UK subscription cooling-off rules from 2027

From January 1, 2027, a UK subscription gives you 14 days to cancel at two points, not one. The first is the usual 14 days after you sign up. The second is new: 14 days after a free or cheap trial turns into a paid plan, and 14 days after a contract renews for a year or more. Cancel inside that second window and you get your money back, minus a fair share for what you used. The rules only cover contracts you enter on or after January 1, 2027. A plan you already have does not gain them when it renews.

What a cooling-off period is

A cooling-off period is a short time set by law in which you can cancel a contract you have just made. You do not need a reason. You pay no penalty. The UK already has one for things bought online, and the 14 days you get for goods and digital services today is explained in full on its own page.

The new rules sit in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (the DMCC Act) and regulations made under it. Three terms decide how they work.

• Subscription contract. A deal between a business and a consumer for goods, services or digital content that renews and charges you automatically unless you act to stop it. A free or cheap trial that rolls onto a full price counts.
• Concessionary period. The law's name for a free or discounted trial.
• Relevant renewal. A renewal that opens the new window. It happens when you first owe a payment after a trial ends. It also happens when a renewal payment covers 12 months or more, as with an annual plan.

Cancelling in a cooling-off period is not the same as switching off auto-renew. Switching it off stops the next payment, and access lasts until the paid period ends. Cancelling ends the contract at once and may bring money back. Finding forgotten subscriptions and stopping them for real covers the first kind. This page is about the second.

The two 14-day windows side by side

Both windows come from section 265 of the Act. The refund rules come from the draft regulations, as set out in the government's draft guidance.

The initial window works much like the one you have today. It ends 14 days after the day you sign up. If the plan sends goods, it ends 14 days after the day you receive the first delivery in full. The business must tell you about this right before you sign up. If it does not, the window runs on until 14 days after it does, for up to 12 more months.

Notice what is missing. An ordinary monthly renewal does not open a window. Forget to cancel a £10 monthly plan in month five and the new rules give you no 14 days. You get a reminder before renewals instead, roughly every six months.

Why you read both spring 2027 and 1 January 2027

Both dates came from the government, at different times. In April 2026 it published its response to a consultation on the new rules. That response said: "we anticipate that the regime will commence in spring 2027."

Then, on October 19, 2026, it laid the draft regulations before Parliament. Regulation 1 says they "come into force on 1st January 2027". The draft guidance printed alongside them says the same. It also says the rules apply only to contracts "entered into on or after 1 January 2027."

Articles written between April and October still quote spring. The newer date is the one in the draft law, so plan around it.

One free trial walked through the new rules

Take a film streaming service you join on January 10, 2027. You get one month free, then it costs £28 a month for unlimited viewing. Here is how the dates would fall under the draft rules.

1. January 10 to 24: the initial window. You can cancel for any reason. Because this is digital content, you can lose the right when you press play, but only if you agreed to start at once, said you knew you would lose it, and got written confirmation.
2. Before February 10: a reminder. The trial is about to turn into a paid plan, so the service must remind you first.
3. February 10: the first £28 payment. This is a relevant renewal. A new window opens and runs to the end of February 24. The service must send a cooling-off notice that says so, separate from anything else it sends.
4. February 13: you cancel. That is day 4 of the window. The contract ends at the moment you send your message.
5. The refund. This billing month runs from February 10 to March 9, which is 28 days. Worked out by time, you owe 4 days out of 28, which is £4. The service refunds £24, by February 27 at the latest, to the card you paid with.

Now suppose the service never sent the cooling-off notice. Then it cannot charge you for those 4 days, and the full £28 comes back. The window also stays open. It runs until 14 days after the notice finally arrives, or for up to 12 months if it never does.

How the refund is worked out

The government's word for this is a proportionate refund. You pay for the part of the contract you actually got during the window, and the rest comes back. The share follows the deal you signed. That can be counted in time or in units.

• Unlimited access for a period, such as streaming or a gym, is likely to be counted by time, as in the £365 example above.
• A set number of uses, such as ten film downloads or ten gym visits a month, is counted by use. On a £50 plan with ten uses, cancelling after two leaves £10 to pay.
• Goods usually go back at your cost, and the refund follows within 14 days of the business getting them or your proof of sending. Cut flowers, made-to-order items and unsealed hygiene goods cannot go back, so you pay for them, provided the business gave you the right notice.

The government's response said "the overriding factor is for the consumer to be able to recover their payment" when a trial or 12-month plan rolls on. The share keeps the business paid for what it supplied. A business may give a full refund instead if working out the share is too much effort.

Digital content has one twist. The government kept the old option to give up the right in the initial window, as the walkthrough shows. It chose not to allow that in the renewal window, where a digital plan gets the proportionate refund.

Two more points decide disputes. A cancellation counts when you send it, even if the business reads it later. And if there is an argument, it is up to you to prove you cancelled in time. If a business refuses a refund it owes, the next step is often your card issuer, and how a payment dispute works explains the evidence to keep.

What these rules do not cover

This is general information about the UK, not legal advice. As of November 14, 2026, the regulations and the guidance are still drafts. Parliament must approve the regulations before they become law. If the date or the detail changes, the final text decides.

A contract you entered before January 1, 2027 stays under the old rules, even when it renews later. The guidance says it would be "best practice" for older customers to get the same protection. It does not make that a duty. Business deals are left out, including a plan your employer buys for you.

Some contracts are left out altogether: gas, electricity and water, banking, credit, insurance, pensions and investments, and prescriptions. Phone, mobile and broadband contracts regulated by Ofcom are out too. So are memberships of cultural and heritage charities, such as museums and historic houses.

Charges you never agreed to are a separate problem with their own deadline, set out in how long you have to report fraud to your bank. One-off app and game purchases follow the store's own window, which app store refund deadlines compares store by store.

What to do when a renewal lands

1. Check the dates. The plan must have started on or after January 1, 2027, and the renewal must be the first payment after a trial or a renewal of 12 months or more.
2. Count 14 days from the day after the renewal and put the last day in your calendar.
3. Cancel in writing, with a clear sentence. Something like "I am cancelling my subscription in the renewal cooling-off period" will do. Keep the sent copy, since the proof is on you.
4. Read the notices with care. Fake renewal emails copy real ones. Check any message that asks you to call a number or log in against the red flags in scam texts and emails, and go to the account yourself.
5. Chase a late refund. It is due within 14 days of the day after you cancel, to the card you paid with. After that, use your card issuer.