Further consumer protection has been passed under the new Digital Market, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 passed in May. Secondary legislation is awaited, and some changes are minimal compared to current law, but this Act has amongst other areas tackled subscription-type contracts which have become a familiar purchase system for many consumers. Consumer surveys suggest as much as £1.8bn per year is spent by consumers on subscription contracts and studies show that in one year (2021 to 2021) 55% of consumers who entered into a subscription contract experienced some detriment.

One of the most annoying traits of these agreements is the automatic rollover from free trials into paid schemes or automatic renewals. Some businesses have made exiting these arrangements difficult and tried to induce consumers through their selling practices to change their minds and not leave.

As a result, the new Act requires businesses to comply with the following, all of which are terms automatically implied in the subscription contract:

Pre-contract information

During the Subscription

Ending a Subscription

Those who have spoken out against the Act say that all this increased notification is an annoyance to the consumer who becomes fatigued with the constant bombardment of communication and often deletes incoming emails without reading them. There is a point to this but for those that in the past that have missed the deadline to cancel unwanted subscriptions will perhaps welcome the prompts.

Any term in a contract with a consumer that goes against these implied terms will have no effect and if a business does not comply then a consumer can terminate anyway for the business's breach of the Act. It is also an offence by the business and its officers (the directors) to fail to provide information about the cooling-off rights at the pre-contract stage. Fines will be imposed upon conviction.

For advice on Subscription Agreements or other areas of Contract Law, please contact Justine Lowe at Justine.Lowe@smesolicitors.co.uk or call us on 01905 723561.