O2 contract not in my name

[CallamAshley]

Hi,

My ex took out a phone contract for me and I’m around 14 months into it. Its on an o2 Refresh. The question is how do I go about cancelling the contract myself as me and my ex are less than civil and communication between each other is non existent? The monthly bills come out of my bank account. I’m just a little concerned i’ll be paying for a phone contract for years with no way of cancellation. In an ideal world I’d like to cancel the contract ASAP so then I can take one out in my own name.

Thanks

[Bambino · Accepted solution]

@CallamAshley  Sorry to have to tell you this, but you cannot cancel the contract if it's not in your name. You would have to ask your ex to cancel, and you would both have to be on the phone to customer service in order to do this, as the payments are coming out of your account. The remainder of the device payments will have to be paid off, then the air time can also be canceled without having to pay what's left. I'm sure this will be awkward, given the situation, but I don't think there is another way around this. Your ex would have to be the one who initiates the call, as the contract is in their name. If you then wanted to take a contract in your own name, you would be subject to a credit check.

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/How-to-Guides/Cancelling-Your-Contract-A-Guide/ba-p/566774

[Foddersin]

Whatever way you look at it whoever is named on the O2 account is legally responsible for that contract so if it is in your name they will not chase him and vice versa.

[davethorp]

The new system that is coming into force from Monday (but may already be implemented) may actually help the OP here

Since you have control of the handset you could just text PAC to 65075 to get a code to move the number to a new network or text STAC to 75075 to get a code to give to another network to terminate the line without keeping your number

Using either of these will make the remaining balance of the credit agreement due which will be taken by direct debit so you will need to be aware of this (and you might not get told when the direct debit will be taken)

The best time to do this might be when the contract actually runs out which you will know as the direct debit for the device plan will stop being taken

One other thing worth mentioning is that the contract is in your ex’s name so legally it isn’t actually your problem. When I broke up with my ex a couple of years ago one of the first things I did before she left was to transfer any contracts I had in my name over to her name to make things a lot less messy when she left

[jonsie]

Yes @davethorp, it should stop a lot of messing now. High time too 😊