About our Pay Weekly Mobile Phone Contracts

Pay weekly can be a great way to buy a phone if you haven’t been accepted for a contract and can’t afford to buy a device outright.

Pay weekly tariffs are also available. These are SIM-only deals that provide you with a package of minutes, texts and data for a small weekly payment.

Many companies promise both pay weekly handsets and pay weekly SIM-only deals without a credit check. This can be extremely useful for people who have a low credit score due to past financial difficulties.

If you’re interested in pay weekly mobile phones, read on to find our more.

How does pay weekly work?

There are a couple of different kinds of pay weekly agreements – the first is a hire to purchase agreement. You pay for the handset of your choice over a set number of weekly payments. Once all the payments have been made, the handset is yours. However, the phone remains the legal property of the retailer until the last payment has been made which means you cannot sell or dispose of it during the payment period. Some retailers also insist that you buy insurance to cover the phone for theft or damage, which increases the cost of your weekly payments.

The second agreement requires you to make 16 weekly payments before the handset is dispatched. You order your handset of choice, make 16 successful payments, and the phone is shipped to you. This requires a bit of patience on your part, but since this type of agreement typically involves NO credit check, it’s great for those who have been refused contracts in the past.

Both options are offered by a number of different retailers and share similarities. However, hire to purchase agreements typically require some kind of credit check. Fortunately with smaller weekly payments acceptance rates tend to be quite high and so even if you have a low score you have a good chance of being accepted.

The pros and cons of paying weekly

Pay weekly deals are advertised as an affordable way to spread the cost of an expensive handset. And there’s no doubt the small weekly payments seem more appealing than a larger monthly bill. In addition, this type of arrangement can be extremely useful for people who receive their wages weekly rather than monthly. You can spread payments out over a course of weeks, months or years, and many companies offer flexible payments options. For some people, this is their only option for buying large ticket items like mobile phones.

However, there are downsides and they can be serious. With no credit check and small weekly payments, it can be tempting for people to buy numerous items in this manner. Signing up for more weekly contracts than you can afford can have grave legal consequences if you fail to make payments. It’s really important that you remain mindful of what you can afford and take time to seriously think before signing up to any finance agreement.

In addition to the potential financial ramifications, pay weekly hire to purchase agreements for handsets can have extremely high interest rates. One example is BrightHouse with a fixed APR of 99% for mobile phones. An interest rate this high can mean you end up paying double the retail price of a phone.

And even the second method of paying 16 weeks upfront can be a very expensive way to buy a phone. One retailer offers a Samsung Galaxy S9+ for 52 weekly payments of £29.57, costing you £1,537.64 in total. Comparatively, the same model (with double the storage) can be purchased outright at Argos for £869.95.

In these cases it is clearly far more financially savvy to simply save up and buy a handset outright or buy a cheaper model.

Pay weekly SIM-only deals

SIM-only deals are handset-free contracts. They include a bundle of calls, texts and data and some companies even offer other rewards and benefits.

Pay weekly SIM-only deals are not all that common as most SIM-only deals are offered on monthly contracts with a minimum of 30 days. The good news is that pay monthly SIM-only deals are extremely affordable (starting at just £4 a month for a basic package) and have very high credit acceptance rates.

However, if you really would prefer a pay weekly SIM-only deal, there are a couple of online retailers to turn to. It’s important to note that you’ll probably pay more for a pay weekly SIM deal, as prices start at around £3 per week for a calls and text only package. These kinds of deals will best suit very light phone users.

If you urgently need a new phone, pay weekly can be a lifeline. But be aware of any potential financial ramifications and the fact you may end up paying double the retail price of the device. Always do your research and compare retailers to find the best deal for you.