What are no credit check SIM only deals?

SIM only deals that don’t require you to pass a credit check tend to be short term contracts and last just one month, with the option to extend them or terminate them on a monthly basis.

If you want a longer-term SIM only contract, say for six months or a year, you’ll still have to pass a credit check before a network will accept you as a customer.

No credit check SIM only deals are typically on a rolling contract basis. That means that provided you give 30 days’ notice, you can cancel at any time and there’s no financial penalty to pay.

What do I need to do before signing up for no credit check SIM only deal?

To ensure you can pick from the widest possible choice of no credit check SIM only deals, you’ll want to make sure your phone is unlocked. To find out about phone unlocking, check out our one-stop guide.

If you haven’t got a phone, you can browse affordably priced models from the likes of Samsung, HTC and Microsoft, on our pay as you go phones comparison page.

Alternatively, you can browse reconditioned, nearly-new models on our refurbished phones page.

Who are credit check SIM only deals for?

Of course, no credit check SIM only contracts are ideal if you’ve been through a difficult patch financially and can even help you to help repair your credit rating. But they’re handy for other reasons too.

If you’re new to the UK, you may struggle to qualify for contract because you’ve got no credit history in this country. But you can get around that with a no credit check SIM only deal.

By the same token, teenagers and young adults are also unlikely to be accepted by networks for a standard monthly contract because they’re not yet old enough to have a credit history.

If you’ve moved house frequently or are on a zero-hours contract, both of which can damage your standing with mobile phone networks, a no credit check contract could be just the ticket.

Does a bad credit rating mean it’s impossible to get a standard phone contract?

The truth is that it’s unlikely that networks will let you sign up for a two-year free-phone contract if your credit rating is bad.

That’s not to say you can’t get a standard free-phone contract deal at all, though. Some sites exist expressly to cater for the market of people who want a regular contract but have a bad credit rating.

Naturally, there’s a catch. To mitigate their risk, these sites often demand a substantial deposit from customers. And they’ll frequently charge a higher monthly rate too. Especially if you want one of the latest handsets.

With all that in mind, it’s usually much more cost effective to buy a pay as you go phone outright and then sign up for one of the keenly priced no credit check SIM only deals in the tables above.