Mobile contract with bad credit history - can you pay 'up front'?

littlebazza

I want to get broadband in my home and I was told that these days, it's a good idea to get a mobile phone contract and use your mobile network as your broadband. Even if this is not a good idea, I still want a mobile contract, as my £15 pay as you go phone isn't adequate anymore.

My main problem is that I have a very bad credit history.

However, just recently, I got a small windfall, and it's enough to pay the whole of a 24-month contract 'up front'. I put this to them at my O2 shop (I'm on their network) but to my surprise, they weren't interested. Do you think there are any providers who would accept such a deal? I mean, it's 2 years' of money right in their hand, and they don't seem to be risking anything.

macman

They are risking a great deal. Once you have the phone and SIM, you have unlimited usage. You could easily run up a £1K or more bill overnight, or certainly well in excess of your contractual limit. If your credit history is bad, they're not going to take that risk.

glennevis

If you want to be on the O2 network look at giffgaff. They do not do credit checks because you do not sign a contract. As a PAYG network you can elect to pay monthly in advance. In that respect it feels just like a contract.

You can buy packages from £6-£35 a month depending on the data you require and all packages include unlimited calls and texts in UK.

This sounds like a sales pitch but I'm just a satisfied customer since I moved from a contract 2 years ago.

eDicky

You could try the cheapest Virgin Mobile SIM-only contract, which is probably the easiest to be accepted for with limited or bad credit history. After a few months they might well allow you to change it to a higher tariff with more data. Then just buy the handset of your choice SIM-free outright, online or from John Lewis etc. Probably cheaper overall anyway.

littlebazza

I never  thought of that, macman. I thought  there would  be some  sort of mechanism to stop a customer using more than the company  wanted it to. After all, they are in charge  of the network. 

Farway

eDicky said:

You could try the cheapest Virgin Mobile SIM-only contract, which is probably the easiest to be accepted for with limited or bad credit history. After a few months they might well allow you to change it to a higher tariff with more data. Then just buy the handset of your choice SIM-free outright, online or from John Lewis etc. Probably cheaper overall anyway.

Following on, you could try VOXI which is unlimited on Voda network, but pre pay monthly without credit checks, buy your own phone

If you exceed your plan allowance it stops working, same as PAYG does

https://www.voxi.co.uk/