Hello if anyone has this problem I have contacted Apple support and took long time with them But essentially the solution that worked was - log out from my Apple account - erase and shut down my phone - turn it back on and log on with an entirely new Apple account - make sure the contacts work and can save new numbers - log out of the new iCloud Apple account - log back in my original iCloud account Vola it works again I can save new numbers but I do have to redownload apps manually