Mobile phone plans are traditionally offered one of two ways: as a PAYG tarifft or a pay monthly contract. While pay-as-you-go plans can work out to cost more for a call than a contract, they are a good option for some people, such as children, if you want to keep your mobile charges under control.

Most people opt for a fixed-term contract since it can be cheaper in the long run. But these contracts can be tough to get. Many phone companies have tough requirements you must meet before they will approve you for a contract.

During the application process, the company will record your personal details and then run them through systems that give the company an idea of whether you’ll make a good customer. One of the systems they use is a credit check, which gives the company access to your credit history and allows them to decide whether you are a low-risk customer. If your credit score is too low, the network will likely reject you for a contract. And it’s equally likely that other carriers will do the same.

Bad Credit Mobile Phones

But this doesn’t mean your situation is hopeless. Some companies are willing to hand out contracts to people with bad credit. These are known as bad credit mobile phones. But be warned that you will often have to pay more since you represent a greater risk to the company as a customer. Because of this, you will have to take extra time to research the different mobile phone contracts available to people with bad credit. There are a lot of scams out there that are just waiting to charge exorbitant mobile phone rates to vulnerable customers struggling with their credit history.

Struggling to be approved for a contract because of bad credit?

Click here to discover 6 places in the UK who offer bad credit mobile phones.

The voluntary code, announced this week, aims to prevent companies from reneging on agreed payment terms. This practice is (unfortunately) quite common among large corporations in the UK, with Alliance Boots and Tesco amongst the worst offenders.

The announcement follows the recent publication of research conducted by the Forum of Private Business sadly revealing the ugly truth: that 61 per cent of small firms in the UK are encountering troubles managing cashflow compared with the first week of November.

However Graydon UK is not convinced that the proposals will turn the tide of the late payment of suppliers in the UK, particularly in instances where small firms are the victims. If it’s voluntary, they’re likely to simply ignore the new code.

There’s no doubting good intention lies behind the Government’s introduction of a voluntary code but it is highly unlikely that this latest move will make a tangible difference when it comes to helping small companies manage their cashflow. Laws across the world are rarely an impetus or an incentive as a business tool, and this one won’t be either.

The economic situation has grown worse, and even large corporations no longer have the readily available cash required to pay bills and are failing to pay trade invoices simply because they can’t do so, and no voluntary code will change that simple fact.