EE and Virgin Media fined for overcharging customers Add to Your Pages
16 November 2018
Ofcom fines EE £6.3m and Virgin Media £7m for breaking consumer protection rules
Both levied excessive charges to customers who ended their contracts early
Ofcom has today fined EE and Virgin Media a combined total of £13.3m for overcharging phone and broadband customers who wished to leave their contracts early.
The penalties are the result of investigations into EE's and Virgin Media's early-exit charges.
Phone and broadband companies can charge customers who decide not to see out the minimum term of their contracts.[1] But under Ofcom rules, those charges must be made clear to customers, and must not make switching to another provider too costly. [2]
Our investigation found that both EE and Virgin Media failed to comply with these rules, because:
around 400,000 EE customers who ended their contracts early were over-billed, and customers ended up over-paying up to £4.3m;
almost 82,000 Virgin Media customers were overcharged a total of just under £2.8m; and
both companies failed to make sufficiently clear the charges customers would have to pay if they ended their contract early.
Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom's Director of Investigations and Enforcement, said: EE and Virgin Media broke our rules by overcharging people who ended their contracts early. Those people were left out of pocket, and the charges amounted to millions of pounds.
That is unacceptable. These fines send a clear message to all phone and broadband firms that they must play by the rules, in the interests of their customers.
What happened with EEOfcom's investigation found that, over a six-year period, terms applying to EE's discount contracts' did not clearly set out the charges its mobile customers would have to pay if they ended their contracts early. We also found that up to 15 million discount contracts for EE's mobile, landline and broadband customers required them to pay excessive early exit charges.[3]
Of those customers, 400,000 decided to leave their contracts early during the relevant period. They were collectively over-billed by up to £13.5m in early exit charges.
This was because EE mis-calculated early-exit charges for these customers based on the non-discounted monthly retail price. Affected customers were therefore allowed to pay a lower price while they remained EE customers, but were treated as if they were paying another, higher price if they wanted to leave.
Not all affected customers paid the excessive charges, as some were subsequently waived by EE. Taking this into account, EE estimates that its discount customers overpaid by up to £4.3m. These excessive charges disincentivised EE customers from switching to another provider, which is against Ofcom rules.
EE fine and customer refundsIn light of these findings, Ofcom has fined EE £6,300,000 for its failings. The figure incorporates a 30% reduction to reflect that EE admitted the breaches and agreed to settle the case.
As part of EE's co-operation with our investigation, EE agreed to change its terms and significantly reduce its charges. EE has refunded just over £2.7m to the affected customers it has been able to identify, although this means up to £1.6m cannot be refunded. Ofcom took these facts into account when setting the financial penalty.
As a result of our investigation, EE also volunteered to conduct an in-depth review of its processes and systems to help secure its future compliance with our rules, which we welcome.
What happened with Virgin MediaOur investigation found that, for almost a year, Virgin Media levied early-exit charges that were higher than customers had agreed to when signing up to their residential contracts.[4]
The company overcharged almost 82,000 customers who left their contracts early, by a total of just under £2.8m an average of £34 per person. Some 6,800 customers were overcharged by more than £100.
Due to Virgin Media setting its early-exit charges too high, its customers were disincentivised from switching to another provider, which is against Ofcom's rules.
Our investigation also discovered that Virgin Media failed to publish clear and up-to-date information on its website to help customers understand its early-exit charges.
Virgin Media fine and customer refundsOfcom has fined Virgin Media £7,000,000 for its failings. We have also fined the company an additional £25,000 for providing incomplete information in response to a statutory information request.[5]
Virgin Media has reimbursed or made donations to charity in respect of 99.8% of affected customers and the company is continuing its efforts to trace remaining customers in order to refund them. In the event it is unable to trace these customers, it will donate the remaining refunds to charity.
As a result of our investigation, Virgin Media has significantly reduced the level of its early-exit charges by an average of 30%, and up to 50% in some cases. Virgin Media now applies an additional reduction to the early-exit charges paid by customers who end their contract after moving house.
The company has also made changes to its procedures and contract terms applicable to home movers[6]. Virgin Media has agreed to:
make it clearer in contract terms, on its website and in conversations with customers, that Virgin Media's network does not cover the whole of the UK; and that, if a customer moves home to an area outside of its network, they may be liable to pay an early-exit charge;
promote 30-day rolling contracts as an alternative option for customers who are aware they may need to move house in the near future; and
update its training processes and customer service agents' scripts and materials to ensure that customers who indicate they may need to move home are provided with correct information.
In a
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
EE and Virgin Media fined for overcharging customers Add to Your Pages 
