Deceased mobile contracts

deadanddeceased

HI mSE, looking for some advice. My elderly father has recently passed away. Its become apparent that he has multiple (7) mobile phone contracts with 2 different providers. Hes the type that goes into the mobile phone shop and unlikely he would have signed up to any of these contracts online. I've questioned one of the providers as to me it appears hes taken out new contracts without cancelling the old contract when hes due an upgrade and thus gone to the shop to choose a new phone. They told me that the old contract would automatically switch to a rolling contract and he would have needed to cancel this. However some of these "rolling "contracts have been since 2020. He wouldn't have understood how to cancel an old contract as he was not technically savvy. They've said because hes dead now and I've closed the account there is nothing more to be done. I've said I feel this is wrong as this was an elderly vulnerable man who I feel has taken out contracts without cancelling the old, and to me this seems unreasonable and obvious to the company that when hes got a new contract hes stopped using the old phone/contract. Apart from feeling angry with companies potentially taking advantage, 7 current (until I cancelled just) mobile contracts seems excessive. Do I have a case here or is it a dead end? I wouldn't like it to happen to other vulnerable people and im wondering who best to flag it to if thr companies aren't listening? Many thanks

marcia_

if the new contract is with the same provider and they failed to cancel his contact before opening a new one i would take it further with a complaint

flaneurs_lobster

One oddity here is the changing phone number - if your late father had taken a new contract each year then he would have a new number and the old number would lie dormant. Did you not notice that his phone number was changing each year?

Or was he swapping the new SIM out and putting in the old one?

gplion55

Most companies have a bereavement service and they will cancel everything for you with no questions. If this contract situation has occurred with one service provider over a number of years then I would lay out a good overview of all the contracts with dates etc. and submit this along with your complaint. If the company doesn't react within 8 weeks you can go to an ombudsman. Communications Ombudsman or CISAS.

silvercar

The newspaper’s money pages love stories like this. It’s an easy fix for them as they have access to the press office of the companies concerned.

adrich

I’m so sorry for your loss. That situation sounds incredibly frustrating and, sadly, not uncommon. I’ve heard similar stories with older relatives where contracts just kept rolling on because they didn’t understand the fine print or how to cancel. It does seem unreasonable for companies to expect someone elderly and not tech-savvy to navigate multiple overlapping contracts.

I’d also be wary if any of these contracts were with providers like Lycamobile, as I’ve read they sometimes make it tricky to fully close accounts and can automatically roll contracts or top-ups. It might be worth formally contacting a consumer protection service or ombudsman to flag what happened, especially since your father clearly wasn’t in a position to manage these contracts.

deadanddeceased

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888606#Comment_81888606

Some of the SIMS i found unopened.

deadanddeceased

Thanks for the advice. No these were main providers. I didnt want to shame them on here as felt it may be against the rules!