Unable to get email on New MacBook Air from ISP (Virgin)

It appears that you also asked this question on Virgin's Media Community:

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/MacBook-Air-email-set-up/m-p/5566648#M279243

The posted solution describes the need to create an "app password" which has to be performed with your Account settings on My Virgin Media. Here is the link to their Help page:

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/manage-email-account

The salient point is the need to use that "app password" as that document describes under "Connecting your Email to a Client App."

I don't know how Virgin's Media Community decides upon an "accepted solution" but I surmise it didn't involve you. One would think Virgin could have done better answering your question than to waste hours trying to, but that appears to be what you need to do. Try it.

I believe deleting the existing account is essential no matter what.

When a Mail account does not connect, and Mail says "unable to verify account password" or words to that effect, that's all it knows: it couldn't authenticate for any number of reasons.

The password itself has little to do with it, so that message is decidedly unhelpful. Correcting that problem requires deleting the existing Mail account, and adding it again. It is described in If you can’t send or receive email on Mac - Apple Support, under Remove your email account, then add it back. When adding it back, you will need to have already generated that VM "app password".

But that's as far as I can go, without having a VM account.

Another possible helpful suggestion from VM's community: https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/No-password-provided-Virgin-media/td-p/5323736

It's more or less the same instructions for using the app-specific password though...

Lacking a VM account there isn't much more than I can suggest. Did you try completely removing that email account from the Mac, and starting over again?

There is a video on their website describing how to add a VM email account to an iPad / iPhone, and the steps appear to be the same, but the iOS version shown in that video is quite obviously old. It's probably not worth viewing. VM's Mac Mail support seems to be even less.

I searched this site (Apple Support Communities) and haven't come up with much either. Most of this site's Search results are asking about the iPhone's version of Mail. The most promising result was this post from MrHoffman.

Excerpt:

MrHoffman wrote:

And it’s possible to use the Mac Mail app to access Virgin Media mail, without using the web app. Here are the Irish directions:

… https://www.virginmedia.ie/customer-support/faqs-and-videos/broadband-overview/webmail/set-up-email-in-macmail/

If you’re connected on Virgin Media elsewhere, there are equivalent directions posted.

As promising as it seemed, that link no longer works... 😖