News
What regulators and companies are doing, and what it means for you.
Subscriptions will be easier to cancel from January 2027
New rules will make companies offer an easy exit and remind you before a contract renews. The government has brought them forward to January 2027, with a consultation on the detail this autumn.
TalkTalk customers sold to Rise Fibre lose automatic compensation for outages
About 120,000 customers are affected. Rise Fibre has not joined the Ofcom scheme that pays out automatically for a long outage.
British Gas says customers prefer a chatbot, but you still have the right to speak to a person
British Gas is cutting the staff who answer calls and says customers would rather go online. But billing and metering problems are most of what people bring to a supplier, and those need a person who can act. You still have the right to reach one.
The CMA is investigating how Microsoft 365 got more expensive when Copilot arrived
In January 2025 Microsoft added Copilot to Microsoft 365, then raised the price at renewal for customers who did not switch to a cheaper plan without it. The CMA is investigating whether Microsoft made the cheaper option clear, and has reached no conclusions.
Buy now, pay later gains affordability checks and refund rights
The Financial Conduct Authority started regulating buy now, pay later on 15 July 2026. The new protections apply only to purchases made on or after that date.
Proposed rules would make social media and search platforms check who buys ads
Ofcom has proposed nearly 40 rules, including a public library of every ad a platform runs. Nothing changes yet, and any rules would need approval by Parliament.
New rules will force mobile networks to block scam texts
Ofcom has finalised the new rules, backed by fines of up to 10% of turnover. But networks have until January 2027 to comply, and a further six months for texts that impersonate a business.
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