Getting a mobile phone with a bad credit history

BARNSTAPLE, U.K. - July 24, 2015 - PRLog -- Having bad credit is not uncommon in today’s financial climate, since the credit crunch, less or no overtime, zero hours contracts, the ever increasing squeeze on peoples finances not to mention cuts to things like tax credits and child benefits.

The average family is finding it harder and harder to have any kind of financial certainty and to plan ahead and know 100% their commitments will be met.

One missed payment or unplanned event such as an unexpected car break down or bill can snowball all to easily leading to an adverse mark on your credit file.

Even if you are super careful with your money and always ensure you have enough cash to cover your expenses each month.

The unexpected can and does happen, and if you can normally only cover your commitments each month, finding the extra cash for a car you need, to get to and from work or a boiler break down to heat your home can prove very hard to find and even harder to allow for.

Once you have any kind of bad mark on your credit file it becomes very difficult to get a mobile phone on contract, or any form of credit for that matter.

It takes a series of missed payments to be issued a default notice or worse a CCJ and there is a lot of stigma attached to having either one, but in all honesty there shouldn’t be.

Unless you earn tons of money and have plenty saved up you can’t plan for every eventuality, your average Britton today weather employed full time or self employed with long term contracts has no certainty what so ever over their own future because all of them depend on the future of the companies they work or contract for and so on.

So back to the topic at hand, having bad credit be it one or more defaults or defaults and CCJs has a serious impact on your ability to get a mobile phone contract.

Bad credit stays on your file for 6 years even if your debt is settled, to my mind and the rest of the sane world this is rubbish, it should say I had some problems with an unexpected costs which lead to these marks but I have now sorted things out and I am back on track.

But sadly my mind means nothing so lets get back on track, the first thing you need to do is get a copy of your credit file if you haven’t already.

Check everything is correct past addresses, financial associations (your other half if you have applied for joint credit etc), past and current credit accounts, are you on the electoral roll at your current address, past address history, how long you lived at your past addresses.

Remember to get a default notice you must have missed 3 – 6 months consecutive re-payments if you have not then you need to contact all the credit reference agencies and provide proof this is not the case a bank statement showing payments will do, or have an agreement in place with the company in question before hand in writing.

For a CCJ they have to contact you by post informing you of the pending judgement if you didn’t live at the address the notice was sent to you could argue you didn’t receive the notice but it is your duty to inform all your suppliers or creditors of your new address before you move.

Perhaps you did and there was some kind of human error on your supplier/creditors side (it happens) and your new address was not updated. In which case you have cause to appeal the CCJ. To do this you need to contact the issuing company in question stating you did not receive the notice as you have moved address and that you provided your new details on the date you phoned up or wrote to them. You then need to contact the county court appeals department of the issuing court and explain the same to them.

My advice is to always, always do everything in writing and send it recorded delivery keep a copy of the letter with the postage receipt in a folder. That way you have a record and a tracking number as proof.

Moving on you have bad credit the past is the past, you can’t get a mobile phone on contract.

Did you know if you apply to multiple companies for credit this can also effect your credit rating?

Step 1 Read our dedicated bad credit mobile phones page https://shopmobilephones.co.uk/badcredit.php

Step 2 Don’t apply for more than 3 credit accounts in any one 6 month period be it mobile phones, credit cards, loans, finance or any mix there of.

Step 3 If you are refused a mobile phone on contract consider a 12 month SIM only contract and request an upgraded to a mobile phone contract after 3 – 6 months.

Step 4 You are refused a 12 Month SIM only contract apply for a 30 day rolling or 1 month SIM only contract and apply to upgrade to a phone contract after 3 – 6 months.

Step 5 Refused a 30 day SIM only contract? Look at our alternative ways to finance a mobile phone. https://shopmobilephones.co.uk/phones-on-finance.php

Provided you are certain you can afford to repay the monthly contract there are options out there for most people. But remember if you apply over and over for credit accounts you are unlikely to be accepted and you will have to wait 6 months before you can apply again. It is far better to take a SIM only contract and request an upgrade after 3 months then it is to wait 6 months and apply over and over again going back to square one time and time again.

If you do take a SIM only product you not only get your foot on the ladder you begin to repair your credit, by keeping up your monthly repayments you are showing you can afford your commitments and your credit file will reflect that.

It’s not unlike taking out a credit builder / bad credit credit card and spending £50 a month on it and then repaying the full balance.

A final point be very careful about companies that ask you for your details and or money to guarantee you a mobile phone contract.

They simply sell your information to other companies in exchange for a fee, I have been offered these deals countless times. I was the first to write about mobile phones for bad credit as I have experienced it first hand and have since been copied and ripped off by many competitors all of which have looked to line their pockets and not provide truthful practical advice.