Moving house with Virgin Media: what happens to your contract

Moving does not cancel your contract — it moves it, provided the new address is on the same network. If it is not, you are in a different situation with different rules, and the difference is worth several hundred pounds.

If your new address is covered, you can transfer the service: the minimum term carries over, the price stays the same, and there is usually a small activation charge. If it is not covered, you can cancel without an exit fee, but you must ask for the waiver and provide evidence. Book the transfer before you exchange contracts, not after you move.

The transfer, step by step

• Check coverage at the new address before you commit to the move if you can. This is the single most important step, and it is free.
• Give the provider as much notice as possible — 30 days is the stated norm, but earlier is better because installation slots fill up.
• Book the installation for a day or two after you get the keys, not on the day. Access problems are common on completion day.
• Confirm in writing what happens to the minimum term. A transfer normally preserves the remaining months rather than restarting them, but confirm it rather than assuming.
• Take the router with you. It is the same unit, reconfigured for the new line.

If the new address is not covered

This is the case worth knowing about. Because the provider cannot deliver the service you contracted for, the early termination fee should be waived — but it is not automatic. You have to ask, and you have to evidence that the address is genuinely not covered, usually with a screenshot of the coverage check or a written confirmation.

Ask before you cancel, get the confirmation in writing, and keep it until the final bill arrives. If the fee is applied anyway, a written complaint referencing the coverage confirmation usually resolves it.

Timing it so you are not offline

The realistic risk is a gap of a week or two. Transfer installations are treated like new orders, and a property without a working line can take longer.

Two practical mitigations. First, book the new install for a couple of days before your old service ends if the dates allow — accept a short period of double billing in exchange for continuity. Second, if a gap is unavoidable, a rolling monthly mobile broadband plan will cover it for £20–£30 and can be cancelled when the fixed line goes live.

What it costs

Transfer fees vary and are sometimes waived for customers who ask, particularly at renewal. There is normally no charge for the move itself beyond a possible activation fee at the new address.

The larger cost, if you are moving somewhere uncovered, is the price of the alternative: a different provider, a new minimum term, and possibly a slower connection. Checking coverage before you commit to a tenancy or a purchase is worth more than any of the administrative steps above.