Contracts and none payment

Soldato
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Stoke on Trent
Just asking advice really for a family member

They have a contract with 02. There around 6 months into it. They pay so much a month for the phone over i think its 3 years. The cash price of the phone was £667 and so far theyve paid £74 of that. And also another amount for the airtime over 2 years.

They are struggling so ive suggested ringing 02 to see if they can help.

The question really is if he stops paying will they disable the device.? It will obviously go to debt collectors if they dont pay but in my eyes if it was me i would steadfastly be refusing to pay for a device which is no longer useable. Yes they should hold there hands up to the remaining airtime term ( and the remaining on the device if it dosent get disabled )

Does anyone have any advice or experience of this with 02?
 
As above, it will at some point get blocked, passed on to debt collection agency and probably a mark against credit score. Won't make money matters easier down the line.

Haven't looked into O2 contracts for a while, but I was under impression you can cancel airtime without any penalties, so long as you pay off device in full.

That of course is easier said than done if they are struggling to pay the monthly bill. SIM only and MVNOs are more than likely going to be cheaper, I've always found there's a markup on airtime with O2.
 
Ive got a giffgaff sim they can have off me. Should work in the 02 phone.

Im going round in the week to go over there budget with them to see here they can free up a bit of cash before seeing if they can get 02 to put them on a lower tariff.

My dad used to be a manager at a rent to own type store and i was talking to him about this and he was telling me that once a certain amount had been paid off it couldnt be reposessed in the case of none payment. Im not sure this is the same situation, but i cant see how a network can take you to court to pay for a device that they have rendered useless. If the phone continues to be useable then yep crack on. But to brick a device and still expect payment on it then nope in that situation id either fight it and refuse to pay or return it to the operator weather they want it or not.
 
i cant see how a network can take you to court to pay for a device that they have rendered useless. If the phone continues to be useable then yep crack on. But to brick a device and still expect payment on it then nope in that situation id either fight it and refuse to pay or return it to the operator weather they want it or not.

The only reason it would be "rendered useless" is because it hasn't been paid for. The network have fulfilled their side of the contract, and they've provided your family member with a device worth £X. By not paying, it is entirely reasonable for them to seek to recover their costs.

Look at it this way:

The network has sold your family member a phone for £667.
Your family member is refusing to pay £593 - therefore the network is down by £593.
Blocking the phone does not result in them receiving £593, so therefore it is still entirely reasonable for them to continue attempting to recover £593 from your family member.

If the phone was still worth at least £593, then fair enough, returning it could potentially be an option, but in reality it's going to be worth a fraction of that.

You/your family member are of course entitled to fight it if you really think that's a good idea, but legally (and IMO morally) you/they are in the wrong here, and I think it will end up being a whole lot of stress and pain to end up losing out in the end anyway.

Just stopping paying is the worst way to deal with - the problem isn't going to just disappear by sticking your head in the sand, and ultimately your family member will end up with no working phone, being hounded by debt collectors, a big black mark on their credit file + possibly a CCJ if they continue ignoring it.

Best thing to do is speak to O2 and see what they can do to help - your family member certainly wont be their first customer to end up with financial issues, and as an FCA regulated lender they do have some responsibilities to try and work with you to come to a reasonable arrangement.

Life lesson - don't sign a contract if you're not happy with the terms.
 
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Ok so ive been round and had a quick look at things.

Things arent perhaps as bad as i was expecting, however he does already have a CCJ from last year so im not sure thats going to worry him so much.

The contract in question is £34 a month, £18 of that is for the device. He also has a second contract with 02 for a tablet. But thats literally only £1 a month airtime and £4.50 for the device. Looking at his bill the issue is it comes out his bank around the 9th of the month - he gets his UC on the 12th, so weve managed to change the due to a date just after the 12th. This should mean he dosent have to leave cash in the bank for weeks. This will mean a slightly higher bill next time but should be ok going forward.
Hes currently paying almost £60 for basic TV and 250Mb broadband. Hes out of contract so ive urged him to call them to get a better deal, im only paying £32 for gigabit and basic TV. If no joy ill try asnd get him to move to a cheaper supplier.
Gas / Elec ive suggested he goes on PAYG as i think he will find that easier too budget.
Water ive got him to apply for the Big Difference scheme that may help reduce his bill
 
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