The short version
The UK is adding a specific set of rules for subscription contracts to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. For subscriptions taken out on or after 1 January 2027, a business selling to UK consumers must:
- show you the key facts, such as the price, how often you pay, the minimum total and how to cancel, before you commit;
- remind you before a free or discounted trial turns into a paid plan, before a contract of 12 months or more renews, and at least every six months on rolling plans;
- let you cancel in a straightforward way, and online if you signed up online;
- give you a 14-day cooling-off period at the start, and another one after a trial converts or a 12-month-plus contract renews.
The rules apply only to new subscriptions. Anything you already pay for stays under the old rules, even when it renews. Phone, broadband, energy, insurance, financial products and a few other sectors are excluded.
Why the government is doing this
The Department for Business and Trade estimates there are around 155 million active subscriptions in the UK, that about 9.7 million of them are unwanted at any one time, and that people spend about £1.6 billion a year on subscriptions they do not want. Those figures come from the government's 2023 impact assessment and were repeated when the Prime Minister announced in August 2026 that the rules would start in January 2027. The government also says the average unwanted subscription costs about £14 a month.
What counts as a subscription
A subscription contract, for these rules, is a contract between a business and a consumer for goods, services or digital content where supply continues or repeats automatically, you are automatically liable for payments, and you have a right to end it. That covers streaming, software, apps, gyms, meal kits, delivery boxes, newspapers, online courses and most memberships.
It does not cover one-off purchases, pay-as-you-go arrangements where nothing is taken unless you buy again, free services, or services you pay for only with your data.
What is excluded
The Act carves out sectors that already have their own rules. Based on the Act and the draft guidance, these are: financial services and insurance; telecoms contracts regulated by Ofcom (mobile, broadband, landline and pay TV from a telecoms provider); gas, electricity and water; healthcare and prescription medicines; package travel; childcare and school-age education; gambling; renting a home; and leisure activities on a specific date. The government also decided to exclude certain memberships of charitable, cultural and heritage organisations.
Use the checker if you are not sure whether a subscription is inside or outside the rules.
The four protections in detail
1. Key information before you commit
Businesses must give you the key pre-contract information before you enter the contract, separately from the full terms and without you having to click through or expand anything. The draft guidance lists what that includes: that the contract renews automatically, the price and payment frequency, the minimum total you will pay, what happens after any trial, when reminders will be sent, how to cancel, and your cooling-off rights. Full information must be available close to the point of signing up.
2. Reminders
A business must send a reminder before a free or discounted trial converts, before a contract of 12 months or longer renews, and at the end of each six-month period on a rolling contract. The reminder must be in writing in a durable form such as email, its purpose must be obvious, and it must state the renewal date, the amount and how to cancel.
There is no fixed number of days. The business chooses a reasonable period, must tell you what it is in the key information, and must then keep to it. Earlier drafts of the law fixed windows of a few days, but those were removed in 2023.
3. Straightforward cancellation
You must be able to end the contract in a straightforward way, without steps that are not reasonably necessary. If you signed up online, you must be able to cancel online. Retention offers are allowed, but they cannot block or drag out the exit. Businesses cannot force you to use one particular method, and the regulator has signalled that obstructive cancellation is a priority.
4. Two cooling-off periods
Every covered subscription starts with a 14-day cooling-off period, however you signed up. A second 14-day period starts when a trial converts to paid, and after each renewal of a contract of 12 months or more. If you cancel in a cooling-off period the business must refund you within 14 days to the payment method you used. For the renewal cooling-off, it may keep a proportionate amount for service you used in those days. These rights cannot be waived. If the business did not tell you about them, the period can be extended by up to 12 months.
Who enforces it
The Competition and Markets Authority has been able to enforce consumer law directly since April 2025, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover or £300,000, whichever is higher. The government refused to give businesses a grace period. The CMA has said it will focus on helping businesses comply in the early months but will act from day one against clear-cut breaches of rules that are already well understood. Breaches of the information, reminder and cancellation duties also give you the right to end the contract and get refunds.
Businesses outside the UK
The rules apply to any business that directs its sales to consumers in the UK, wherever it is based. If you run an online shop, software product or app that takes UK subscribers, see the readiness checklist.
What to do now
- Already paying for something you do not use? Cancel it today. The new rules will not help with it.
- Planning a new subscription? If you can wait until January 2027, you gain reminders, online cancellation and the extra cooling-off periods. Run it through the checker.
- Starting a trial before then? Put the end date in the tracker and download a reminder.
- Keep sign-up confirmations. Under the new rules the business is bound by the reminder timing it promised you.
How sure is any of this
The Act is law. The detailed regulations and the guidance are drafts published on 19 October 2026, and Parliament has to approve the regulations before they take effect. The start date has moved four times since 2024. We re-read the official sources on 24 October 2026 and will update every page when the final versions appear. You can read the sources yourself on the sources page.