New subscription rules 2027: what changes and how to audit yours

Last updated: 29 October 2026

Subscriptions are built to be easy to start and easy to forget. From January 2027, a new set of UK rules is meant to make them just as easy to stop: reminders before a trial turns into a bill, a second chance to change your mind, and a cancel button that works the way the sign-up did.

There’s a catch most coverage misses: the new rules only protect subscriptions you take out after they start. The ones already on your statement stay under today’s rules. So this guide does two things: it explains exactly what changes and when, and it gives you a five-minute audit to deal with the subscriptions the new law won’t touch.

When do the new subscription rules start?

The rules come from Part 4, Chapter 2 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (the DMCC Act). The Act was passed in 2024, but the subscription chapter wasn’t switched on straight away. It needs detailed regulations to make it work.

Here’s where it stands on 29 October 2026:

• 9 August 2026: the government announced the rules would come into force in January 2027. It said the changes would save people an average of £14 a month for every unwanted subscription, and estimated that UK consumers spend £1.6 billion a year on subscriptions they don’t want.
• October 2026: the government laid the draft Consumer Subscription Contracts (Cancellation and Information) Regulations 2026 before Parliament. Regulation 1 says they come into force on 1 January 2027.
• Still to happen: Parliament has to approve the draft regulations, and the Act’s subscription sections have to be formally switched on. Until both happen, 1 January 2027 is the planned date, not a certainty.

The one thing not to miss: the new rules don’t apply to any subscription you signed up to before they start. Section 275 of the Act says the subscription chapter “does not apply in relation to contracts entered into before” it comes into force. Your existing streaming, gym and app subscriptions keep running under the old rules, renewal after renewal. If you want them gone, you have to do it yourself, and the audit below is the quickest way to start.

Audit yours in five minutes

You can’t make good decisions about subscriptions you can’t see. Pull up your banking app, scroll back through two or three months of payments, and check the subscriptions sections of your phone’s app store accounts. Then add each one to the tool below.

For each subscription, enter what it costs, how often it charges, and when it next renews (the date on your last payment plus a month, a week or a year is fine). Then mark it Keep, Unsure or Cancel. The tool works out:

• what you pay in a year and the monthly equivalent
• everything renewing in the next 60 days, soonest first, with a warning on the ones you’ve marked to cancel
• how much you’d save in a year if the “cancel” ones go
• a copy as list button, so you can paste your list into a note or message and work through it

A worked example

The six examples already in the tool are a fairly typical mix. Here’s what they add up to:

• Video streaming £10.99 a month = £131.88 a year
• Music £11.99 a month = £143.88 a year
• Gym £34 a month = £408 a year
• Cloud storage £2.99 a month = £35.88 a year
• Meal kit £24.99 a week = £1,299.48 a year
• App subscription £49.99 a year

Together that’s £2,069.11 a year, or £172.43 a month. Notice which one dominates. The meal kit looks like “about twenty-five quid”, but because it charges weekly it costs more than the other five put together. Cancel just that one and the yearly bill falls to £769.63, a saving of £1,299.48.

That’s the point of doing this on a yearly basis. Weekly and monthly prices are designed to feel small. The annual figure is the one to decide on.

Turning the list into action

1. Start with the 60-day list. Anything marked Cancel needs to go before its renewal date, or you pay for another period.
2. Give every “unsure” a deadline. If you haven’t used it by its next renewal date, cancel it. Most “unsure” subscriptions are really cancels.
3. Check annual plans before you cancel. If you’re partway through a year you’ve already paid for, cancelling usually just stops the next renewal; you may not get the rest back. Turn off auto-renew so it simply ends.
4. Look for cheaper tiers. Many streaming and app services have an ad-supported or basic plan. Downgrading can be better than cancelling.

For the practical side (where subscriptions hide, how to cancel tricky ones, and what to do if a company won’t stop taking payments) see our guide on how to cancel subscriptions.

What changes from January 2027: the five new rights

For subscriptions taken out once the rules start, businesses will have to do the following.

1. Tell you the key facts before you sign up

Just before you commit, the business must give you the key information about the subscription, set out together and separately from the rest of the small print. Full details must be available too. If you sign up online, you must expressly acknowledge that you’re agreeing to pay.

2. Remind you before you’re charged

This is the change most people will notice. The business must send a reminder notice:

• before a free or discounted trial ends, ahead of the first payment at the higher price
• at least every six months for a rolling subscription, such as one that charges monthly
• an extra, earlier reminder where you’re about to be committed for a year or more, such as an annual renewal

The Act doesn’t set a fixed number of days. Instead, the business must state its reminder timing in the key information, and that timing must be reasonable: early enough for you to decide and cancel before the charge.

3. Let you leave as easily as you joined

Businesses must make ending a subscription straightforward, without steps that aren’t needed. You can end it simply by telling them clearly that you want to. If you signed up online, you must be able to cancel online, with instructions where you’d expect to find them. Once you’ve cancelled, the business must confirm it with an end-of-contract notice and refund anything you’ve overpaid.

4. Give you a cooling-off period, and a second one later

You get 14 days at the start to change your mind (counted from when your first delivery arrives, if the subscription is for goods). The new part is a renewal cooling-off period: another 14 days that starts when:

• you’re charged for the first time after a free or discounted trial ends, or
• a renewal commits you for a year or more

If you cancel during a cooling-off period, you only pay for what you actually received in that time, and the draft regulations say the rest must be refunded within 14 days, to the payment method you used. The business also has to send you a notice when each renewal cooling-off period begins. If it doesn’t, the draft regulations say it can’t charge you for the service you used in that time.

5. Let you cancel and claim money back if the business breaks the rules

If a business doesn’t give you the required information or reminders, or makes cancelling harder than it should be, you get a right to cancel. Depending on what went wrong, you may also get a refund of payments. Under the draft regulations, you have 12 months to use that right.

What isn’t covered

The new rules apply to consumer subscriptions in general: streaming, music, apps, software, gyms, meal kits, subscription boxes, newspapers and the like. Schedule 22 of the Act leaves out a list of contracts that have their own rules, including:

• phone and broadband, and other contracts regulated by Ofcom
• gas, electricity, heat and water
• insurance and financial services
• medical prescriptions and some healthcare
• renting a home, package holidays and timeshares
• childcare and gambling
• regular food deliveries from very small businesses

The government has also said some charity memberships for cultural and heritage organisations will be excluded.

If it’s your phone or broadband that’s bothering you, Ofcom’s rules already require end-of-contract notifications (since February 2020) and let you leave if the price rises beyond what your contract set out. See mid-contract price rises: can you leave free?.

What protects you right now

You don’t have to wait until January for some protection, and these rights still apply to the subscriptions you already have.

• 14 days to cancel most online and phone sign-ups. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, for a service the cancellation period ends 14 days after the day you signed up. It doesn’t come round again on each renewal, which is one of the gaps the new rules close.
• You can stop a recurring card payment through your card provider. The FCA says that once you ask, your card issuer must stop the payments, even if you haven’t contacted the business. Ask by the end of the business day before the next payment is due. Cancelling the payment doesn’t cancel the contract, so tell the business too.
• Misleading sales tactics are already banned. Since 6 April 2025, the DMCC Act’s unfair commercial practices rules have been in force, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Businesses must show the full price upfront, and fake reviews are banned.

For your wider rights on refunds, faulty goods and services, see know your consumer rights, and if a company won’t play fair, how to complain and get compensation.

Using the new rules from January

If the rules start on schedule, a little preparation will help you make the most of them.

• Starting a New Year trial? Screenshot the key information page when you sign up. It should show the price after the trial, when it starts, and how the business will remind you.
• Read reminder emails, don’t just delete them. The reminder is your cue to decide. If you’re not sure, cancel; you can always sign up again.
• Missed the trial end? Check the date of the first full-price payment. If you’re within 14 days, you can still cancel under the renewal cooling-off period and only pay for what you used.
• Keep the end-of-contract notice. It’s your proof that you cancelled. If payments carry on, you have it ready for the business, your card provider or a complaint.
• If a business won’t let you leave, write down what happened (screenshots of a cancel button that goes nowhere help). Then complain to the business. If that fails, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service for help with next steps.

And come back to the audit every few months. It takes five minutes, and new subscriptions have a way of appearing. More free calculators are on our tools page.

Frequently asked questions

When do the new UK subscription rules start?

They’re due to start on 1 January 2027. The government announced a January 2027 start in August 2026, and the draft regulations laid before Parliament in October 2026 say they come into force that day. They still need Parliament’s approval, so check the date hasn’t moved before relying on it.

Do the new rules cover subscriptions I already have?

No. The Act says the subscription rules don’t apply to contracts entered into before they come into force. A subscription you signed up to before 1 January 2027 keeps running under the old rules, even when it renews. That’s why it’s worth auditing yours now.

Will I get a reminder before a free trial ends?

For subscriptions taken out from 1 January 2027, yes. The business must send a reminder before the first payment after a free or discounted period, and then at least once every six months. It has to arrive a reasonable time before you’d need to cancel to avoid the charge.

Can I get my money back if I forget to cancel a trial?

Under the new rules you get a fresh 14-day cooling-off period after the first full-price payment following a free or discounted trial. Cancel within it and you only pay for what you used in that time. Again, this only applies to subscriptions taken out once the rules start.

Do the new rules cover my phone, broadband or energy contract?

No. Ofcom-regulated contracts such as phone and broadband are excluded, as are energy and water, insurance and financial services. Phone and broadband already have their own Ofcom rules on end-of-contract notices and price rises.

How do I stop a subscription that keeps taking money?

Ask your card provider to cancel the recurring payment. The FCA says your card issuer must stop it once you ask, even if you haven’t contacted the business. Then tell the business you’re cancelling, and keep a record.

Just so you know: this guide is information and journalism, not financial advice, and we don't recommend specific financial products. Your circumstances are your own — if you need personal advice, speak to a suitably qualified adviser. Information was correct at the "last updated" date above but things change; always check the linked primary sources.

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