Virgin Media Community

[LizzieR]

Hello,

I took out a Virgin Media account in 2017 and 9 months later I moved house, just 2 doors down. I asked to move my Virgin Media account to the new property and was told they didn't service that area, despite the two houses being joined, and I would have to continue paying the remaining 3 months of the contract.

My landlord at the new property was a lawyer and suggested this was not right and would look into this. After a phone conversation with someone at Virgin she found out that the network was close to collapsing in that area and they needed to urgently reduce the number of customers - hence my not being allowed to change my address. With that, she was able to get Virgin to agree that my account would be closed with no further payments necessary.

Issue at hand:

I've had an offer of employment for a new job with a bank which has involved pre-employment screening checks. I was shocked to find that they have found a notice of a default payment for £34 from Virgin Media on my credit file and unless I get this cleared my offer of employment will be rescinded. This new job offer is incredibly important to me so I'm more than willing to pay this £34 - whether I owe it or not as I really don't want to lose this offer of employment. As my account was closed I've not been able to pay it, and I can't find anyone that can help remove the default from my file either.

This is now an urgent plea for help as I'm due to start my new job on the 1st March.

Regards

[japitts]

A few bits in here..

1: Early-termination fees if you moved home to a non-serviced address, these were valid and part of VM's T&Cs for quite a while, and only stopped a couple of years back. So if you had an offer of these being waived, did you get that in writing? If not - then you've got a problem straight away..

2: If you are confident in your ability to convince VM's credit team that this default is invalid, do not pay it. The only way to remove a default is to evidence that it is incorrect - if you pay it, then you are admitting it is valid, and all you can expect is for it to be marked as settled.

You should email all the details of this allegedly inaccurate default to creditfileamendments@virginmedia.co.uk who will investigate and respond on a 28day basis.

[LizzieR]

Thanks for responding, unfortunately I don't have any records to prove it so to be honest, I'll be quite happy to pay this if it means I'll still keep my new job offer. I just need to find a way of paying it with a written confirmation it's been settled! I've tried calling VM three times already today, speaking to 5 different people but no one seems to be able to accept a payment whilst giving written confirmation that the debt is settled.

[Adri_G]

Hey LizzieR, thanks for reaching out on our help forums and a warm welcome to our community.

We're sorry to hear of this issue with your pending payment showing on your credit file and the issues it has caused.

We'd love to best assist with this, since you've left us this long ago and in case a bill was still unpaid we'd have passed this on to a collection agency.

Could you please advise if you previously provided with a forwarding address when you submitted your request for disconnection back when you moved to the non-serviceable property?

Also, have you received any communication from us or other in regard to this bill and payment since, via email or post?

Please, let us know of the above - we're here to support you further.

[LizzieR]

Hi Adri, thanks for your reply. I would have given the address for the second property (the one that was unable to be serviced). I think I recall a letter from VM asking for the £34 after I moved but as I had been told my account was closed with nothing more to pay I naively ignored it! According to my credit file, the default payment was added only a couple of months after I moved to the second property and I don't remember getting any emails or contact from credit agencies.

[Molly_T]

Hi LizzieR, 👋 thanks for getting back to us with the additional information! 

In the first instance we advise logging the directly with your credit lending agency - eg Equifax or Experian. However if you have already contacted them and the issue was not resolved you can contact the credit file amendments team via the email address provided above in this thread: (creditfileamendments@virginmedia.co.uk) 

You will need to include the account number, your full name, contact number, account address, the company used to view your credit file, and any specific details related to the credit file issue. The credit file amendments team will action this within the next 14 days of receiving your email.

Please let us know if there is anything else you need our support with and we will do our best to help!
Thanks for your patience in the meantime 🌞

[LizzieR]

Hi Molly, thanks for your response. I'll contact the credit file amendments team but unless I have written confirmation from VM this week to say the debt is either paid off or cancelled then I lose my job offer! Is there any way of getting this sorted please as I'm very anxious and worried that I'll lose my job offer through a £34 default on my credit report!

[Molly_T]

No problem! Thank you for confirming. I can completely understand your concerns given the circumstances. 

Sadly there is little further we can do to escalate the process besides contacting the credit file amendments team on your behalf, which can still take 14 days for a response. 

Would you be able to advise the job offer that you have contacted us regarding the issue and are awaiting a response? You could show them this thread as proof it can take 14 days for a response from the credit file amendments team regarding this?

If you would like us to also raise a complaint on your behalf as a result of the experience please let us know, we can send a PM to offer support with this. 

Wishing you all the best. 🌞