[Mancscable]

Virgin Media customers who choose to pay their bills by any method other than direct debit have, until recently, always been charged a "payment handling charge" of £5 a month. The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharge) Regulations 2012 came into effect in April 2013. In effect, this legislation prevents businesses from charging customers more than the cost of processing payments. In other words, if the bank charges Virgin Media 45p for processing a customer's cheque, VM can only levy a payment handling charge of 45p to that customer. The Regulations include a consumer right of redress provision, which says that if a business charges more than the cost of processing a payment, the excess charge is contractually unenforceable and that the customer is entitled to be reimbursed any excess charges. Therefore, any Virgin Media customer who has paid the monthly £5 payment handling charge since April 2013 is entitled to claim a refund. The amount of the refund is £5 less the actual cost of processing the payment. The cost of processing payments varies, but it is unlikely that Virgin Media's bank charges more than 45p for processing any type of payment. Therefore, customers who have been paying by any means other than direct debit since April 2013 are now entitled to claim a refund which should be not less than £159.25 i.e. £5 - 45p= £4.55 x 35 months (May 2013 to Mar 2016). In fact, the cost to VM of processing some types of payment will be less than 45p (e.g. payments by debit card), so the refund will be more than £159.25. Any customer who has paid a Virgin Media bill by any method other than direct debit at any time since April 2013 should now contact Virgin Media for a refund. If Virgin Media refuses to make a refund, customers should report the matter to Ofcom.