No service on move but must still pay?

kelloggs36

My DD moved into her rented home in Oct and had Virgin services installed - phone, tv and broadband. She has been told by her landlord that he is selling the property and wants her and her bf to move out asap. They have found a place and are due to move in at end of this month. She contacted Virgin to move services to new address but they informed her that they don't cover the new address but she could cancel her services for a fee of £240! It is not her choice to move and not her fault that they don't cover her new address, so it seems completely unfair that she has to pay this fee. Is there anything she can do to avoid the fee?

macman

No, because she contracted with VM at the current address. VM do not guarantee service to every address in the UK, only about 60% is cabled. She is breaking the contract, and any dispute with her LL is a 3rd party matter.
This question comes up several times a week, the answer does not change.

kelloggs36

Her problem is that she hasn't got a choice. She didn't want to move..

kwikbreaks

VM won't care why. A broken contract means an early termination fee regardless. I'm not even certain if they'd waive it on death - knowing VM probably not.

System

They probably could have strung out staying at their current property till about August by the time the LL issued a correct S21 and followed it up with eviction procedures in court.

Did the LL issue a valid S21 in the first place?

corf999

Why did she sign a contract that was beyond her tenancy agreement?

I am guessing she signed an 18 month contract with only a 6 month tenancy in place, crazyness - why would she do that?

kelloggs36

12 months only. Ll gave bo indication they intended to sell.

kelloggs36

And she would be more than happy to port to new property which is only 3 miles down the road but vm for some unknown reason don't cover that address.

Benet

kelloggs36 wrote: »

And she would be more than happy to port to new property which is only 3 miles down the road but vm for some unknown reason don't cover that address.

macman wrote: »

VM do not guarantee service to every address in the UK, only about 60% is cabled.

The distance isn't the issue, its whether the new street is cabled or not.

As mentioned above, its an unfortunate situation but one there isn't an easy way around. The contract is tied to an address, not an individual.

One option may be to talk to VM and see if you can get onto a BB only package using a BT phoneline and see if they can reduce the fee if they're retaining your DD as a customer in some shape or form. I can't imagine it'll work, but it might be worth a shot.

macman

VM no longer offer the ADSL-based Virgin National service, so porting the service is not an option.
OP, she may not wish to move, but that is between her and the LL-nothing to do with VM.
The only valid grounds for voiding the contract without penalty are death or bankruptcy.

Benet

macman wrote: »

VM no longer offer the ADSL-based Virgin National service.

Apologies for giving false info (and maybe false hope!)

Good luck OP.