Protect consumers from unfair subscription and sneaky renewal practices

Rejected 15 signatures

What the petition asks

1. Introduce legislation to ban automatic renewal of free trials and discounted subscriptions without explicit customer consent.
2. require clear renewal reminders and simple cancellation, and
3. give banks the power to stop recurring subscription payments immediately at a customer’s request.

Millions lose money when free trials or discounts turn into full-price subscriptions.
Many companies make cancellation difficult through obscure emails, third-party platforms or app store settings. Cancelling should be as easy as signing up.
People don’t realise when discounts end until new payments are taken. During the austerity crisis, this adds financial pressure and stress. The law should require clear reminders, simple cancellation and better protection from unwanted recurring payments.

Why it was rejected

The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.

The Government has already announced plans to change how reminders are sent and make it easier to cancel subscriptions (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/consumers-to-save-around-400-million-every-year-from-government-crackdown-on-costly-subscription-traps)

We also cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

There are petitions already open on this topic which you may wish to sign:

Make subscription auto-renewal without clear renewal consent illegal
Make subscription auto-renewal without clear renewal consent illegal.

Mandate a "One-Click to Cancel" button for all online subscriptions
Mandate a "One-Click to Cancel" button for all online subscriptions

Timeline

13 Jul 2026	Petition opened for signatures
6 Aug 2026	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 15

Status Rejected

Rejected 6 Aug 2026

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