Phone firms '˜worst private sector debt collectors'

Citizens Advice has labelled mobile phone companies the worst private sector debt collectors, and said customers should be allowed to take their own steps to limit usage to avoid racking up bills they cannot pay.

The charity’s Falling Behind report concluded that companies “sometimes play a significant role in people getting into mobile phone debt” after analysing 26,600 cases from last year totalling almost £11 million.

In some cases, providers did not make proper assessments of whether the customer could afford the contract.

There were also examples of people taking out multiple mobile phone contracts despite already being in debt.

One person who contacted Citizens Advice had more than £3,000 in debts across six different phone contracts.

The charity warned that many mobile phone users pay in arrears for extras outside their contracts, such as app purchases, texting a donation to a charity or calling premium rate lines such as directory enquiries, meaning bills could quickly spiral to hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

It has suggested that companies could help customers keep a lid on their bills by offering them a chance to set a monthly limit in a similar way to credit card accounts.