Cancel a subscription and stop the payments

The short version

• You can cancel a subscription you started online within 14 days, and get a refund.
• To cancel, write to the company - an email is enough, even if it makes cancelling hard.
• If your subscription has a minimum term, leaving early can cost you money.
• You can tell your bank to stop the payments, and it must stop them.
• If money is taken after you cancel, your bank must refund it by the end of the next business day.
• New rules coming in spring 2027 will make companies keep cancelling simple.

If you signed up online in the last 14 days

You can cancel a subscription you started online within 14 days of signing up. You don’t need to give a reason. This is your right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.

Once you cancel, the company must refund you within 14 days.

If you started using the service in those 14 days, the company can charge you for what you used.

How to cancel

Cancel in writing, even if the company makes it hard to cancel. An email is enough.

Keep a copy of what you sent. Your bank will ask when you cancelled.

If you’re not sure how to cancel with your company, use our tool to get the steps for your company. It asks 4 questions, then gives steps for your company and type of subscription.

What the company can still do

Cancelling is your right, but the company can still do some things:

• Ask why you’re leaving, and offer you a deal to stay.
• Keep what you paid for time you haven’t used, unless you cancel in the first 14 days.

You don’t have to take a deal to stay. You can keep using the service until the time you paid for ends.

If you have a minimum term

Some subscriptions have a minimum term. If yours does, leaving before it ends costs you money.

You’ll either pay for the time left or a set fee, as your contract says.

An early-exit charge should not be more than the value of the time left on your contract.

If your subscription rolls on

If your subscription has no minimum term, it rolls on until you cancel. You can leave with no fee.

Some companies ask for notice before you leave. Check your terms so you cancel in time.

Stop the payments through your bank

Cancelling ends the subscription. Stopping the payments doesn’t. Do both, or the company can still chase you for a subscription you didn’t cancel.

You can tell your bank to stop a regular card payment you set up, known as a ‘continuous payment authority’. Your bank must stop it when you ask. You don’t need the company to agree. This is your right under regulation 67 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017.

Tell your bank by phone or in its app. Do this at least 1 business day before the next payment is due.

If you’re still in a minimum term, don’t stop the payments yet. You might still owe the money, and missed payments can reach your credit file. Pay what you owe first, then write to the company to dispute the fee.

If the company won’t let you cancel

If a company blocks you from cancelling, you can report it. Reporting won’t get your own money back, but it helps stop the company doing this to others.

• Report a problem to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA can’t step in on your own complaint. It uses reports to decide which companies to investigate.
• Report the company to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

If money is taken after you cancel

If the company takes money after you told your bank to stop, tell your bank straight away.

Your bank must refund a payment it took after you asked it to stop. It must also refund any bank fee that payment caused. It must do this by the end of the next business day. This is your right under regulation 76 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017.

Write to the company as well. Use our letter tool to ask the company to stop the payments and refund you.

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

New rules coming in January 2027

The rules above are what protects you today. New subscription rules are on the way.

They come from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The government has brought them forward to January 2027, from spring 2027.

When they start, they will mean:

• A company must make cancelling straightforward, without unnecessary steps.
• You’ll get 14 days to change your mind after a free or reduced-price trial ends and your first full payment is due.
• You’ll get 14 days to change your mind when a subscription of a year or more renews.

What you can do

• If you signed up online in the last 14 days, cancel now and ask for a refund.
• If not, write to cancel, then tell your bank to stop the payments.
• If money is taken after you cancel, tell your bank and ask for it back.