Can you switch phone carriers if you owe money?

Are you itching to switch wireless carriers, but asking yourself “can you switch phone carriers if you owe money”? The good news is, yes, it’s totally possible for you to make the switch even if you owe money, but your current carrier will expect any old bills and phones to be paid off and contracts to be wrapped up.

The process of switching when you still owe money varies by carrier, but we’ll explore a few ways you can start the switch below. And of course, there are ways to switch carriers without paying, but that’s a topic for a different blog.

How to switch phone carriers if you still owe money

As we mentioned before, the steps may vary based on your carrier, but generally here’s how the process goes:

1. Call your current carrier up to ask how much you still owe. Or, for the people that hate making phone calls, log in to your account to see how much you need to pay off, including any device payments.
   
2. Don’t close your account with your current carrier until you successfully transfer out. Only do this once you’ve successfully transferred your number to your new carrier. If you do, you could lose that phone number you’ve had since middle school, and you’ll probably want to keep your phone number when you switch.

3. Your account with your now-former carrier will be closed out automatically and a final bill will be sent to you. It may or may not include an early termination fee, too. We recommend paying that ASAP, which we’ll go into later. Feeling impatient while waiting for your carrier to switch? Find out how long it takes to switch phone carriers.

What happens if I don’t pay my final bill after switching carriers?

If you switch carriers and forget to pay your final bill, your previous carrier will try to contact you to remind you of your outstanding payment. If you don’t pay, eventually they’ll likely send your debt to a debt collection agency who will then try and collect it from you. Just make sure you make that last payment.

Ready to make the switch?

Now you know how switching from your current carrier is totally possible even if you owe money, whether you’re switching from Consumer Cellular, switching from AT&T or switching from Verizon. It might require a bit of extra planning, but don’t hesitate to contact your current carrier’s customer service team to help you. 

Luckily, we make switching to Mint easy as fox (and our Customer Care team really cares), whether you want to bring along your old phone and number or not. Learn more about how Mint Mobile works and how you can join the movemint.