Phone Contract - how easy is it to ditch?

[#1]

I`m not "into" the modern ways of Phone Contracts... but what I understand from the way they are advertised, is that the customer is buying the phone for a ridiculous price, and paying per month for the priviledge as well as the "air time". If the person cannot afford the monthly payments. what happens next ?

I assume tht they must return the phone to whoever the contract is with... and seek an alternative phone.

Does the customer retain the SIM card?  to keep their number, and all their contacts?  or is that part of the phone contract too?

[#2]

@shutter I would never buy a combined phone/airtime package, rather I would buy the phone - there are several sources that sell you good second-hand ones - and then choose my own SIM supplier. The SIM is yours to keep, and you have no monthly cost for the phone. My current combined 'all you can eat' talk time, and 1GB of data costs me £6.00, minus £1.00 as I don't use the data allowance.

[#3]

@jab1  Yeah.. I agree... I am enquiring for someone who is likely to "default" on their payment shortly.

I have a PAYG phone SIM only £36 per year... very light user !..but they are more "connected".... so am thinking of how they would proceed,

[#4]

Ah, OK @shutter  - that puts a different complexion on it. I guess they would lose the phone and SIM in that case, but I could be wrong, so don't quote me.

[#5]

@shutter 

The SIM only identifies you to the mobile operator, it doesn’t hold your phone number. I’ve not read T’s and Cs but imagine that a mobile operator would not issue a PAC code to allow you to transfer out the number until all outstanding debts are paid.

Edit, 

Thinking more maybe the number is transferred to the SIM, but my argument still stands. You can’t use that SIM with a different provider.

[#6]

@Baldrick1  I have SIM only phone... and when I got the new sim, from the new supplier, it had a phone number attached to it.

When I changed suppliers, I requested a PAC and the original number from the first supplier was then transferred to the new supplier , so that my contacts would not need to be informed of a change of number.  My contacts list on the SIM were transferred /  copied physically to the new SIM.

However... my questions are not about SIM only contracts... but about these "tied in" phone deals... like the IPHONE where the customer pays an exhorbitant price of (say) £500 over a contract period , in monthly installments, with the phone tied to the likes of EE or O2 etc, for the duration of the contract period.  All is good  ( huh??? ) until the customer cannot afford to pay the monthly fees.... this is the critical question.... What happens to the phone and  the sim ?  I am not sure how the subject of this saves their contact list... either to the phone or to the sim card.

[#7]

I am not sure how the subject of this saves their contact list... either to the phone or to the sim card.

If its an Android phone, then by default your contact list is also stored in your google account. I've never had an iPhone but I assume its similar and the contact list is in your Apple account.

[#8]

@shutter the contract will need reading to determine what happens to the phone, SIM and number. Most likely all 3 will be surrendered.

As for contacts etc. that will depend on the type of phone. For example with an iPhone there is a separate "account" with Apple that provides storage of data, photos etc. in "iCloud". Contacts can be saved there. A certain amount of storage is "free", larger amounts require a monthly payment.

A replacement device such as a cheaper second-hand iPhone can use this account and retrieve the contacts etc. irrespective of the actual phone number and SIM in use. You don't need a SIM anyway, e.g. we have a WiFi-only  iPad which uses the same Apple account as my wife's iPhone. 

[#9]

@HPsauce  OK.... thanks for the reply... kind of similar to what I was thinking...

Will have to see if I can contact them and get them to check on what their contract says, (or advise them to contact whoever.... to see what happens).

Thanks to all .    

[#10]

@shutter I think that the mobile phone companies opening position will be "you have signed a contract to pay us £X per month for Y months - we expect you to comply with the contract terms and pay us."

If your contact has suffered a change in circumstances it is probably best for them to contact the phone company and talk to them about their options.

I've not read through it all but this link www.uswitch.com/mobiles/guides/cancelling-your-mobile-contract-early/ appears to some information in it.

[#11]

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@HPsauce wrote:

@shutter the contract will need reading to determine what happens to the phone, SIM and number. Most likely all 3 will be surrendered.

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As you say, the detail is in the contract. My assumption would be that the number would be blocked and not transferrable to another operator until all bills were paid.

If the phone was locked to the network then that would be unusable. The question is whether the heavies would turn up to recover the phone, which might or might not be worth the value of the outstanding debt. Alternatively, and I would think more likely, the outstanding contract charges, including both the phone credit agreement and calls were simply passed to a debt collection agency. If it came to the crunch, bailiffs would recover the value of the outstanding debt, which might or might not include the phone.

[#12]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

... The question is whether the heavies would turn up to recover the phone, which might or might not be worth the value of the outstanding debt. Alternatively, and I would think more likely, the outstanding contract charges, including both the phone credit agreement and calls were simply passed to a debt collection agency. If it came to the crunch, bailiffs would recover the value of the outstanding debt, which might or might not include the phone.

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ICBW, but I suspect that if no varied payment terms are agreed with the creditor, or unless the phone was voluntarily returned under some other arrangement (even though the phone may be rendered useless to the customer by the creditor), then a CCJ would need to be obtained before bailiffs arrive.

[#13]

From further contact with the person concerned, it appears that they have no option to cancel .... somewhere in the contract the cancellation procedure seems to imply that if you want to leave the service, you have to pay the remaining monthly subscriptions as a penalty...

The contract was taken out by "the other half".. six months ago, but in the subject persons name, (who is now liable for it) and "the other half" has left the domicile, so the subject person is now a single parent with the associated debts and contracts incurred upon them.

CASE CLOSED.