Paying daughter's mobile contact

basti

Hello,

I'm posting this on behalf of my partner who has been paying his 20-year old daughter's mobile bill every month (around £68) since Nov 2020.  She has a Vodafone contract and the direct debit comes out of my partner's bank.  She didn't have a job at the time and it was agreed at the start of the new contract, she would pay him back so a standing order was set up from her bank.

In August '21 she has stopped paying him due to their relationship breaking down and other issues that I won't go into.  She keeps making excuses why she is not paying him (i.e money broke or problems with the bank).  She has no respect for her father.  She is also pregnant on Universal Credit and will be moving out soon.  My partner is still paying for her bills and I have told him he needs to put a stop to it but he is worried if he cancels the direct debit, he will get a bad credit rating if he missed the payments.

The contract ends on Nov 2022.  He has tried getting through to her why it is costing him but she doesn't care so it has fallen deaf ears so she is refusing to take action because she rather have her dad to pay for it.

Does anyone know what is the best course of action? Perhaps write a letter to Vodafone and explain?

Thanks in advance :-) 

emmajones1976

Whose name is the contract in? Thats not made very clear.

If its in her name but your partner is just making the payments, crack on and cancel the DD.

If its in his name, then I am afraid its tough. Maybe he can speak to the mobile company and see if the contract can be downgraded to make it cheaper but this would be a gesture of goodwill

theoretica

If the contract is in his name, couldn't he get the number and phone blocked?  Maybe pointing out that he could do this would focus her mind.

emmajones1976

Thats a good idea. Report the phone as lost (NOT stolen as that opens up a potential can of worms), get her phone blocked.

If he hasnt set up a spending cap on the account he really needs to do it now, she could start ringing Guyana and Malaysia and she wouldnt have to pay a penny.

Ms_Chocaholic

Have you posted a similar vent previously re your partner's daughter, this rings a bell.

emmajones1976

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Have you posted a similar vent previously re your partner's daughter, this rings a bell.

Its their first post.

Ms_Chocaholic

emmajones1976 said:

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Have you posted a similar vent previously re your partner's daughter, this rings a bell.

Its their first post.

It's not unheard of for users to create a new profile.

This is the one I was thinking of, has some similarities

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6324588/evicting-an-adult-child-alternative-accommodation/p1

eDicky

In whose name is the contract..?

If it's in your partner's name, he could request that it's changed to his daughter's name, making her responsible for payment (although not helping him to reclaim from her the cost until now). But acceptance of this will depend on the health of her credit files, which Vodafone will check.

flaneurs_lobster

Why would daughter agree to this transfer?

moneyman_34

it needs to be made clear that the person's name on the account is the one who is legally responsible for the account. They are the one that needs to ensure the bill is being paid each month regardless of who actually uses the phone or who's DD details are set on the account. 
They can block the number from being used which would then make his daughter realise that she needs to pay for it to get her services back. It is the drawback of taking the contract out for a family member. If it doesn't get paid by the user of the device then the owner can be the one that is penalised and their credit rating can be impacted. 

eDicky

flaneurs_lobster said:

Why would daughter agree to this transfer?

Perhaps for the convenience of retaining her current phone number, or avoid having her service blocked or terminated, if that ultimatum is necessary...

But the contract may be in her name with the father paying by DD, in which case the remedy is simpler, until now we don't know for sure. Without that clarification, for me it's not worth speculating further.