- Ofcom issues £28 million fine to Virgin Media over cancellation worries
- Millions of customers had to jump through hoops to cancel their contracts
- Virgin admitted fault and cooperated, reducing the value of the fine
Ofcom has issued Virgin Media to pay a £28 million fine after an investigation found it repeatedly made it "unreasonabl[y]" difficult for customers to cancel their broadband, TV and phone contracts.
The investigation covered nearly two years between January 1, 2022 and September 11, 2024, making it the largest fine Ofcom has ever imposted under its consumer protection rules.
According to the announcement, millions of customer calls likely faced delayed or were prevented from switching to rival providers.
Virgin Media fined for blocking customer cancellations
Ofcom found that Virgin Media deliberately disconnected customers, made excessive and unnecessary transfers between departments, kept customers on hold and forced them to make multiple cancellation requests before action was taken.
These hurdles were likely caused by Virgin's two-tier retention system – with frontline workers unable to process cancellations, customers have to be transferred to specialist teams.
The regulator even found that Virgin Media's staff commission scheme rewarded agents for retaining customers, ultimately leading to financial incentives to make cancelling contracts difficult.
"Today, we are sending a clear message that any provider who wilfully acts against the interests of their customers will pay a heavy price," Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity Natalie Black said. "And by introducing the One Touch Switch Process, we‘ve put in place further safeguards to prevent this from happening again."
Virgin admitted fault and cooperated with Ofcom, granting it access to a 30% discount on the fine.
For Virgin Media, this marks the second fine it's received within 12 months, having received a £23.8 million fine in December 2025 for "putting vulnerable customers at risk" during its landline migration program.
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