Terms and conditions

About the Virgin Media acceptable use policy

Legal, honest, decent, truthful

That's how we hope you'll use our services. Read on to find out more below.

What is an Acceptable Use Policy? 

It lets you know how to use our internet service safely and legally. All internet service providers have usage policies of some kind. Here's where you can read more about ours.

Our Acceptable Use Policy covers a range of prohibited activities, but it mainly focuses on the most severe misuse of our services. That's activities that are:

• Illegal
• Unlawful
• Or inconveniencing other internet users.

To put it simply, it's there to protect our customers and make sure everyone gets the best broadband experience possible.

Our Acceptable Use Policy is all part of our terms and conditions which you accept when you join.

What is the difference between the Acceptable Use Policy and the Traffic Management Policy?

Traffic Management Policy is used by broadband providers, particularly at peak times, to make sure all customers have fair access to the service and aren’t slowed down by a small proportion of heavy users who are downloading and/or uploading an unusually large amount. Please visit www.virginmedia.com/traffic to find out more about Traffic Management.

Our Acceptable Use Policy is all about the misuse of our broadband service, for example, where customers' broadband connections are being used for activities that are prohibited by law, or by our Terms and Conditions. If we notice any misuse of the service, we'll contact the customer directly and work with them to resolve the issue.

When is it used?

We'll only use our Acceptable Use Policy in severe cases of misuse, where a customer's connection is being used for purposes that are illegal, unlawful or inconveniencing other Internet users.

What activities are prohibited by the Acceptable Use Policy? 

In general, customers should make sure that they don't use our internet services for unlawful or illegal purposes, or to inconvenience other internet users.

This means making sure that the household's internet connection isn't used to abuse other people using the internet or to purposefully receive or distribute unsuitable material, like copyrighted music and films without permission, spam, viruses, etc.

For more details, have a look at the full acceptable use policy.

What happens if I breach the Acceptable Use Policy? 

If we find that our internet service is being misused, we'll get in touch with you to let you know we're aware of what's going on. If we need to, we'll work with you to resolve the issues without taking any further action as much as possible, but we reserve the right to do so, if necessary.

What happens if I am not the person who actually carried out the prohibited activity? 

It's important to know where you stand here. The account holder (that's the bill payer) is responsible for ensuring that their internet connection is used safely and legally, within the guidelines of the Acceptable Use Policy. They're also responsible for making sure that any computers connected to their broadband account are secured and that their connection is only used with their permission.

To help protect your computer, it's a good idea to secure your wireless connection and install up-to-date security software on any computer that accesses the internet in your household. This will help limit any unauthorised activity on your account and keep your personal details safe.

How will I know I have breached the Acceptable Use Policy?

If you breach our Acceptable Use Policy and/or our Terms and Conditions, we'll get in touch by letter or phone and you'll receive what we call a formal warning. We'll talk you through how to resolve your issue and avoid any further action being taken against you, but we reserve the right to do so, if necessary.

What happens if I continue to breach the Virgin Media Acceptable Use Policy after I have received a formal warning?

Under certain circumstances, if prohibited activities are still being carried out on your account after receiving a formal warning, we may suspend your services until we're satisfied that the activity has stopped and won't happen again.

Sometimes we might reinstate your services if we receive a written undertaking from you, stating that you will not breach any part of the Acceptable Use Policy again.

Does the policy ever change?

Yes, so we recommend that you visit our website regularly to check for any updates or amendments to the Acceptable Use Policy. We'll make sure that any updates or amendments are clearly signalled at the top of the page.

How do I report someone who I think is breaching the Acceptable Use Policy? 

The best way to report any abuse of our network is to use our online webform.

We need to be able to verify any misuse, so please include as much detail and evidence as you can when make a complaint.