How do I cancel Virgin Media without paying cancellation fees?

Fed up with Virgin Media? Want to move to another broadband provider? There are circumstances under which you can switch broadband provider without paying exit fees. We’ll show you how to cancel Virgin Media, when you can do this without paying exit fees and who you need to contact.

Click the links below to jump straight to the relevant section:

• How long’s left on my contract?
• Virgin Media cancellation fees
• How to leave Virgin Media without cancellation fees
• Moving home
• Virgin Media’s cancellations number

How long’s left on my Virgin Media contract?

If you’re thinking of leaving, the first thing you’ll need to establish is how long is left on your Virgin Media contract.

To find this out:

1. Go to the Virgin Media website and sign in the top-right corner
2. On the right-hand side, under Latest Bill, you should see a link to ‘view contract’
3. On the following page, look for a box on the right-hand side that states your minimum contract period – the contract expiry date should be below that in very small print, as shown below!

Note that even if you are now out of contract, you still need to give Virgin Media 30 days’ notice if you intend to leave and they may charge you for that period if you decide to quit beforehand.

Virgin Media cancellation fees

As you might have seen from the image above, if you’re trying to leave before your contract is up, Virgin Media may attempt to charge you a cancellation fee – or Early Disconnection Fee, as they call it. There are some circumstances where you can leave without paying these fees, which we’ll come to shortly.

However, if you haven’t got any major broadband performance/service issues and you’re trying to switch provider before the contract is up, you’ll likely have to pay the Early Disconnection Fee. At the time of writing in March 2022, these fees are as follows:

Broadband package	Early Disconnection Fee (per month remaining)
M50	£30.61
M100	£35.39
M200	£40.58
M350	£45.56
M500	£50.54
Gig1	£50.07
Volt M200	£35.39
Volt M350	£40.58

Further cancellation fees may apply to products such as TV packages and telephone lines. The full details of Virgin Media’s Early Disconnection Fees can be found here.

It’s also worth noting here that the 30 days’ notice still applies, even if you’re in contract. So if you want to leave with three months remaining on your deal, you’ll need to pay the full price for the first month and then two months of Early Disconnection Fees.

How to cancel Virgin Media without paying cancellation fees

There are some scenarios where you can leave Virgin Media without paying exit fees, even if you’re still under contract. These are:

Inflation-busting price increases

If Virgin Media puts up the price of your package above the rate of inflation, you’re entitled to leave your contract without penalty. In this situation, Virgin Media will write to you stating the new price and giving you the option to cancel by a certain deadline. If you’re planning to do that, make sure you’ve got another provider lined up to take over to avoid any loss of service.

Broadband speeds not matching your speed promise

Virgin Media has signed up to regulator Ofcom’s voluntary Broadband Code of Practice. Part of that compels Virgin Media to release customers from their contract in the following circumstances:

“If your service doesn’t deliver the speeds you were promised by your provider, get in touch with them. If the problem is on their network and they can’t fix it within 30 days, they must let you leave your contract without having to pay an early exit fee.“

Your minimum guaranteed download speed will be stated in your contract, which you can download from the Virgin Media website, via the same page that we accessed above. Note: Virgin states both ‘normally available speed’ and ‘minimum guaranteed speed’ – it’s the minimum that is the key speed here.

Jumping out of your contract, penalty-free, is not simply a case of taking an internet speed test that scores below the minimum guarantee and pinging the results to Virgin Media. For example, if you take a speed test in a room distant from your router, it’s highly likely you’ll get a speed below the minimum. It will boil down to how Virgin Media measures the speed coming into the home, not every room in your house, as Wi-Fi has far too many variables.

In short, that means you’re going to need to talk to Virgin Media’s technical support team and let them try and resolve any speed issues before you can even think about pulling the plug on a contract.

If you get nowhere with Virgin Media’s support team and you still feel you’re not getting the minimum speeds promised, put your case to the dispute-resolution service CISAS. Unfortunately, this process can take months.

A change in circumstances

This is largely anecdotal, so please don’t take it as gospel, but I’ve heard of more than one situation where someone under a Virgin Media contract has had a change of personal circumstances – for example, losing their job – and Virgin Media has been prepared to rip up the contract without penalty.

I suspect such cases are handled on a case-by-case basis. If you’re having trouble meeting the bills, it’s definitely best to talk to the company in advance, instead of letting bills pile up, as you may face penalty charges and being disconnected. Give Virgin Media a ring on 0345 6000 789 if you’re struggling to make ends meet.

Cancel Virgin Media because you’re moving home

If you’re moving home and Virgin Media is available in the new home, you can simply transfer your service. There’s a cheeky one-off charge of £20 to transfer your service to the new place.

If you’re moving to an area that doesn’t have Virgin Media, they will surely just rip up your contract, right? Seemingly not. There are many reported cases of Virgin Media charging people the aforementioned Early Disconnection Fees for any remaining term on their contract. Frankly, this should be outlawed by Ofcom. Customers shouldn’t be penalised for moving to an area that Virgin doesn’t cover. So, if you’re thinking of moving, don’t tie yourself down to a long-term Virgin Media contract or you could face a big bill.

The same applies even if you’re moving abroad. Virgin Media’s moving home page says: “You’ll be charged for the 30-day notice period, and you may also have to pay a cancellation fee if you’re still within your contracted period.”

What’s the Virgin Media cancellation number?

If you want to cancel your Virgin Media account you should:

• Call 0345 454 1111 or dial 150 from a Virgin Media landline or mobile phone
• Select the option ‘If you’re thinking of leaving Virgin Media’

If you do cancel your contract over the phone, be sure to get confirmation via email or in writing, in case any problems over unpaid bills or cancellation fees arise at a later date.