A free trial turns into a paid plan, or a yearly plan renews and nobody reminds you. This guide says which rights exist today in the United Kingdom and the European Union, which are still on the way, how to stop the payments, and gives a letter you can copy.
The short answer. Today, you can cancel an online purchase within 14 days and ask your card provider to stop a repeating payment. The United Kingdom’s new subscription rules, with renewal reminders and a second 14-day window, are expected in spring 2027, so do not rely on them yet.
Last reviewed 15 October 2026. Nothing here is legal advice. If a company does not answer, the consumer body where you live can tell you what to do next.
What you can use today
- Fourteen days to cancel a purchase made online. In the United Kingdom this comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. In the European Union, the Consumer Rights Directive gives a 14-day right of withdrawal for most online contracts. If you asked for a service to start inside the 14 days, the company may be able to keep a fair share for the days you used.
- A withdrawal button, in the European Union. From 19 June 2026, online sellers in the European Union must give a clearly visible “withdraw from contract here” function, or an equivalent, for the whole withdrawal period, and send you proof on a durable medium such as email. It does not add new withdrawal rights or change the exceptions.
- Stopping a repeating card payment, in the United Kingdom. You can ask the company to stop, or ask your card provider to cancel it, and your card provider must stop it once you ask, even if you have not contacted the company. Ask by the end of the business day before the next payment is due. A payment taken after you cancel is treated as unauthorised, and your card provider must refund it. Cancelling the payment does not end the contract, so you may still owe money under it.
What is coming in the United Kingdom, and when
On 2 April 2026 the government said its new subscription rules are expected to start in spring 2027, with no exact date yet. When they start, the government says they will bring:
- clear information before you sign up;
- reminders before a free or discounted trial ends, or before a contract of 12 months or more renews automatically;
- cancelling online if you signed up online;
- a 14-day cooling-off period after a trial ends, or after a contract of 12 months or more renews.
Until then, none of these extra rights applies, so the safest habit is the old one: put the renewal date in your calendar the day you sign up.
Steps
- Cancel where you signed up, and ask for confirmation in writing with the date it ends.
- If you are inside 14 days, say so in the message, and ask for a refund.
- If money is still taken, tell your card provider that you want the payments stopped, by phone first, then in writing so you have proof.
- Keep the proof: the screenshot, the email, the date and any reference number. Cancel and Keep Proof writes the message and a record on your own device.
A letter you can copy
Fill in everything in square brackets and delete the sentences that do not apply. Send it by email so you have a dated copy.
Subject: Cancel my [name of service] subscription and refund [amount]
Dear [company name],
I am cancelling my [name of service] subscription, held under [your email address], with effect from today, [date].
[I signed up online on [date], which is within 14 days, so I am using my right to cancel. Please refund [amount].]
[I did not agree to the renewal on [date]. Please refund the [amount] that was taken.]
Please reply to confirm in writing that the subscription is cancelled, the date it ends, and that no further payments will be taken. I would like your reply within 14 days.
[I have also asked my card provider to stop any further payments.]
Yours sincerely,
[your name]
In the European Union, if you want to name the law, replace “my right to cancel” with “my right of withdrawal under the Consumer Rights Directive”, and use the withdrawal button first if the website has one.
If the money does not come back
Ask for the refund in writing through the company’s complaints process. If you are still not satisfied, in the United Kingdom you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. Elsewhere, see official help, country by country.
Sources
- GOV.UK, government response on the new subscription contracts regime, 2 April 2026
- GOV.UK, crackdown on costly subscription traps, 2 April 2026
- Financial Conduct Authority, recurring card payments
- Citizens Advice, stopping a future payment on your debit or credit card
- Hogan Lovells, the European Union’s new online withdrawal button (from 19 June 2026)
- Government guidance on the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (PDF, Portable Document Format)
Related guides
Free
Cancel it and
keep the proof.
Cancel and Keep Proof writes the message and a dated record. It runs on your own phone or computer, and what you type stays on your phone or computer.