has anyone reclaimed from phone companies for unaffordability

Jabby1

I keep seeing articles about reclaiming for charges and I'm just wondering if anyone has successfully done this with mobile phones? and also any other lines of credit 

MattMattMattUK

Jabby1 said:

I keep seeing articles about reclaiming for charges and I'm just wondering if anyone has successfully done this with mobile phones? and also any other lines of credit 

It could potentially be possible for the credit element when one buys a phone and splits the payments over 12/24 months, but I am almost certain it would not be possible for the contract element. As to anyone has ever successfully claimed for the former is another question and I have not seen a case on here.

ManyWays

I havent seen anyone try. I have seen people with a large number of phone contracts, but they are usually taken out in desperation in order to sell the handsets for quick cash, and insolvency is a better option. 

Jabby1

yes given my credit score i dont think i should have been allowed it and the provider I'm with has put the device part as a loan so its this I'm hoping to question 
i would like them to lower the monthly payments as its currently unaffordable and for this not to adversely affect my credit file and at the time of taking it out my credit file was very poor and i was already had missed some paymens on other accounts and i dont think it was affordable when they gave it to me 
i understand i still need to pay i just need lower payments to help me at the minute 

MattMattMattUK

Jabby1 said:

yes given my credit score i dont think i should have been allowed it

Your credit score is an entirely meaningless number, you can ignore it entirely and it has no relevance on anything in the real world.

Jabby1 said:

and the provider I'm with has put the device part as a loan so its this I'm hoping to question 

In theory this could fall into the irresponsible lending, but in general it is a low amount per month it is debatable. I have not seen anyone on here successfully claim a phone on contract/loan was irresponsible lending, though that does not exclude that some people may have managed it.

Jabby1 said:

i would like them to lower the monthly payments as its currently unaffordable 

Very unlikely to happen.

Jabby1 said:

and for this not to adversely affect my credit file and at the time of taking it out my credit file was very poor 

Having a debt does not adversely impact one's credit file, it may impact a score, but scores are pointless.

Jabby1 said:

and i was already had missed some paymens on other accounts and i dont think it was affordable when they gave it to me 

Affordability assessments are complicated, how much is the actual cost? Low amounts such as phones are fairly easy to deem affordable because the amount is generally not high enough to cause issues. 

Jabby1 said:

i understand i still need to pay i just need lower payments to help me at the minute 

Can I suggest you post a full SOA? I may be wrong, but I suspect that the issue is probably not a mobile phone contract and so it is probably worth taking a holistic view of things, rather than wasting time trying to argue affordability or irresponsible lending with a mobile phone company that will almost certainly not get you anywhere. 

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

Karonher

I am always reading on here that scores are pointless or cant be seen but on his money programme last week Martin used the term when companies are determing finance. If I remember rightly it was to do with the length or size of 0% credit card offers

Rob5342

I hsve won affordability complaints against credit cards and payday loans. It was only the ones where they had repeatedly lent to me or repeatedly increased my credit limit where the FOS found in my favour. With Lending Stream for example the FOS said that they uad been reasonable to offer the first 6 loans but should habe e made better checks with tue subsequent ones. In the cases I did win it was just the interest they I'd paid that got refunded.

I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of winning a complaint but given how low phone payments are it would probably be very difficult to win one. I don't think they even specify an interest charge do they, my current contract doesn't. 

EssexHebridean

Martin uses “credit score” simply because it’s (mis)understood by the majority of the population  and so it’s an easy way of getting his point across, as I recall from things he’s said before. 

I suspect that phone companies don’t investigate people’s credit files to the same extent that loan providers or even credit card companies would - simply because the amounts involved are generally both smaller and there is no element of flexibility. The customer is expected to have checked for themselves that they can afford what they are signing up for. There is generally assumed to be a personal responsibility element in things like this - it’s not like traditional credit when people feel forced into adding to their debt just to make ends meet. 

Rob5342

You could ask on Debr Camel, I'm pretty sure that she has said before that she's not aware of anyone winning an affordability complaint about a phone contract. 

sourcrates

Most phone contracts are "service agreements" so are usually for a fixed amount, but can vary depending on usage.

The cost is determined by use of the phone, over a certain limit in some cases, there is no credit limit that can be raised, or lowered.

Affordability issues originally stemmed from pay day loans, and the lack of due diligence done by the majority of lenders, this then progressed on to general loans and credit cards, but progressing it further to service agreements is a step too far in my opinion, personal responsibility must kick in at some point, and that point has now been reached in my opinion.

Jabby1

So I complained to Vodafone and they’ve actually helped. 

They’ve ended ended my phone contracts without any early termination fees which is a massive help butvtheyveontvdo anything about the device plans and unbelievably they say they were not irresponsible and they were given based on my past as a customer which seems a bit odd but I’ve managed to reduce the overall monthly payments to them so that’s good