Mobile Phone Contract Query

[SL2024 60]

Hi all,

 

I had my visa interview last month where I was approved and issued. So I now have the process of sorting things out in terms of shipping my stuff over to the USA when I travel later this year. 

 

I think I already know the answer to this but I just want to make sure. I was just wondering if people had to cancel their phone contracts and pay a fee to do so? As I will have about 6 months left on my mobile phone contract when I plan on travelling.

 

Hope you can help.

[Boiler 45,314]

Is it not covered by the terms and conditions of your Contract?

[appleblossom 2,329]

4 hours ago, SL2024 said:

Hi all,

 

I had my visa interview last month where I was approved and issued. So I now have the process of sorting things out in terms of shipping my stuff over to the USA when I travel later this year. 

 

I think I already know the answer to this but I just want to make sure. I was just wondering if people had to cancel their phone contracts and pay a fee to do so? As I will have about 6 months left on my mobile phone contract when I plan on travelling.

 

Hope you can help.

 

As above, it will depend on your contract, each provider is different. But will you have anything where a UK mobile number may still be useful? I moved just over a year ago and I still have my UK number, and need it regularly for things like security codes from my bank or HMRC. If you'll have the same then I wouldn't cancel the contract, I'd just switch to a SIM only deal once it runs out and turn down the data amount so you don't pay very much. Mine is something like £3 a month but is very useful, and I just have both lines on my phone, one US and one UK. 

Edited September 5 by appleblossom

[SL2024 60]

45 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

As above, it will depend on your contract, each provider is different. But will you have anything where a UK mobile number may still be useful? I moved just over a year ago and I still have my UK number, and need it regularly for things like security codes from my bank or HMRC. If you'll have the same then I wouldn't cancel the contract, I'd just switch to a SIM only deal once it runs out and turn down the data amount so you don't pay very much. Mine is something like £3 a month but is very useful, and I just have both lines on my phone, one US and one UK. 

Apologies I could have worded my original post better.

 

I know that there is a termination fee with my provider already but what I meant was that I was more curious to see whether people had cancelled their UK phone contracts when they moved? As was interested to see if they kept their phones and phone numbers, etc.

 

I will need to have a look more in depth to see if there is anything I will need my UK number for (I think it’s likely I will need it for things like codes from my bank) but I think a SIM only deal sounds a very good option and not a bad price as well. I will have a look into that a bit further!

 

Thank you for the advice @appleblossom.

 

 

[appleblossom 2,329]

8 minutes ago, SL2024 said:

Apologies I could have worded my original post better.

 

I know that there is a termination fee with my provider already but what I meant was that I was more curious to see whether people had cancelled their UK phone contracts when they moved? As was interested to see if they kept their phones and phone numbers, etc.

 

I will need to have a look more in depth to see if there is anything I will need my UK number for (I think it’s likely I will need it for things like codes from my bank) but I think a SIM only deal sounds a very good option and not a bad price as well. I will have a look into that a bit further!

 

Thank you for the advice @appleblossom.

 

 

 

Ah, I see. I'd definitely advise keeping your UK number, I need mine regularly and it's not a huge cost if you do a SIM only deal once your contract ends. 

[SL2024 60]

6 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

Ah, I see. I'd definitely advise keeping your UK number, I need mine regularly and it's not a huge cost if you do a SIM only deal once your contract ends. 

 

Agreed - I will have a look into it a bit more in terms of cost

[ScarletWitch6x 58]

My fiance is planning to keep his UK number. He's going to transition his plan from a full cellphone plan to a 'pay as you go' sort of thing. He talked to them today and they said he needs to use the phone once every few months and $5 in minutes every other month or so. I'll add him to my phone plan so he has a US number. 

 

Once he is here we might look at upgrading him to a dual-sim eligible phone so that he can have both on one device. If not, I think he has an old phone he might put the UK sim into for things like 2FA. 

[SL2024 60]

On 9/6/2024 at 2:52 AM, ScarletWitch6x said:

My fiance is planning to keep his UK number. He's going to transition his plan from a full cellphone plan to a 'pay as you go' sort of thing. He talked to them today and they said he needs to use the phone once every few months and $5 in minutes every other month or so. I'll add him to my phone plan so he has a US number. 

 

Once he is here we might look at upgrading him to a dual-sim eligible phone so that he can have both on one device. If not, I think he has an old phone he might put the UK sim into for things like 2FA. 

Thank you for letting me know! 

[SL2024 60]

On 9/5/2024 at 10:18 PM, SL2024 said:

 

Agreed - I will have a look into it a bit more in terms of cost

 

@appleblossom I forgot to ask but did you sort this out over the phone or in store with your network provider?

[appleblossom 2,329]

1 minute ago, SL2024 said:

 

@appleblossom I forgot to ask but did you sort this out over the phone or in store with your network provider?

 

You mean the US side? I just signed up online, I use Mint Mobile. I did it from the UK before we left, so that as soon as we landed I had the US number active, and I could also give it to people before I moved so they had my contact info stateside. 

[SL2024 60]

1 minute ago, appleblossom said:

 

You mean the US side? I just signed up online, I use Mint Mobile. I did it from the UK before we left, so that as soon as we landed I had the US number active, and I could also give it to people before I moved so they had my contact info stateside. 

 

Oh I meant the UK side of things

[appleblossom 2,329]

3 minutes ago, SL2024 said:

 

Oh I meant the UK side of things

 

Oh, I see. I just did that online too, turned down the data from the 30GB or whatever we had before to a much smaller amount to keep costs down. 

 

But we didn't have contracts, we just buy nearly new refurbished phones and then do SIM only deals, there are four of us (two adults and two teens) so it's saved us thousands over the years! So if you're in a contract then I think you'd just have to let that run until the end and then switch to SIM only. 

[SL2024 60]

7 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

Oh, I see. I just did that online too, turned down the data from the 30GB or whatever we had before to a much smaller amount to keep costs down. 

 

But we didn't have contracts, we just buy nearly new refurbished phones and then do SIM only deals, there are four of us (two adults and two teens) so it's saved us thousands over the years! So if you're in a contract then I think you'd just have to let that run until the end and then switch to SIM only. 

 

Thank you - I think I am going to go into a store for my network provider this weekend and speak to somebody about it and see if they can change me to a pay as you go plan

[SL2024 60]

Hi,

 

Just to give an update on this. 

 

I spoke to my network provider earlier and they said I could change to a pay as you go plan and keep my phone number but that I need to give them 30 days notice to change me from my

contract to pay as you go.

 

They said I have an option in my contract where I don’t need to pay an extra fee. Also they said I just top up £10 of credit as and when online or on the app, I don’t need a new SIM card and that I could dual SIM with a US phone number as well.

 

I just need to call or text every 6 months just to make sure I keep active on their network but it was a very helpful call.

 

 

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Lived here for 15 years now, and kept my UK mobile phone the whole time. And UK bank account. There’s something very reassuring about knowing that everything you need to restart your life in the UK (should you ever need to) is right there.