Virgin Media slapped with £24m Ofcom fine
Ofcom has dished out its biggest fine of the year after accusing telecoms giant Virgin Media of failing to protect vulnerable customers.
The media regulator has hit Virgin Media with a £23.8m fine over its treatment of customers during a planned transition from analogue to digital landlines.
Virgin Media notified Ofcom over incidents connected with the migration of its “telecare” customers between November and December 2023.
The service is typically used by elderly people who require access to a phone line to seek support if they are in difficulty.
That triggered an investigation by Ofcom, which looked at the firm’s behaviour during the migration.
Ofcom said Virgin Media’s approach to disconnecting its 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.
The regulator also said Virgin “failed” to properly identify and record the status of telecare customers, resulting in significant gaps in the screening process, meaning that those affected did not receive the appropriate level of tailored support through the migration process.
Ofcom said Virgin Media admitted its failings by entering into a settlement process, and cooperated with the investigation.
Virgin Media’s actions ‘unacceptable’
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.”
Ofcom said Virgin Media has since “taken significant steps” to tackle the problems after pausing the migrations in December 2023, including updating its policies and procedures and introducing a number of further safeguards.
The fine represents the biggest Ofcom has handed this year and comes just weeks after the regulator hit postal service Royal Mail with a £21m penalty over the late delivery of first and second class mail.
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.”