How long can I access email address after terminating my contract?

[PHockey]

Hi,

As I’m about to sell my house, I’ll soon be submitting 30 days’ cancellation notice for my Virginmedia contract for landline, phone package, WiFi/Broadband, and TV package with 2 x TiVo boxes.  

My minimum contract ended last month, and my new house isn’t served by Virgin, so I’m not able to transfer my package to my new house.

I rang Virginmedia on 10/03/22 to ask how long I’d be able to continue using my @virginmedia.com email address after the 30 days’ cancellation notice had happened, and was told by a man called Paul that I would always be able to access and use the email address, even after my entire contract had been terminated, because it was web-based.

This is really important to me as I’m in my eighties and struggled to learn how to use and manage the virginmedia inbox, and if I won’t be able to use it after the contract ceases I’ll struggle to familiarise myself with another providers email set up.

Having searched this forum, I’ve read some conflicting accounts about this - some say you can use the email address for 90 days after termination, some say 180 days after termination, and some people have said their access to their email address was unexpectedly deactivated without having been given any notice whatsoever.

So I’m seeking assurance that what Paul told me is correct.

Many thanks, Becca

[jem101]

I'm afraid to say that the advice given to you by 'Paul' was and is completely wrong!

According to VM's terms and conditions, the email address, mailbox and all of the email within it will be deleted 90 days after you stop being a VM customer. Now sometimes this isn't done on time and the email carries on working, sometimes for years, but eventually it gets caught up in a periodic cleanup and gets unceremoniously deleted - and hence the reports of email being deleted without warning, no the customers were warned, they just found that their email was still working, assumed it always would be and forgot about the warning!

You have to set up a new email address with an alternative supplier, we would recommend using something like gmail or outlook.com which are free to use and not tied to any specific internet provider. If you set up an new email address for yourself now, you can use the time to set up a forwarder so that any email coming to your VM address is forwarded on to the new one, as well as notify all of your contacts that you have a new email address and to use that one going forward.

John

[Graham_A · Accepted solution]

@PHockey  I'm afraid that 'Paul' is not correct.  The VM policy, as set out in their Terms and Conditions, is that the email account will be closed down 90 days after you cease to be a VM broadband customer.

In practice this does not always happen, but you should not rely on that in your case.

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @PHockey,

Welcome to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

I am really sorry but the advice you were given by my colleague over the phone was incorrect and I will certainly ensure feedback is provided.

As @jem101 and @Graham_A have rightly said, your mailbox will be deleted 90 days after your services have been terminated.

Apologies for any confusion caused. 

[GuyGraham]

Well I am in same situation as you, but I am now at 105 days post termination and all of my blueyonder & virginmedia email address are still live and accessible

[jem101]

@GuyGraham but as we said earlier, VM don't always properly adhere to their own timescales. Your email could literally vaporise tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after with no warning. Do you really want to rely on it?

[GuyGraham]

I already knew about the 90 day limit so I have migrated away from the VM email addresses to gmail already....just highlighting the fact that it can and does allow access beyond their stated limit

[GuyGraham]

To the OP, you can pay VM a monthly fee (£10 I believe) to keep access to you existing vm email addresses

[japitts]

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@GuyGraham wrote:

To the OP, you can pay VM a monthly fee (£10 I believe) to keep access to you existing vm email addresses

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You believe incorrectly.

VM are a broadband provider who include email as a freebie to paying subscribers.

There is no facility to pay a standalone fee and retain a VM email account if you cease to be a broadband customer.

[Natalie_L]

Hi GuyGraham, 

Thanks for posting to us here on the Community and thanks to our members for their support with this. 

With the email deactivation, we do advise that it will be completed within 90 days but we are aware it can take longer. 

You have done the correct thing by migrating your service and backing up your emails as this ensures that once the deactivation takes place, you will not lose any needed information. 

As japitts has advised, I am afraid we do not offer a monthly fee to keep the email service following the disconnection of the account sorry. 

Please let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything we can assist with. 

Thanks