What are my rights if I cannot cancel a subscription?

The short version

• Write to the company and say that you are cancelling. Keep a copy.
• You have 14 days to change your mind about a subscription you started online.
• Tell your bank to stop the payments. Your bank must stop them when you ask.
• If money leaves your account after you tell your bank to stop, your bank must refund it.
• Do not stop the payments while you are still in a minimum term.

What the law requires

Two rules protect you now.

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you can cancel a subscription you started online within 14 days. You do not have to give a reason. The company must then refund you within 14 days. If you started using the service in those 14 days, the company can charge you for what you used.

Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, you can tell your bank to stop a regular payment from your card. This is known as a continuous payment authority. Your bank must stop the payment when you ask. You do not need the company to agree.

What a company can still do

A company can ask why you are leaving, and offer you a deal to stay.

Some subscriptions have a minimum term. If yours does, leaving before the term ends costs you money. You either pay for the time left, or pay a set fee. The contract says which.

A rolling subscription has no minimum term, so there is no fee for leaving. Some companies ask for notice, so check your terms.

The company does not have to refund time you have paid for but will not use. You can use the service until that time ends.

Cancel in writing

Write to the company and say that you are cancelling, even if its website has no cancel option. An email is enough. Keep a copy, because your bank will ask when you cancelled.

Our cancel a subscription tool asks four questions, then gives you the steps for your company and your kind of subscription.

If the company makes it hard

Cancelling ends the subscription. Stopping the payments does not. Do both, because the company can still chase you for a subscription you did not cancel.

Tell your bank to stop the payments, by phone or in your banking app. Ask at least one business day before the next payment is due.

Do not stop the payments while you are still in a minimum term. You may owe the money. Missed payments can reach your credit file. Pay what you owe first. Then write to the company and dispute the fee.

If a company will not let you cancel, report it to the Competition and Markets Authority, and to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline. A report can help even once you have your money back: it builds the case against a company that does this to everyone.

If money is taken after you cancel

Tell your bank that the company has taken money. Your bank must refund a payment it took after you asked it to stop, plus any bank fee that payment caused. Your bank must pay you back by the end of the next business day.

Write to the company as well. Use our letter about payments taken after you cancelled.

If you paid by card, you can also ask your bank for a chargeback. A chargeback takes the payment back from the company. Ask as soon as you notice, because the card companies set time limits.

What changes in 2027

The government expects new rules for subscriptions to start in spring 2027. They come from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. They will mean:

• If you signed up online, you can cancel online.
• You get 14 days to change your mind when a trial ends.
• You get 14 days to change your mind when a contract of a year or more renews.
• A company cannot use its contract terms to make cancelling difficult.