Shaping The Implementation Of The UK's New Rules On Subscription Contracts

Businesses now have the chance to influence the new UK rules governing subscriptions contracts by responding the Government's consultation on the new legislation (and the secondary rules which are required to implement it).

The size of the issue

The UK government's impact assessment, published with the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill in 2023, provided a vivid snapshot of the way consumers now buy goods and services. With approximately 155 million active subscriptions in non-regulated sectors in the UK (representing consumer spend of about £26 billion per year) subscriptions are big business, and present in nearly every consumer market sector (from beauty to tech to media subscriptions). The UK government estimates however, that each year, around a quarter of consumers pay for subscriptions they do not want after being rolled over from an unsatisfactory reduced-price trial. And at least a quarter of consumers have continued to pay for a