what if i signed a contract when i was underage?

Question

When i was 16 i signed a mobile phone contract (stupidly) but the minimum age was 18, i put in a different date of bith and the contract was allowed.
After some time i ceased to pay the bill(woops) and now credit agencies contact me asking for repayment, i was wondering if the contract is null as i was under age?

thankyou guys if you can help :-)

charlie

by the way its in the uk :)

Answer 1

I'd be careful - you probably also signed a declaration to say the information you'd provided was correct to your knowledge.

As you deliberately lied, odds are you don't have a leg to stand on.

Answer 2

Depends where you are. In England minors cannot enter into a contract that creates 'debt' unless that debt is used to purchase what the law deems as 'necessaries'. These generally include food, clothing and shelter. Whether a mobile phone would class as a 'necessary' would be open to interpretation by a court although I doubt if it would be classed as such. Because you lied about your age, however, the phone company could have this construed as a criminal act in which you obtained goods or services under false pretences and pursue the debt that way. If convicted and found guilty you could be forced to pay 'reparation' to cover their losses and face a Community Service Order besides having a criminal record for future prospective employers to see. If I were you I would make some arrangement with the Credit Agency, explaining the circumstances and offering a reasonable monthly repayment.

Little tip: Don't do it again!

Answer 3

My guess. I'm not an attorney!

You could have gotten out of your contract at any time by disclosing you signed under false pretenses. You do not have the right to not pay for a service you received. That can't be justified because you falsified the contract. If this ever went to court, you would probably get in more trouble for signing the contract than not paying your bills. Call the collection agency and make payment arrangements. For as little as 25-30 a month, you should be able to pay off the bill.

Hope you learned a lesson!

Answer 4

Hi Charlie!

Credit agencies will work with you if you will just call them. You created the debt, it doesn't matter how old you were. Call them and work out a payment schedule. Tell them exactly how much you can afford to pay per month and pay the amount without being late every month, just as agreed.

If you do not pay, this will stay with your credit report and you will not be able to purchase a car, a home, another mobile phone, or anything else. Do the right thing and call them and work out a repayment.

Answer 5

The contract is void and cannot be enforced. But you are liable for any debts incurred after age 18, and they can also sue you for for obtaining money under false pretences and judge will see you do not come out of it much better off, plus a criminal record

If you have the money, pay up as soon as possible. If you do not have it, contact them, tell them the truth, say you cannot pay it all, but you will try for the 50%.
If they do not agree, go to one of those credit agencies who specialise in such matters. What you must not do is sit it out and do nothing.

Answer 6

all I can say is that you have committed fraud and this will be recoreded on your credit file as well as the fact that you have missed payments resulting in a default. This will be on the crdit file for 6 years, even if you pay the balance in that time.

Saying that, you would have had to prove your age, not by just falsifying a date of birth on the form, but by proving your date of birth with a passport and/or a birth certificate how did you get round that?

I am not sure if your parents will be liable now.

Answer 7

Well unfortunately officially you broke the law when you lied about your age to get a mobile phone contract. So, not really sure as exposing them also means exposing yourself, and maybe, as the misrepresentation was yours, the mobile phone company cannot be liable for it.

If you want professional (free) legal advice about it, why not check out the website: www.legal-advice.co.uk?

However, you should really pay up, it IS in fact genuinely money you owe them - they're not asking for anything that they're not actually owed by you.

Answer 8

you signed a contract, and you commited fraud... but they didnt check, so both parties are in the wrong. however, at 16 yu have the ability to sign stuff, and are deemed by law to be responsible for your actions.

and if you dont pay, theyll keep adding charges..and credit companies, especially ones you owe money to will persue the debt for at least 6 years..civil proceeding in the small claims court can now go to 5000, and you get stuffed with teh charges...yes, all of them.

contact them and make them an offer... and learn a valuable lesson...

Answer 9

You cannt be held liable for the contract however you could be charged for the criminal offence of fraud.

You will be better off paying up what you owe rather than a criminal record that will stain your character for a long long time.

And learn your lesson if you are going to be an adult then adult responsibilities means paying and honoring your word.

Answer 10

Even if you lied about your age ...and even if you signed something stating what you said was true - it means nothing because you signed that while underage too....the contract is trash. Depending on the wording of the contract however...your parents could be liable instead.

Answer 11

Minors generally lack the capacity to contract. However, they are not permitted to derive value from their contract without paying for it. Moreover, the fact that you fraudulently concealed your age from the mobile phone company makes it extremely unlikely that any judge would throw out the contract. You received the services and your are obligated to pay for them.