phone and broadband). After he left, it took me until February to get him to submit the forms to talk talk, to change the account into my name. During that time Talk Talk would not communicate with me as the account was not in my name - hence the bills did not get paid and the phone line was restricted (but broadband has consistently worked, no problems).

Around May/June I finally received a bill. There was no previous communication acknowledging the changeover for the account, so the bill was the first sign that the account had actually been changed over. However, the bill included the arrears from when the account was in my ex's name (approx £250).

Having had huge difficulty in communicating with them in the past (passed round and round operators), I buried my head in the sand, lived with the restricted phone line and haven't contacted them at all. I knew a disconnection was imminent so today it has come as no surprise that my phone line has been totally cut off. It was actually my ex that notified me as he'd been trying to phone me! My broadband is still working (fingers crossed).

So I have a few issues to deal with here:
1) The debt with Talk Talk - I don't see why I should have to pay the bill for the account when it was in my ex's name. Where do I stand with this?

2) I would like a phone line back. I'm not too fussed about outgoing calls, as I only make a minimal amount. I've been using my mobile if I have needed to make calls (which is not cheap). It's going to be difficult not being able to receive incoming calls though. Should I try and patch things up with Talk Talk or could I try and find a new provider (who does my line belong to....if I still have one)?

3) I will be crippled if I lose my broadband. Should/can I get another provider?

NOTE: I've had a bad track record with Tiscali and BT in the past so they're a no go.

THANKS!

mum2one

the best thing is put everything in writing, as he was your husband there may be an issue that you are liable for the bill, but point out that on numerous ocassions you made an attempt to sort out the situation but as the line was not in your name no info was given therefore you couldnot arrange payment.

Just point out that you are willing to pay the arrears, but under the circumstances, you can not pay in one payment, but offer an arrangement, I dont know if you have children, but if you have explain that you need a phone line for school etc and for now could they reconnect the phone to outgoing calls and when a payment has been made go back to the normal phone service.

As you have said you have had problems with BT and Tiscali, so you need totey and work with talk talk.

anything in writing send by recorded delievery, that way you can prove it got delievered.

I presume that if you wanted a broadband connection with another company they may well do credit checks, if things arent good, you may hjust have to bite the bullet and try to get things sorted.

Good luck x

kisto

mum2one wrote: »

Just point out that you are willing to pay the arrears, but under the circumstances, you can not pay in one payment, but offer an arrangement, I dont know if you have children, but if you have explain that you need a phone line for school etc and for now could they reconnect the phone to outgoing calls and when a payment has been made go back to the normal phone service.

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt and full response

I have 2 school aged kids.

I'm working with CAB to sort out my debts and I have explained to my CAB advisor the above issues but he has not been much help with it. Unfortunately as it's not a priority debt they'd only get a token payment of £1 a month. There is scope to comfortably include the monthly line rental cost in my financial statement because at the moment I use my PAYG mobile for all calls, which is obviously expensive.

I'm really scared to phone Talk Talk, so think I might do all the communication in writing like you suggest.

mum2one

If you do the communication in writing, keep a copy and also use recorded delievery,that way you have proof.

Thats the trouble the CAB will help but they class phone etcas non priotiry, but sometimes phone and internet are a lifeline.

Sorry couldnt be morehelp, but send you a big hug. x

BexTech

1) You need to contact them, you shouldn't pay for someone else's debt.

2) You might have to pay reconnection fees and pay a deposit, due to having line disconnected for non-payment.

3) You need a working phoneline to get another provider, it's just luck at the moment (or the usual TalkTalk incompetence) that TalkTalk has disconnected the broadband, though it might be in the queue to be done.

4) Never bury your head in the sand, it will always lead to more problems.

kisto

UPDATE:
I phoned talk talk yesterday after I received a letter from them stating that I had requested to transfer my line to another provider - I hadn't. I called the number provided, and was greeted by an automated message stating that the letter had been sent in error, and to ignore it.
I held on the line to speak to an operator, and explained my situation (as detailed in my original post). It was confirmed that my telephone line is completely disconnected and there is now apparently an outstanding bill of £450 :eek:. I was then transferred to customer service who were surprised the debt hadn't been handed to a debt collection agency (at least if it had or if Talk Talk had communicated with me, I could have passed the info onto my CAB advisor to handle with the rest of my debts). The customer service rep decided I needed to lodge a complaint, which he did for me. I now need to call again in 5 days to find out the resolution.

It's funny how I've not received any other communication from them....except when a letter is sent out in error!

Question re: broadband
I'm not going to be able to pay more than a token payment of £1 towards the debt and I'll be going bankrupt in the new year. There is £15 a month in my budget that can go towards phone/broadband. I anticipate I will lose my broadband imminently and I'll happily live without a phone line (although it will be a bonus to keep it).
I'll go round the twist without broadband, so what mobile/other broadband options are there for me?

utilitybroker

kisto wrote: »

UPDATE:
I'll go round the twist without broadband, so what mobile/other broadband options are there for me?

In view of the fact that you have arrears with TT, and have a bad track record with BT and Tiscali i doubt if another supplier will supply you a line and broadband,at this stage.

If you live in a cable area you could try Virgin Media, but they carry out credit checks.

On the Mobile front their is http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/ but its a contract and will be subject to a credit check.

cajef

BexTech wrote: »

1) You need to contact them, you shouldn't pay for someone else's debt.

Not strictly true, it does not matter who's name they are in certain debts mainly utility etc. are joint responsiblity.

Joint and several liability arises when two or more people are liable for the same debt. Each person is liable for the entire amount of the debt, not just a portion, regardless of what they may have agreed with each other. This means that the creditor may demand repayment of the total amount from any of the liable people.

A person can be jointly and severally liable with someone else if:-

• both or all have signed the agreement; or
• for some debts, the parties are a couple who are married, civil partners or living together as husband and wife or as civil partners, for example, council tax and water charges.

kisto

cajef wrote: »

A person can be jointly and severally liable with someone else if:-

• both or all have signed the agreement; or

I didn't sign the original agreement and I had nothing to do with it. I was totally denied any right by Talk Talk, to information on the account whilst it remained in my ex's name....even if I could have paid, they wouldn't have let me (and I wouldn't have known how much)! The only thing I have signed is the form requesting that the account was transferred to my name. This form did not mention that I would then be liable for the previous debt.

for some debts, the parties are a couple who are married, civil partners or living together as husband and wife or as civil partners, for example, council tax and water charges.

This makes perfect sense for Council Tax and Water Rates which are essential utilities. I doubt very much that phone lines are considered the same way.

hammy_the_hammer

"Question re: broadband
I'm not going to be able to pay more than a token payment of £1 towards the debt and I'll be going bankrupt in the new year. There is £15 a month in my budget that can go towards phone/broadband. I anticipate I will lose my broadband imminently and I'll happily live without a phone line (although it will be a bonus to keep it).
I'll go round the twist without broadband, so what mobile/other broadband options are there for me? "
you say you can only make a token payment of £1 but then state you have £15 to spend on a service ...surely you could use this money to start reducing the debt and then get your tele/bb service back at some point.

kisto

hammy_the_hammer wrote: »

you say you can only make a token payment of £1 but then state you have £15 to spend on a service ...surely you could use this money to start reducing the debt and then get your tele/bb service back at some point.

Because CAB are helping me to manage my debts...they will only allocate £1 towards the Talk Talk debt because it is not a priority debt. However...I have £40 a month in my budget for "telephone" which is solely my PAYG mobile phone bill at the moment. Certainly with a phone line my monthly mobile phone bill will reduce significantly, hence how I can budget the £15 a month. With a broadband line I could take advantage of Skype, and also reduce my phone bill.

As it happens, I am confident that I will be able to resolve this issue with Talk Talk and negotiate a plan to clear the debt and return to 'normal service' with them.