Ofcom found Virgin failed properly to identify and record the status of telecare customers in November and December 2023
Virgin Media has been fined £23.8million after it put thousands of vulnerable customers “at direct risk of harm” by disconnecting them during its move to digital landlines.
The telecoms industry is in the middle of replacing copper based landlines to digital telephone systems. But as part of an investigation, Ofcom found Virgin failed properly to identify and record the status of telecare customers in November and December 2023.
This meant that those affected did not receive the appropriate level of support through the switch process. Telecare customers have emergency alarm systems that connect to a monitoring service.
Ofcom found some telecom devices were prevented from connecting to alarm monitoring centres while their networks were disconnected. The watchdog said this put thousands of vulnerable customers at direct risk of harm.
Ofcom fined Virgin £23.8million for breaching its consumer protection rules. The watchdog says it took into consideration the vulnerability of the customers affected, the duration and seriousness of the breach and the degree of potential harm caused.
The penalty also takes into account that Virgin self-reported the incident to Ofcom. Virgin has four weeks to pay the fine, which will then be passed onto the Treasury.
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 said it has updated its procedures since 2023. A 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.”
