Mobile and Wifi Providers

Washerchugs

HELLO! My father died recently and we had very little time to talk to him about his affairs. Looking through his bank statements, we've discovered that he was paying Three for Wifi even though the contract came to an end in 2022. They say that unless he cancels, then the contract carries on. We also have a payment of over £60 going out to Virgin yet they say there is no contract at his last address - just an historical account from an address years ago but he was still paying this until we closed the bank account. We are unable to access his email address @virgin.net - they no longer allow you to change the password. Any suggestions? Is it possible to reclaim any money? Any other suggestions for accessing email? One of the things that has happened is that his car keys were taken and someone is driving the car. We know this because we have received 2 PCN's. This has been reported to the police but they say there is little they can do. We know that quite a few things were removed from his flat whilst he was in hospital and his house keys 'disappeared' when he was in the care home. The only other person to visit him before his death was a neighbour - who told the executor he had removed items from the flat and had taken his bike and potentially a motorbike which was also 'missing'. He showed us the bike. But at that moment, we had no means to take it from him. We believe he was preparing to defraud him further but the executor then shut down the bank accounts. My main question is can we reclaim any money paid to Virgin - it amounts to over £7K over the years he paid, with out actually using the wifi. Or even Three? Any advice on what to do? Thanks.

Brie

Sorry for your loss and that you have these difficult things to deal with as well.

When my FiL died a few years back I discovered multiple service policies with BG for water, gas, electric. I made a polite but firm phone to them, talked to their bereavement team and discussed the fact that the policies had been started at a time when FiL had limited vision and hearing. They said he'd agreed to the policies being set up when they had rung him but when it was made clear to them that he wouldn't have been able to properly read any correspondence or hear a telephone conversation they were able to backdate cancellations.

So basic advice contact the bereavement team for any company you need to deal with. If they don't have a bereavement team ask for their vulnerable customer team, failing that escalate to a supervisor if you get no joy from the first person who picks up the call. If necessary file a complaint - polite, direct, a linear explanation of your concerns with excess emotion.

la531983

Unless the customer actively cancels a communications contract (phone, TV etc) it goes onto a rolling contract so no, you wont have an automatic to claim anything back here with Three, what has happened here is perfectly normal. In that example you are relying on goodwill only.

TadleyBaggie

Contracts with mobile companies and broadband companies do not end unless cancelled, once they pass the minimum term they just go on to a monthly rolling basis.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6673516/mobile-and-wifi-providers

Lots of people dont understand/read what they are signing, most of these types of services are signed up to as an ongoing contract with a minimum term not a fixed term contract. As such if you do nothing at the end of the minimum term it just continues on

Virgin offers a range of services, no idea how joined up they are behind the scenes but have you checked with the various departments? Did the one that could see an account at a historic account say if it's still active or not?

Legally, generally, you can only reclaim it if you can prove he cancelled the service and they continued to charge anyway. Outside of that you are down to hoping for goodwill