Ofcom’s £24m Fine Puts Spotlight on Virgin Media’s Telecare Failures
Let me walk you through this major development involving Virgin Media and why it has sparked such a strong reaction across the UK. Recently, Virgin Media was hit with a £23.8 million fine after Ofcom ruled that the company had failed to properly protect thousands of vulnerable customers during the country’s ongoing digital landline switchover. This transition, which moves landline services from ageing analogue copper lines to digital connections, is meant to make the network more reliable. But for many people who rely on telecare alarms—especially elderly and disabled users—the shift ended up causing serious risks.
Telecare alarms are those systems where a user presses a button and an alert is sent to carers or emergency services. They’re simple, but absolutely vital. And during this period of migration from analogue to digital, Ofcom found that Virgin Media did not correctly identify telecare users in its system. As a result, thousands of customers ended up with alarms that were no longer connected to their monitoring centres. In some cases, people were even disconnected entirely if they didn’t respond to the company’s outreach about the upgrade. That approach, according to Ofcom, placed vulnerable individuals “at direct risk of harm.”
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What makes this particularly alarming is that the digital switchover was supposed to be straightforward and safe. Instead, it became a period where the exact people who rely most on consistent communication were left unsure whether help would reach them in an emergency. Virgin Media eventually self-reported a series of serious incidents from late 2023, which became a key part of the watchdog’s investigation.
Ofcom concluded that the failure stretched over a long period—from August 2022 to December 2023—and involved what it called “serious system failures.” Because of the extended duration, the seriousness of the potential harm, and the number of customers affected, the regulator imposed one of its largest-ever fines. Only penalties issued to Royal Mail in 2018 and BT in 2017 were larger.
Virgin Media has acknowledged that mistakes were made. The company said that while most customers were switched without problems, it “didn’t get everything right.” Since then, it says a comprehensive set of improvements has been introduced: better communication, extra in-home support, detailed post-migration checks, and a nationwide awareness campaign created alongside government and industry partners. It also says nearly 43,000 telecare users have now been individually contacted and supported.
Ofcom, however, was clear in its message: companies must place vulnerable customers at the centre of any major change. And if they fail, enforcement will follow—just as it did here.
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