Credit check on SIM only upgrade to refresh?

[N4Th]

Hi to all.

I’ve read through most previous posts on here and externally and different answers have led me to ask..

I have a Sim only contract at the min. I can 6 month upgrade to a handset this coming Sunday. My question is will there be a credit check involved as my credit history isn’t the best by a loooooooong shot but have kept up all my payments with o2.

some say yea you’ll be checked as it’s a new agreement - others say as long as bills paid then you should be okay?

can anyone help at all?

many thanks!! 

[Oxonian]

@dustybin1545 

Unfortunately, evidence gathered from other posts seems to suggest that credit checks have been tightened significantly in the last few months and are now used a lot more frequently that they were previously. 

[Enlli]

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@dustybin1545 wrote:

I was told 6 months after taking my SIM only contract I would be able to upgrade in August after the merger took place and failed the credit check today

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I was on the Virgin Community for 12 years and promising people they could pass credit if they took out a SIM only contract then turning them down was common.

Regretfully O2 is going more like Virgin Mobile every day

[Dino1968]

Hi I know o2 were credit checking last year. I have been with o2 on full contract since around 2016 always had zero issues upgrading to a new handset. Then last year April time I think - was looking at new hand set - was rejected - could not understand why. Checked my credit file and remembered I had placed a notice of correction about some out of date information - some companies regardless see this is a no go even though it was voluntary by myself. Anyone can add notice of correction to there own credit file. Anyway got in touch with the credit ref agency asked them to remove my notice of correction - which they did. A week or so later re-applied to o2 and it went straight through. Only downside - 2 hard searches filed on my report.

Back in 2017 it was soft check only. My credit file aint great but aint the worst either ... so im not sure if I would be approved or not when I look for a new handset late in this year. But then again with the great monthly sim only contract I now have with o2 - Im tempted to pay up front for a new hand set to avoid the high priced monthly data plans that come when you buy a phone on contract. But hard credit checks IM sure are now a certainty with O2.

[Oxonian]

@Dino1968 @dustybin1545 

It's worth bearing in mind that you are not just subjected to a credit (debt) check - your ability to make future monthly payments will also be considered. 

Your application will inevitably fail if O2 cannot satisfy themselves as to your identity, so if you do not have much of a credit history, being on the Voters' List (Electoral Register) is probably significant too.   

[Dino1968]

Yep I remember having this problem when I moved house a while back took a few months for Electoral reg to update. Im glad to be out of contract on my handset  though and im not blown away by the latest s24 ultra. Will stick to my s23 ultra then either go pixel late this year or the s22222 watever it will be next Jan/ Feb. Still on contract for a book3 Pro - which I kind of regret as its not the best bit of kit but it is what it is 😉 1st world problems n all.

[Oxonian]

Yes @Dino1968, choices, choices, choices. 👍