Stupid son

johnbfan

A while back my son's girlfriend wanted a mobile phone on contract. She was not old enough so my son got it in his name for her. She paid the bill every month. They split up a few months ago and she was paying the bill until recently.
Now he is being chased for the payment. I have phoned the company and he is sending a letter explaining the situation, asking for time and then we will contact her mum to see if she will get the girl to take the phone over herself now she is old enough, or at least pay the bills.

Maybe someone could explain to me what happens to the bill and the account if it has time to run but is not paid.

Scarlett.1974

Unless your son wants to end up with a default on his credit file he will have to pay it unfortunately

How long is left on the contract? What did the 'phone company say when you contacted them? Why has the g/f stopped paying it when she was previously happ to? I wonder if the 'phone company could put a really low limit on in, say £10-£15 a month or something and when she's up to the 'limit' she can't make any more calls? Which mobile company it is? Only because I know 3 won't do this (I tried when daughter got his first mobile!).

Sorry for all the questions, but just trying to get the full picture

If he refuses to pay it then they will likely 1. start chasing him for money, phone calls and letters, then 2. pass it to a DCA then 3. possibly try to take him to court for the money resulting in a CCJ.

In_Search_Of_Me

I'm no expert but would think that if your son took the phone out in his name then he is lible for the bill. In the circumstances it would be wise or him to get the phone back, esp if she is a woman scorned, as she coud run uo a bill which is is responsible for! Can the contract be cancelled? If not then he needs to make sure the bill is paid...possibly not what you wanted to hear but I think is right. Maybe a hard lesson for him to learn (never take out contract for someone else!) but one he wont forget...just hope it was an amicable split. Hope its resolved ok. Keep us posted & pepys feel free to say if I'm wrong as I may be!

PeachPickle

If all else fails, make sure you get the sim blocked so she at least can't make any calls on it!

meyore

If he reported the phone as stolen they would put a stop on the sim and phone which would make it useless, so she couldn't run up any further bills. But he will have to carry on paying the bill until the contract term is up.

bringmeshoes

i work for a mobile phone company and if the contract is in his name he is definitely liable for the rest of the contract ( if it is more than 9 months old he may be able to lower the tariff to the lowest one.
i would suggest if his ex isnt going to pay call the company and get a bar on handset & sim so neither the phone or sim can be used.
i would also strongly suggest that he changes the security password on the account so that his ex can't call up to get bar removed

johnbfan

They stopped going together this summer, when she tried to attacked me. She has mental health problems and this last month she has become a liability as an ex. Nearly caused a gang fight with my son and his 17 year old brother and her new boyfriend and his friends until they found out my younger son who was willing to 'take them on' was only 17 and they would be in bigger trouble being adults.

She can't stand my son having a new girlfriend, although she has a new boyfriend. There would be no chance of getting the phone back. I phoned the company explaining the position and have written to the company (Orange) for my son to sign to explain the situation and written a letter to the girls mother asking her to help in the hope that it can be sorted. It looks like the contract goes back to October 2006, and I have done a letter ending the contract when the 18 months is up if she does not take the phone over herself, which leaves about four months to go.

There is no insurance on the phone so we can't says its stolen from my son.

He had been with her for about three years and we kept telling him she was a big mistake but he knew best.

reehsetin

^he has no insurance so cant say its stolen?

makes no sense
ring them, ask for the sim to be barred and for them to send him a replacement sim (at least then he can use the mins, even if he has the number changed)
he cant get a replacement phone but at least shes not running up bills under his name
keep asking orange to reduce the tarriff every month, they wont care he got it for his gf etc

molerat

johnbfan wrote: »

There is no insurance on the phone so we can't says its stolen from my son.

If it is "stolen" it will be blocked and all he will be responsible for is the basic contract, a big enough bill I know, but at least there is no possibllity of running up extra charges. He could possibly then get another cheaper phone and sim for himself or someone else in the family to use.

Mikeyorks

johnbfan wrote: »

There is no insurance on the phone so we can't says its stolen from my son.

The two things aren't the same. No one was suggesting he report it stolen in order to get money back - just to minimise his costs by blocking her ability to use it and rack up call costs.

johnbfan

Am writing to Orange so will ask them to lower the tariff and block after it runs out.

We told him how stupid it was now he is paying for it.

Im surprised they were allowed the phone without insurance but its definitely not on the bill. He is in trouble with another phone company besides this - his own on O2 - don't these companies credit check people before they give them contracts. He has been a bad credit risk before he took out the phone contracts we were surprised when they allowed him to sign for them.