UK subscription rules from 1 January 2027: which payments need a reminder, and when
From 1 January 2027 every business that sells auto-renewing subscriptions or free trials to UK consumers, including sellers outside the UK, must send renewal reminders at set points, offer cooling-off periods and let customers cancel easily. The CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover. Pick your billing cycle below to see which payments need a reminder.
Based on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (Part 4, Chapter 2) and the draft regulations and guidance published on 19 October 2026, which Parliament still has to approve. Checked 29 October 2026. Not legal advice.
Reminder dates for one subscription
The law sets no number of days for the reminder window. You choose it, state it in your key information before the customer signs up, and it must give them a real chance to decide and cancel (s.259(3)-(5); draft guidance FAQ 21). 7 to 14 days is only this calculator's starting value, not a legal minimum.
End-of-contract notice deadline
When a customer ends the contract, you must confirm it: within 24 hours if they ended it online, otherwise by the end of the third working day after you were told. Working days exclude weekends and bank holidays in any UK nation (s.261(5); s.330).
Building this into your own billing? The date engine is open source: uk-subscription-reminder-dates on GitHub (MIT, one dependency-free JavaScript file, tested against the statute's examples).
Every subscriber in one CSV to a dated notice schedule, reminder, cooling-off and end-of-contract templates with every required line, a key-information box, a refund worksheet and checklists for each platform.
Get the kit ($39, agencies $99)
The rules that set the dates
- Only new contracts. The rules apply to contracts made on or after 1 January 2027 (draft guidance FAQ 1). There is no small-business exemption and no announced grace period.
- Not every payment needs a reminder. Count six months from the day after the contract starts; the last renewal payment in that period needs a reminder, or the first one after it if none falls inside. The next six months start the day after that payment (s.258).
- Trials and intro prices. The first full-price payment after a free trial or intro price always needs a reminder. If the same lower price covers several payments, the reminder goes with the first higher-priced one (s.258(3); draft regulation 33).
- Annual plans get two reminders. When the next payment is more than 12 months away, an extra earlier reminder must come before the normal one (s.259(6)-(8)).
- Cooling-off. 14 days after sign-up (or after the goods arrive), and again after the first payment that follows a trial or intro price and after every 12-month-plus renewal (s.265).
- Ending. Customers can end the contract at any time in a simple way, online if they joined online, and you must confirm it within the deadline above (s.261; draft regulation 32).
Which payments need a reminder, by billing cycle
| Billing cycle | Reminder needed for | Extra earlier reminder | Renewal cooling-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | The last payment in each six-month period (about every 26th) | No | No |
| Monthly | About every 6th payment (start 15 Jan 2027: 15 Jul 2027, 15 Jan 2028, ...) | No | No |
| Every 2 months | Every 3rd payment | No | No |
| Quarterly | Every 2nd payment | No | No |
| 4, 5 or 6 months | Every payment | No | No |
| 9 months | Every payment | No | No |
| Annual or longer | Every payment | Yes, every time | Yes, every time |
| Free trial or intro price | The first full-price payment, then the cycle above | If annual | Yes, after the trial or intro price |
What every reminder must say
All together, in plain language, in writing on a durable medium (email, letter, SMS; a push notification that disappears doesn't count), with a subject that makes the purpose obvious, and more prominent than anything else in the message (s.259; Schedule 23 Part 3; draft regulation 34):
- that the customer will be charged unless they cancel, the renewal date and the amount;
- the previous amount and any increase;
- how often later payments come and the minimum amount, and the minimum total they become liable for;
- the date of the next payment after this one, or the date the contract ends;
- how to cancel and the last day to do it.
A reminder can't be combined with a cooling-off notice (draft guidance FAQ 27).
Does your platform send these reminders for you?
Where the customer buys from you (Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, Kajabi and similar), you are the trader and the duties are yours; the platform's emails are a tool you configure. Where the customer buys from the platform as reseller or merchant of record (Paddle, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy), the platform carries most of them (draft guidance FAQ 11). What each platform says it does today:
| Platform | Who is the trader | Built-in today (29 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe Billing | You | Optional renewal emails timed by a days setting; trial email fixed at 7 days before the trial ends; generic wording |
| Shopify Subscriptions | You | Email 3 days before each recurring order; no UK statement |
| Recharge, Skio, Loop, Bold | You | Upcoming-charge emails (Recharge and Skio default 3 days before), adjustable; no UK statement |
| WooCommerce Subscriptions | You | Renewal and trial-expiry notices from version 6.9.0, timing configurable; no UK statement |
| Kajabi | You | Upcoming payment reminder 1 to 30 days before (default 7), separate trial-ending email; no UK statement |
| Memberful | You | Reminders for plans of 3 months or more; none documented for monthly plans |
| Substack | You | Reminder to annual subscribers about a week before; none found for monthly |
| Podia | You | Says it has no built-in renewal reminders and points to Stripe's email |
| Paddle | Paddle (reseller) | Reminders for plans of 6 months or more to UK customers, 7 or 30 days before; none yet for monthly |
| Gumroad | Gumroad (merchant of record) | Reminders 30 and 7 days before each renewal, 2 days before a trial ends (code merged 21 Oct 2026) |
Common gaps: generic wording without the required details, a reminder before every charge or none at all on monthly plans (no platform works out the six-month periods), short trials with no trial-end email, and no renewal cooling-off notices.
Sources
- Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4, Chapter 2
- Draft Consumer Subscription Contracts (Cancellation and Information) Regulations 2026
- Draft guidance, 19 October 2026 (PDF, 77 pages) and the gov.uk publication page
- UK bank holidays (gov.uk)
Independent page, not affiliated with the CMA, the Department for Business and Trade or any platform named. Dates follow the draft rules; check the final regulations once Parliament approves them.