Virgin Media hit with record £28m Ofcom fine over cancellation practices
July 8, 2026 10.34 Europe/London By Julian Clover


Virgin Media has been fined £28 million by Ofcom after the regulator found the operator made it unnecessarily difficult for customers to cancel contracts and switch to rival providers.

The watchdog said millions of customer calls between January 2022 and September 2024 were likely to have been mishandled through tactics including excessive call transfers, repeated periods on hold, dropped calls and failures to process cancellations. Ofcom also found Virgin Media’s commission scheme rewarded agents for retaining customers, effectively encouraging behaviour designed to discourage switching.

According to Ofcom, Virgin Media operated a two-tier retention system in which only second-tier agents could process cancellations, forcing more than one million customers to repeat their requests before they could leave.

Natalie Black, Ofcom’s Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity, said: “The facts are clear. Virgin Media made it harder for customers to cancel their contracts and then did not fully cooperate with our investigation. As a result, we are levelling our largest ever fine under our consumer protection rules for direct harm to consumers.”

She added: “Today, we are sending a clear message that any provider who wilfully acts against the interests of their customers will pay a heavy price.”

A Virgin Media spokesperson pointed to the fine being for historic failings the cause of which have subsequently been addressed: “We’re committed to giving all our customers great service and apologise to the small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past.

“We have completely redesigned our customer services in recent years, addressing the historic shortfalls identified by Ofcom through a number of improvements, and have resolved all formal customer complaints from this period providing redress where appropriate.”

A turnaround plan instigated by Virgin Media O2’s Chief Executive Officer, Lutz Schüler, last year has led to Virgin move from being the most complained about operator to the least. It has also created a new UK-based team to resolve the most complex of issues.

The £28 million penalty is the largest Ofcom has imposed under its consumer protection rules for direct consumer harm. It exceeds the regulator’s previous major consumer enforcement fine against Virgin Media of £23.8 million, issued in December 2025 after the operator put vulnerable telecare customers at risk during its migration from analogue to digital landlines.

Ofcom said the fine reflects the scale of customer harm, the financial benefit Virgin Media is likely to have gained, the company’s lack of cooperation during the investigation and the fact it had previously breached the same consumer protection rules. The penalty was reduced by 30% after Virgin Media admitted its failings and agreed to settle the case. The company has since changed its commission scheme, training and quality assurance processes, while Ofcom has ordered it to ensure affected customers who complained receive any compensation due within six months.