Early leaving/disconnect charges

Relatives presently on Virgin Media are moving to the country where Virgin (indeed any cable) is not available. Reading their Ts and Cs, Virgin charges for the unexpired portion of the contract even though they cannot provide service at the new location.

Do I recall an Ofcom ruling that such disconnection charges cannot be applied in cases where an ISP cannot continue its supply side of the contract, or is this wishful thinking?

Nope.

Virgin terms are clear that they don't provide a network in all areas and there will be charges if you move within the minimum term to an area they can't serve you.

I tried to get out my contract using the whole I'm moving to an area you don't serve, but the best they would do is £10 off the early disconnection fees.

They have a page explaining how much these charges are for each package.
If you are on a special discount or a product not listed then you need to call them to calculate the charges.

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-legal-stuff/ter...

There's also a 30 notice period to end the contract.

The Virgin Media network does not cover all of the UK – please use our post code checker by clicking here to check availability. If you move to a property outside our network area during your minimum period, you may have to pay an Early Disconnection Fee for ending your contract early. So, before taking a new service, if you think that you may move to a property outside of the Virgin Media network area before the end of your minimum period, one of our 30 day rolling contracts may be more suitable for you.

They were having none of it when i called twice trying to get out for free.
YMMV.

Edited by j0hn83 (Wed 07-Oct-20 18:15:29)

Thank you John, it's as I feared

In my experience, it depends who you speak to.
I told VM I was moving twice and cancelled it once in the middle - if that makes sense.
The first chap wanted to charge me some money - £80 or so.

After I cancelled the move-out, then a week or two later rebooked it, the second person refunded me £42 by cheque - tho this took about 3 months to arrive, and I still have their equipment

I don't understand why one person gave me a refund and the other wanted to charge me, but hey, that's the joy of Virgin Media