Virgin Media has increased the amount it will contribute towards leaving your existing broadband contract, with new customers now able to claim up to £300 in switching credit. The offer is designed for people who want to move before their current minimum term has ended but would otherwise face an expensive early exit fee.
The credit only covers what your previous provider actually charged you, so this isn’t a spare £300 to spend elsewhere. You’ll need to pay the exit fee yourself, send Virgin Media a copy of the final bill and wait for an equivalent amount to be added to your new account. There’s no cash alternative.
COMPARISON CHART
How much will Virgin Media pay to buy you out?
This chart shows which providers currently offer broadband contract buyout, and how much they may pay toward leaving your old contract.
Broadband contract buyout by provider
Maximum buyout amount by provider
The national average benchmark only includes providers that currently offer broadband contract buyout in our database.
As our comparison chart shows, the increase takes Virgin Media from £250 to joint first place alongside BT and EE, which also offer up to £300. That’s £40 above the £260 average among the five providers in our database currently offering a buyout. Sky and Vodafone both stop at £200, while Plusnet, Rebel Internet and TalkTalk don’t currently offer one.
Image credit: Virgin Media
The red and grey interior of Virgin Media’s gorgeous Reading headquarters
You’ll need to claim it properly
The offer is available to new customers switching from another UK consumer broadband provider and runs until 20 September 2026. Student broadband packages, 30-day rolling contracts and Virgin Media’s Essential Broadband social tariff are excluded. Your final bill must show the exit fee, be dated within 30 days of your Virgin Media order and have been paid in full.
Virgin Media’s legal wording says claims must be made within 60 days of activating the new service. That’s a tighter deadline than BT’s 120 days and EE’s 122 days, so it isn’t something to leave sitting in your inbox. Successful claims are paid as account credit, reducing future Virgin Media bills until the full amount has been used.
There is one unhelpful contradiction on Virgin Media’s website. Its switching FAQ says you can claim within four months, while the legal wording on the same page says 60 days. Until Virgin clears that up, the sensible approach is to follow the shorter legal deadline. ISPReview first reported the increase, but we couldn’t find a separate Virgin Media newsroom announcement for the new £300 offer.
