Virgin media - early termination fees

33333

Hi,
Just hoping to get some quick clarification - following successfully re-negotiating a contract with VM, they stated that in the event of an early exit the termination charge (ETC) could be up to £240 (as per their T&C).

The renewed contract would be for broadband only and would - including discounts applied cost substantially less than £240 per annum.

An enquiry with Ofcom confirmed that the maximum early termination fee which an ISP provider can charge should only be up to the amount whatever is the remainder of the contract - hence does VM have any contractual basis to charge £240 ETC if the total amount of the contract would be substantially less than that price?

Answers from MSE-members who have dealt with this previously would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

iniltous

What broadband only package are you on and what is the monthly price you have negotiated with VM ?
£240 p/a is (obviously) £20/month...even for the basic speed broadband this is far less than I pay for basic b/b only from VM, and presumably you pay even less than that.
I suppose if they say the 'true' price is £30+ per month, but apply a monthly credit to make the bill <£20, then if ETC's are based on the true monthly fee, then the ETC would be more than the effective discounted rate x remaining months on minimum term, they could argue the discount is only for as long as you are a customer and for whatever period you agreed to

33333

This is a not-published, discounted rate for basic b/b - as mentioned above - the contract in total is considerably less than the £240 potential ETC. VM argues that irrespective of the discount their published ETCs for b/b at a rate of £15 per remaining months would apply, even though the regular payable contractual monthly rate would be less than the £15 pcm ETC rate...