Is ds likely to be refused phone contract

[Pinkcoat124]

Before starting his study abroad year, ds applied for a Halifax clarity card to take with him but was declined. Probably because his credit score was non existent and he had no income, apart from student loans and parents funding. This was in July last year.
When he comes home to the uk later this month he will need to sort out a mobile phone contract, sim only deal as he already has handset. Currently on pay as you go whilst abroad.
I am worried about him not being accepted and it having an adverse effect on his obviously currently poor credit rating. I have previously had his sim only contract in my name and am thinking of just taking out another sim only deal in my name again.
It’s only going to be for about £20 per month anyway and with EE. The customer advisor in the shop could not indicate whether he would be accepted, until they try, but said sim only deals are not as strict on checks.

What would you advise?

When ds went for his first phone contract Virgin advised him to open an experian account first. This was when he was 18 or 19 and only had saturday job

The Moneysavingexpert credit club is good and should give you an idea how poor his rating is. But he must have some sort of bank account if he was away for a year?
I think if he has an income that’ll be enough, it’s not like he’s after an expensive handset loan etc

And there are cheaper sim deals out there...giffgaff for example £7 per month

Giffgaff are not cheap if he wants a phone as well. Websites like Mobil

Sorry
Websites like Mobiles direct /Mobiles.co.uk or look on uswitch to get some really good deals.

Yes he has a bank account and savings with the Halifax and they still turned him down. I He has no income, nothing regular anyway, just maintenance grant and money from me. If it was rejected on the grounds of no income though, I would have thought they would have just stopped the process before going on to do the credit checks.
Don't know much about experian but was thinking of checking his rating anyway and will look at money saving expert. Don't want too many black marks on his record that's why I'm hesitant about just trying for the contract. Maybe if I wait a while longer and try.

Oh and thank you all for replying

From what my ds told, actually opening the experian account helps with your credit score

He's likely to get a simo contract. There's no handset involved so no risk to the provider. They don't lose anything if he doesn't pay. After 6 months clear billing we then allow an upgrade to a handset as a good payment history has been demonstrated.

Halifax are hard to open a credit card with,they are very picky. Try moneysavingexpert website, there's an area you can put in your details and it does a soft search (doesn't show up on credit record) and tells you the likelyhood of being accepted for credit cards. I have one with Barclaycard which I use for big purchases the Apr is terrible but I always pay it up and helps build my credit history.

I used to work for o2, and most of the time getting a Sim only was the best way for someone to get a contract if they had little to no credit history. Once he's had a SimO for at least 6 months most mobile companies will then let him upgrade to a 2 year full mobile contract if he wants to, as he's built up history with them and they know more how trustworthy he is.

If you want to be really sure then perhaps go for a 30day rolling contract over a 12 months one as that's even more likely to be accepted.

Is he on the Electoral Roll? That'll need to be the first step to obtaining credit, otherwise no one will be able to identify him, and he won't be able to obtain credit by default.

Giff gaff

Make sure he’s on the electoral register, this will help a lot.

I wouldn’t worry about him applying - only multiple credit applications close together tend to have a negative effect on credit histories. A SIM only contract is prob one of the easiest forms of credit to get, and a good way to boost non existent histories.

To ease your concerns, Halifax Clarity cards do require applicants to have quite a strong credit history, to be accepted.

“When ds went for his first phone contract Virgin advised him to open an experian account first”

This would be purely to check for any “nasties” on his credit history.

Opening an credit referencing account will have no bearing on improving a persons potential to gain credit.

Has he got a student bank account? They often come with credit cards and perks like railcards and overdrafts (I had a halifax student credit card)
Also - £20 for a sim only deal is ridiculous, there are plenty of good plans for less than £10 a month - check price comparison websites before buying.

It was a few years ago,but thats what i remembered at the time. Virgin gave him a mobile contract

Is his bank account a proper student one? Is he on electoral role? If yes to both then no problem getting phone contract (student dd managed to get iPhone 8...). In fact quite good to build up a credit history.

Didn't he think to ask for credit card from student account provider though?

Opening an credit referencing account will have no bearing on improving a persons potential to gain credit.

This. It won't improve his chances - it'll just give him an idea of anything that's missing (ie if an incorrect address is showing; or if he's not on the electoral register) and any debt he's already got, if relevant.

Yes he is registered to vote at home here and it is a Halifax student current account which hes had for 3 years now. Just thought the clarity card would be useful with him being abroad but when I thought about it later, then obviously they wouldn't give this to a student with no income or history of credit. Just wish they'd said up front before submitting the application as it didn't occur to me.

I'll have a hunt around for a good sim only deal. We were paying £22 with virgin for unlimited everything so I thought £20 wasn't too bad. Seems like I'm mistaken.

Thanks for all your comments. I'll have a look around.

Hi giff gaff no checks are needed it's £20 for unlimited everything money goes out of bank monthly ect

My DSD pays £14 a month with three for unlimited calls / texts, 10gb of data which she can also use in a lot of countries abroad (inc outside the EU), and there is a “go binge” feature where you can use as much Netflix and other streaming / music services, as you like and it doesn’t come out of your data allowance.

Yes, GiffGaff doesn’t require any checks but a SIM contract is a good way for the OPs DS to start building up his credit history, which is always a good thing.

OP - If and only if, he can manage it responsibly it would also be a good idea for him to apply for a student credit card, Using one for a small amount and paying it off in full each month, is a fantastic way to build credit worthiness.

Op, when my DS turned 18 and was changing his phone, we wanted to put Contract in his name to start building credit score. We were advised by Tesco that SIM only was the best way to go. The advisor said they dont do a full credit check for SIM only.

I would say though, his was only £7.50/mth, he has since gone to £10/mth, so I think £20 is extremely high, but then we have never paid so much even for a Contract!!

DS also managed to get a credit card alongside his student account with HSBC when he went to uni 9 mths later. He uses it for small payments each month, train fares, some shopping, and has a DD to pay it off in full. Would that be an option for your DS once he has got his SIM only contract set up?

DS did have a part time job when he got SIM only contract, but earning less than £200/mth, so not sure that was even taken into account by Tesco.