Virgin Media fined £23.7m after serious customer incidents

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Virgin Media has four weeks to pay the fine or it will be passed to the Treasury

Anna WiseMonday 01 December 2025 09:37 GMT

Virgin was fined £23.8 million for breaching Ofcom’s consumer protection rules. (Getty Images)

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Ofcom has imposed a substantial £23.8 million fine on Virgin Media, citing the company's failure to protect thousands of vulnerable customers during their transition to digital landline services.

The media and communications watchdog reported that serious incidents transpired in November and December 2023 as Virgin upgraded home phone services.

Crucially, Virgin neglected to properly identify and record its "telecare" customers – individuals relying on emergency alarm systems linked to monitoring services.

This oversight meant affected individuals did not receive adequate support, with their vital devices prevented from connecting to alarm monitoring centres while their networks were disconnected, Ofcom found.

The watchdog said this put thousands of vulnerable customers, who were not engaged in the process of having their phone lines upgraded, at direct risk of harm.

Virgin was fined £23.8 million for breaching Ofcom’s consumer protection rules.

Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said: “It’s unacceptable that vulnerable customers were put at direct risk of harm and left without appropriate support by Virgin Media during what should have been a safe and straightforward upgrade to their landline services.

“Today’s fine makes clear to companies that if they fail to protect their vulnerable customers, they can expect to face similar enforcement action.”

Virgin has four weeks to pay the fine, which will then be passed onto the Treasury.

The penalty took into account the seriousness of the breach and the vulnerability of the customers affected – as well as the fact that Virgin self-reported the incident and admitted its failings.

A spokesman for Virgin said it had updated its procedures since 2023 and introduced further safeguards to improve its treatment of vulnerable customers.

“While historically the majority of migrations were completed without issue, we recognise that we didn’t get everything right and have since addressed the migration issues identified by Ofcom,” the company said.

This includes a package of support for vulnerable customers including improved communications, additional at-home support and extensive checks following the switchover, as well as taking part in a national awareness campaign.

The firm also stressed that it was “essential we move our customers to digital services” from traditional analogue landlines which are “less reliable and difficult to maintain”.