Is it legal to add fees at checkout?

The short version

• The first price you see must include every compulsory fee.
• Optional extras can be added at checkout.
• Before you pay, check the final total against the first price you saw.
• If it happens, you do not have to pay: ask for a refund and report it.

What the law requires

Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, a company must show the total price up front. The total must include every charge that everyone buying must pay. Booking fees, service charges, and unavoidable taxes such as VAT are part of that total. They belong in the first price you see, not the last.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) explains the rules in detail in its price transparency guidance.

What’s still allowed

A genuinely optional extra can be added later: seat selection, insurance, gift wrapping, anything you can buy the product without.

Some fees cannot be worked out in advance, such as delivery priced by where you live. These fees do not have to be in the first price you see. The company must still tell you clearly that they apply, and how they are worked out.

How to spot it

This is often called drip pricing, because the extra fees appear one at a time on the way to checkout. You are most likely to see it when booking event tickets, cinema tickets, gym memberships, and hotels.

Note the first price you see, then watch the running total as you move through the pages. A charge you had no way to avoid, that was not in the first price you saw, is exactly what the law bans. A ‘from’ price that no real order can actually reach is the same problem.

What you can do

You do not have to complete a purchase if the price changes on you. If you were already charged, ask the company to refund the fee that should have been in the first price you saw. Keep the pages or emails that show both prices.

Report a problem to the CMA, which enforces this rule. You can also report the company to Trading Standards, through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline. The CMA cannot step in or advise on individual complaints. It uses reports to decide which companies to investigate.