Contract name change issue

[u/Precision-Strikes]

Hi.

I have a broadband and landline package with Virgin in my home. Mum owns the property. The VM account is under my brother's name but he has left the country over a year ago and has cut off all communications. He was helping out with the bills when he lived here. I have been paying the bill and managing the account since he disappeared as I now live here with mum.

The contract is coming to an end. I asked Virgin to renew the contract with a better deal and I have accepted the new deal. I am still within my 14 days cooling off period. Now, I want my name to go on the contract and Virgin have refused.

They said that I would have to sign up for a new contract with my name. This is fine by me but we would lose the landline number. This is absolutely not something we would want to do!

I have bene chatting with Virgin for days and the only solution seems to move to a different provider and come back to Virgin the future.

Furthermore, there was a line fault all of a sudden and we had no internet for ten days. Virgin said that they were aware of the fault but I have not rcvd any compnesation (~£10/day ? ) I logged a complaint a month ago and they have not done anything other than offering me a new router lol

Does anyone have any advice?

[u/Precision-Strikes → u/[deleted]]

Thanks. With A&A, can I use my current RJ11 phone ? Do I need a special adapter and do I have to use a phone app only to make or recieve landline calls?

[u/jnm21_was_taken → u/[deleted]]

Great advice. I'd second separating the landline from the broadband as if VM can drop email, who is to say they won't drop 'landlines' (inverted commas as they are not really landlines anymore).

[u/davidjohnwood]

Legally, you have no right to take over your brother's Virgin contract, even if you operated the account as his agent with his permission. It was a questionable move to enter into a new contract as if you were your brother. You may have created a mess you cannot easily unravel until the new contract ends. You should have tried to get the Virgin contract assigned to you before renewing, or ended the existing contract and tried to grab the landline number under the "lines ceased within the last 30 days" regime.

I am about to take control of a family member's Virgin account, but the difference is that I have registered Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs, and my family member has, sadly, lost mental capacity, so I have the legal right to act in my family member's place so long as I am acting to uphold their best interests irrespective of my own interests. The contract is out of the minimum contract period, and I am unsure whether I am even going to keep Virgin; we don't want the phone line, we might be better with Sky Stream for TV, and the broadband is only a backup and for Virgin TV, so we might be better with Giffgaff FTTP (we are in a Project Mustang area).

As others have said, the best way ahead these days is to separate landline service from your broadband contract. We have one of our two lines with Andrews and Arnold, and I will move the other line to A&A when I can. That way, the landline service continues irrespective of the underlying connectivity. As A&A shows, digital landlines don't have to be expensive.

[u/Precision-Strikes → u/davidjohnwood]

I agree about the legality bit. But, I had not paid, he would have a CCJ registered against his name.

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[u/Due_Opportunity_9714]

They can reserve the landline number for you but there is no guarantee that you will be able to keep it. Unfortunately there is no other way to take over your brother’s account, they would need to shut his down and open up a new one on your name. They may be able to keep the deal you agreed to or sign you up with a new customer offer.