Subscription Traps UK: How to Cancel and Get Your Money Back

Two sets of rules matter here: the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 for what the trader must tell you and what you can cancel, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 for unfair terms. Before you are bound by a distance contract, the trader must give or make available the Schedule 2 information in a clear and comprehensible manner.

For a subscription, that Schedule 2 information includes:

• In the case of a contract containing a subscription, the total costs per billing period.
• If the contract is to be extended automatically, the conditions for terminating the contract.
• Where a right to cancel exists, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising it.
• Where applicable, the minimum duration of your obligations under the contract.

No payment is payable in addition to the price agreed for the trader's main obligation unless the trader obtained your express consent before you became bound. Consent inferred from you not changing a default option, such as a pre-ticked box on a website, is not express consent. If an extra payment is not payable, the trader must reimburse it.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer. Our refunds guide covers the wider rules when something you paid for goes wrong.

You can cancel a distance or off-premises contract at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason. For a service contract the period ends at the end of 14 days after the day you entered into the contract. The Regulations define a distance contract as one concluded under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the trader and the consumer being physically present together, using only distance communication up to the time the contract is concluded.

When the period ends depends on what you bought:

• Service contract: 14 days after the day you entered into the contract.
• Sales contract: 14 days after the day the goods come into your physical possession.
• Regular delivery of goods over a defined period: 14 days after the day the first of the goods comes into your physical possession.
• If the trader did not give you the information on the right to cancel, the period ends 12 months after the day it would otherwise have ended, or 14 days after you receive the information if the trader gives it within those 12 months.

If you cancel in time

• The trader must reimburse all payments you made, other than delivery payments in some cases.
• The refund is due without undue delay and not later than 14 days after the day the trader is told of your decision to cancel.
• The trader must use the same means of payment you used, and cannot charge a fee for the refund.
• The exception for newspapers, periodicals and magazines does not cover subscription contracts for them.

Exceptions to the right to cancel

• ✗No: You lose the right to cancel a service contract once the service has been fully performed, if it began after your request and you were told you would lose the right.
• ✗No: For digital content not on a tangible medium, you lose the right once supply has begun after you gave express consent and acknowledged that you would lose it.
• ✗No: The right to cancel does not apply to off-premises contracts where the payment is not more than £42.

If you asked for a service to start in the cancellation period and then cancel, you must pay an amount in proportion to what was supplied up to the time the trader is told. You bear no cost if the trader failed to give the required information or the service was not supplied in response to your request. For digital items bought online see our digital products guide.

Our chargeback guide explains how to ask your bank to claw back a payment.

GOV.UK says the new subscription rules will bring a new 14-day cooling off period after a free or discounted trial ends or when a contract renews for 12 months or longer. The same rules are expected to bring reminders before free or discounted trials end and straightforward cancellations, including online exits for online sign ups, and are expected to come into force in Spring 2027.

Trials signed up to at a distance

• Before you are bound, the trader must give you the total costs per billing period and, if the contract is to be extended automatically, the conditions for terminating it.
• A pre-ticked box on a website does not give express consent to an additional payment.
• The Financial Ombudsman Service says chargeback reasons can relate to a dispute over the amount charged or whether the payment was authorised.

Chargeback (debit or credit card)

• A chargeback lets you challenge and claw back payments made using a debit or credit card.
• You usually have around 120 days to raise a chargeback about goods or services, which might run from the date you expected to receive them but they were not provided, or from the date you got something defective or not as described. Time limits might be longer or shorter depending on the circumstances.

Section 75 (credit card)

• Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 covers purchases with a cash price of more than £100 but not more than £30,000.

Our Section 75 guide explains how a claim against your card provider works.

Small claims court

• In England and Wales, money claims of up to £10,000 are generally dealt with as small claims; in Scotland, simple procedure applies to claims worth less than £5,000.
• In England and Wales, a court fee must be paid when you make a court claim for money; it is based on the amount claimed plus any interest and is £35 up to £300, £50 for £300.01 to £500, £70 for £500.01 to £1,000, £80 for £1,000.01 to £1,500, £115 for £1,500.01 to £3,000, £205 for £3,000.01 to £5,000, and £455 for £5,000.01 to £10,000; you may be able to claim the fee back if you win.

See our small claims guide for how to take a company to court.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer, and a term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer.

• The Office of Fair Trading's gym investigation followed concerns that companies were tying consumers into minimum membership periods with limited rights to cancel should their circumstances change.
• The CMA said gym contracts were usually for no longer than 12 months and could be cancelled in circumstances such as when a member moves away from the area, loses their job or cannot use the gym because of injury.

Check your own contract for its exact cancellation terms, and see the next section for where to get advice.

• For advice, contact Citizens Advice in England and Wales on 0808 223 1133, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 or Consumerline in Northern Ireland on 0300 123 6262.
• The helpline can refer your complaint to local Trading Standards Officers, who may then investigate on your behalf, and share complaint information nationally with enforcement authorities including Trading Standards, the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) and regulators.
• If you are in England or Wales, contact Report Fraud if you think you have lost money or been hacked because of an online scam or fraud.