Virgin Media has been fined £23.8 million by Ofcom for severe failures in protecting vulnerable telecare customers during their transition from analogue to digital landlines between August 2022 and December 2023. The investigation found that the company did not properly identify or record the status of these customers, resulting in significant gaps in their screening process and inadequate support during the migration. Moreover, Virgin Media's decision to disconnect telecare customers who did not engage in the migration process, despite being aware of the risks, placed thousands of vulnerable individuals at direct risk of harm by preventing their devices from connecting to alarm monitoring centers.
Ofcom's Director of Enforcement, Ian Strawhorne, stated that the fine serves as a clear warning to companies that they must protect vulnerable customers during what should be a safe upgrade. The penalty amount reflects the known vulnerabilities of affected customers, the significant duration and seriousness of the breaches, and the high degree of potential harm caused. The £23.8 million fine will be passed on to HM Treasury and includes a 30% discount due to Virgin Media's admission of liability and full cooperation with Ofcom's settlement process.
Following a pause on migrations in December 2023, Virgin Media has implemented new safeguards and updated its policies. These measures include conducting manual reviews of customer service records to better identify telecare customers, launching an assurance campaign to contact 42,991 identified telecare users for support, and developing a new engagement plan that ensures non-engaging telecare users remain in a continuous loop of engagement rather than being disconnected. The company has also committed to working with local authorities to manage non-engaged telecare customers as the analogue network is decommissioned and is a signatory to the UK Government's Public Switched Telephone Network charter.
