Virgin Media and O2 Warn UK Pensioners Unaware of Cheap Social Tariffs
Broadband and mobile provider Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) has this morning claimed, as part of a new online survey conducted by Strand Partners, that 48% of UK pensioners are still unaware of the social tariffs that can offer “significant cost savings” to those on state benefits, such as Pension Credit, Universal Credit and others.
According to the survey, which we should caveat was conducted last month with 1,020 “nationally representative” members of the UK public (only 241 of those respondents were pensioners), some 33% of pensioners have felt more isolated or lonely in the past 12 months and the majority (81%) worry about the cost of living.
However, as above, almost half of pensioners say they’re unaware of providers offering discounted broadband and mobile deals to those receiving Pension Credit, with 34% of pensioners also being unsure of how to switch to a cheaper tariff.
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Additional Survey Findings
➤ Staying connected with friends and family through calls, texts and video calls helps 68% of pensioners feel less lonely and more part of the world.
➤ 46% of pensioners say the rising cost of living has made them feel more isolated from their community and means they can’t afford to go out and socialise as much as they used to (48%). Many are visiting friends and family less due to travel costs (42%), and 28% worry about money so much that they feel anxious in social situations.
➤ 62% of pensioners believe digital technology helps them keep their independence.
➤ If faced with reduced mobile and internet connectivity for an extended period of time, pensioners cite concerns including being unable to contact someone in an emergency (72%), missing important family updates (58%), and not being able to access online GP appointments or other healthcare services (55%) and losing touch with friends (46%).
Mobile operator O2 points out that its £10 per month O2 Essential Plan is available for both new and existing customers who receive a range of benefit payments, and comes with 10GB of mobile data, plus unlimited calls and texts. The plan can be taken as a 30-day rolling contract, has no activation or exit fees, and no price changes while customers receive benefit payments. But cheaper commercial mobile plans do exist in the market.
Similarly, Virgin Media also offers several Essential Broadband tariffs, which typically enable those on state benefits to take an unlimited 15Mbps (2Mbps upload) connection on a 30-day rolling contract for just £12.50 per month, rising to £20 per month if you opt for their faster 54Mbps (5Mbps upload) tier. Plus, if you pay an extra £20 one-off, then you’re also able to add their new STREAM TV box (Flex).
Dana Haidan, VMO2’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said:
“With today’s research revealing pensioners feel increasingly isolated due to the rising cost of living, Virgin Media O2 is proud to offer a range of comprehensive measures to help people on low incomes to get online and stay in touch with loved ones.
Anyone who is receiving Pension Credit or a range of additional benefits are able to access our cut-price tariffs that offering broadband and mobile services starting from as little as £10.
We want to raise the profile of our broad range of support for people experiencing financial difficulties, helping to combat loneliness and keep the nation connected.”
Virgin Media has previously promised to help raise awareness of such tariffs, and today’s press release plays into that effort. Finally, a quick reminder. We know social tariffs can be a divisive topic for some, but that is not an excuse to abuse the comment system in order to post offensive remarks toward those who take state benefits. Such posts are against our rules and will be removed.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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So why don’t they just do a mail run to all their customers above a certain age and notify them of a cheaper tariff? It’s pretty easy to tell that if someone’s 66 or older, they must be a pensioner.
This appears to be aimed beyond their own customers.
Not all people over the age of 66 are entitled to Pension Credit:
To be eligible for Pension Credit, you need to live in the UK and have reached the State Pension age. Additionally, your income must be below the threshold for the Guarantee Credit (which is the standard Pension Credit) and you must not have too much savings. If you have a severe disability or are a carer, you may still be eligible even if your income is higher.
Lots of pensioners are above this threshold so are unable to get on the social tariffs, additionally VMO2 emailing all customers over the age of 66 would generate a lot of complaints.
I’m 73 and I am just over the Pension Credit limit, therefore I do not meet the criteria for Social Tariffs however I am struggling to pay my current amount to Virgin. Contract up in February 2026 so will be ditching them.
Openreach have told me that they will install FTTP in my locality so,will try for cheaper ISP.
Paying Virgin for speeds that I don’t need as I only use broadband to watch You Tube and with Microsoft ditching Win 10 in October,I will not have a Laptop either( current one does not meet hardware criteria for upgrade to Win 11) and I refuse to buy a new one.
ISPs and government know that there will never be a big uptake in Social Tariffs just like the failure to apply for Pension Credit by large amount of eligible pensioners.
IMHO, it’s just them going through the motion of looking to appear to do something.
I suggest you check out the endof10.org website for your options after Windows 10 goes out of fashion. I personally still use Windows 8.1 with a good antivirus on top. I don’t think anyone has tried to hack me yet.
Can we. Have a phone with this deal
My v.media broadband weekend any time landline calls were £44approx but when contract ended then they hiked to £66approx a month and we are pensioners with just above threshold.we been with V.M for long but loyalty doesn’t work.So we ditch them and joined Sky for £37 for landline calls all time broadband and TV.for 24month.
I’m 75 and have been asking for lower broadband and lower prices on tv packages but just get fobbed off all the time,, you can get freeview from virgin but still costs you over £40 a month,, and I’m on pension credit as well,,, they just keep bumping the prices up and tell you you have to have faster broadband as it comes with the package,,, I give up with them,, just can’t win,, worse company going now,
I totally agree with you you can’t speak to anyone and they have taken money out of my account due to an agent not updating the package correctly which I consider to be theft/fraud – the fight goes on!!!!!!
i totally agree with john,and elsie,i had the same trouble with vm,speak to a lady in phillipines who then puts you back to north east (sunderland)money taken from account ,i got this back by cheque as closed the d/d,took 44 days,i have windows 10,and only watch utube via three,it is not great as keeps cutting out and freezing,but will do,lots of pensioners will not be on credit so have to pay full wack.i will not,and it is as stated by john,just makes it look as if their doing something to help,which we know is not the case at all.