Money Moral Dilemma: My tenants left without cancelling their broadband - should I keep using it?

ynysygwas

Another thing to remember is that Virgin still owns all the equipment. Customers only rent the router/Hub, TV boxes, phones etc.. These have to be returned to VirginMedia at the end of the contract. As the contract is in the tenant's name then they are responsible for returning the equipment to Virgin and could be sued for not doing so. Perhaps a letter to Virgin ,along the lines of, "The previous occupier of '         ' has left. Please come and get your electronic devices. I have tested them and they seem to be fully functional and connected to your service. I now own this flat. I am not a customer of VirginMedia and these devices are taking up room in MY flat. I will start billing you for storage if you don't make arrangements to remove YOUR goods soon."
You could also mention that you are reluctant to remove the equipment yourself in case you damage it and that its presence means you are unable to install your own choice of broadband etc. so you are having to use the existing equipment for your day to day business, communication and media access. If they ignore you then keep on using it.

Slithery

To all those saying that only the tenants can cancel the current contract, that's incorrect.

All you need to do is set up an account with a new provider and the current one will be cancelled automatically. I know as this has happened to me a couple of times by people mistakenly giving my address when moving house - on both occasions my account was cancelled without me being notified. The first I knew of it was when my connection stopped working and left me without broadband for weeks.

steve866

Slithery said:

To all those saying that only the tenants can cancel the current contract, that's incorrect.

All you need to do is set up an account with a new provider and the current one will be cancelled automatically. I know as this has happened to me a couple of times by people mistakenly giving my address when moving house - on both occasions my account was cancelled without me being notified. The first I knew of it was when my connection stopped working and left me without broadband for weeks.

I’m not sure that’s strictly true in this case as virgin is normally a dedicated fibre line to the house, as opposed to the other providers which use the same infrastructure. 

Slithery

You're correct, I missed that this was Virgin.

Wings_of_Ambition

As with a previous poster, when I moved into a flat, the previous tenant had neglected to end his broadband contract.  Before allowing me to set a new account up, I had to prove I now lived there (via a tenancy agreement), and the supplier then contacted the previous tenant to confirm account closure.  In the meantime, I used the broadband as the password was on the router.  I certainly wasn't going to go without, just because of someone else's lack of organisation skills.

OP, get the ball rolling with a changeover of ownership, but I wouldn't stress over it if it takes a few weeks.

JayD

Why is it considered a 'dilemma' whether or not to be honest?

So, you are considering continuing to use the broadband - but, if your tenants didn't pay you, why do yo think they are paying for that? And if they aren't, the supplier is going seek payment from the person at the address that is using it.

So does that help you to decide to do the right thing?