Virgin Media has been fined £23.8m for putting thousands of vulnerable people “at risk of harm” by switching from analogue to digital landlines.
After Virgin Media self-reported several “serious incidents” in November and December 2023, media watchdog, Ofcom, found that the company failed to protect people relying on telecare alarms to call for help.
Telephone network owners have been switching millions of people to digital landlines in recent years, but the move could disrupt some telecare alarms that rely on analog systems to communicate with call centers or carers.
Ofcom found “serious system failings” in Virgin Media’s process of moving its customers to digital landlines between August 2022 and December 2023, including a failure to properly identify and record the status of people with telecare alarms.
Virgin Media’s approach to disconnecting telecare customers who had not engaged in the switch process harmed thousands of people and “prevented their devices from connecting to alarm monitoring centers while the disconnection occurred”, the regulator said.
Ofcom’s director of enforcement Ian Strawhorn said: ,It is unacceptable that vulnerable customers were put at direct risk of harm and left without proper support by Virgin Media when 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.”
The £23.8 million fine, which Virgin Media must pay within the next four weeks, will be handed over to the Treasury. This includes a 30% discount because Virgin self-reported the incident to Ofcom, admitted its failings and cooperated with the investigation.
The watchdog also noted that the company has taken steps to fix the problem, including manually reviewing its customer service records and contacting its approximately 43,000 telecare users to support them in the switch.
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A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “While historically most migrations were completed without any issues, we recognize that we did not get everything right and we have addressed the migration issues identified by Ofcom.
“The safety of our customers is always our top priority and, following an end-to-end review starting in 2023, we have already introduced a comprehensive package of reforms and enhanced support for vulnerable customers, including better communications, additional in-home support and comprehensive post-migration checks, as well as working with industry and government on a joint national awareness campaign.
“We are working closely with Ofcom, telecare providers and local authorities to identify customers who need additional support and we are confident that the processes, policies and procedures we now have in place allow us to safely transfer customers to digital landlines.”
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