Ofcom fines Virgin Media £23.8m for putting vulnerable customers at risk

Ofcom has fined Virgin Media £23.8 million, after it disconnected telecare customers during its programme to migrate customers to digital landlines.

Landline phone calls have traditionally been delivered over a copper-based network known as the public switched telephone network (PSTN). This network is beyond its intended lifespan and is becoming increasingly unreliable, so it needs to be upgraded.

Ofcom says that the industry-led process of transitioning customers from analogue to digital landlines is a necessary and important step in ensuring modern, reliable and resilient home phone services in the UK. But Ofcom has been clear that, during this migration process, telecoms companies must ensure they identify, protect and support vulnerable customers.

Migration of customers with telecare alarms must be undertaken with appropriate care and tailored support, as any disruption to their device’s connection could have material impacts on their safety.

Virgin Media notified Ofcom about a number of serious incidents related to the migration of telecare customers in November and December 2023. As a result, Ofcom launched an investigation to establish whether the company had failed to comply with its duties to treat vulnerable customers fairly.

The investigation uncovered serious systemic failures in Virgin Media’s migration process between August 2022 and December 2023. In summary, Virgin Media failed to properly identify and record the status of telecare customers, resulting in significant gaps in the screening process. This meant that those affected did not receive the appropriate level of tailored support through the migration process. Virgin Media’s approach to disconnecting Telecare customers who did not engage in the migration process, despite being aware of the risks posed, put thousands of vulnerable customers at a direct risk of harm and prevented their devices from connecting to alarm monitoring centres while the disconnection was in place.

As a result of Virgin Media’s serious failures, Ofcom has fined the company £23,800,000, which will be passed on to HM Treasury. In setting the penalty amount, Ofcom took into consideration the vulnerability of the customers affected; the significant duration of the contraventions; the seriousness of the breach; and the significant degree of potential harm caused.

The penalty also takes into account that Virgin Media to Ofcom, admitted its failings by entering into a settlement process, and cooperated with our investigation. The company has also taken significant steps to remedy the issues. Following a pause on migrations in December 2023, Virgin Media has updated its policies and procedures and introduced a number of further safeguards.

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.”

Responding to the announcement a Virgin Media spokesperson said “As traditional analogue landlines become less reliable and difficult to maintain, it’s essential we move our customers to digital services.

“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. Our customers’ safety is always our top priority and, following an end-to-end review which began in 2023, we have already introduced a comprehensive package of improvements and enhanced support for vulnerable customers including improved communications, additional in-home support and extensive post-migration checks, as well as working with the industry and Government on a joint national awareness campaign.

“We’ve been working closely with Ofcom, telecare providers and local authorities to identify customers requiring additional support and are confident that the processes, policies and procedures we now have in place allow us to safely move customers to digital landlines.”