Stopping mobile phone payments

michaeltoogood

Hello there
Due to current situation i am struggling with mobile phone payments on contracts these are 3 phones i took last year, the remaining balance is around £1000, £1200 and £1500 from different providers. they were taken for myself wife and worker. i have sorted my credit cards, now in regards with mobile contracts if i stop the direct debits and ask the provider to reduce the payments in half  or if i ask them to reduce the total debt in half, is it  a good idea? 
or if they pass the debt to debt collector can i negotiate with them, if they threaten court action.

i would appreciate if some one can tell me the best option. i can ignore debt collectors but do not want the ccj in my file
thank you

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Cancelling the DD does not rid you of the obligation to pay the contract. You go on about ignoiring the debt collector! This is not sound advice!!!

This suggest that your debts are unsustainable and you need help!

I suggest you post in this area where other MSER's will be helpful!
Debt-Free Wannabe — MoneySavingExpert Forum

sourcrates

Mobile phone networks do not deal well with bad debt, there is no payment arrangement on a fixed contract, if full payment of each bill is not made, sims will be blocked, and they will simply pass your account over to collections, who operate similar principles on payments.

Next step will be either an external DCA, or the debt will be sold.

Until its sold on, the modus operandi will be to bring payments up to date, as they don`t want to lose you as a customer, so you can go rinse and repeat quite a few times in these situations.

If all you require is the termination of all your contracts and to repay the debts at a reasonable amount over time, then you must wait until the contracts end, and the full remaining balance is sold, until then they will continue to charge you monthly for the duration of each contract.

Legal action is rare, and usually only happens when the debts are sold on and subsequently ignored.

michaeltoogood

thank you soucrate, you sound like an expert.
i have few credit cards left with balance of 5000£ plus, should i do the same with them? i mean negotiate with debt collectors or bank to reduce final payment to avoid ccj

DCFC79

Why 3 phone contracts ?

So a contract for a worker, are you not being given the money back for the contract ?

CKhalvashi

DCFC79 said:

Why 3 phone contracts ?

So a contract for a worker, are you not being given the money back for the contract ?

If OP is self-employed and it's a work phone for their employee, probably no.

We pay an allowance now instead of handing out phones, and have done for a few years, which I'd suggest is the best idea for OP.

I have nothing more to add to what Sourcrates has written above.

michaeltoogood

thank you....according to sourcrates i think i can avoid both, 1, paying full outstanding 2, the ccj.
please advice me on credit card question, i would be grateful

sourcrates

Credit card debt is slightly different, as there is no contract period as such, so debts get sold, assigned or passed over to debt collectors much more quickly.
Original creditors almost never take legal action themselves, the usual process is to use a collection company to manage the debt, if that’s not productive, then it will be sold.
Companies that buy debts can usually offer greater discounts as they normally only pay a few pence in the pound for sold on borrowing, so have much more discretion in these matters.

[Deleted User]

You won't "get out" of paying your debts, short of going bankrupt or managing to avoid them for long enough that they become statute barred (trashing your credit rating for 6+ years). The only way to avoid a CCJ is paying it after the CCJ is issued which avoids it going on your record but by then your credit rating will be destroyed anyway

couriervanman

michaeltoogood said:

Hello there
Due to current situation i am struggling with mobile phone payments on contracts these are 3 phones i took last year, the remaining balance is around £1000, £1200 and £1500 from different providers. they were taken for myself wife and worker. i have sorted my credit cards, now in regards with mobile contracts if i stop the direct debits and ask the provider to reduce the payments in half  or if i ask them to reduce the total debt in half, is it  a good idea? 
or if they pass the debt to debt collector can i negotiate with them, if they threaten court action.

i would appreciate if some one can tell me the best option. i can ignore debt collectors but do not want the ccj in my file
thank you

"£1000, £1200 and £1500 from different providers"......did you have to have top of the range phones

CKhalvashi

michaeltoogood said:

thank you....according to sourcrates i think i can avoid both, 1, paying full outstanding 2, the ccj.
please advice me on credit card question, i would be grateful

I don't think Sourcrates in any way advocated debt avoidance, which is what you're suggesting.

You need to come with an arrangement to pay your debts, as Sourcrates has said. The meaning was that you will then be able to continue as a customer of the phone companies, although preferably merge everything into 1 contract.