Free trials: how to stop getting charged for subscriptions you forgot
Free trials are designed to convert into paid subscriptions by default — that's the business model. None of that is illegal, but it does mean the burden is on you to remember to cancel, and most people forget at least one. Here's how to actually stay in control.
Before you sign up: three small habits
Set a reminder the moment you start the trial, not the day before it ends — put it a day or two before the actual charge date, since trial lengths are easy to miscount. Use your phone's reminders app, your calendar, or a note on your banking app if it supports one; it doesn't matter which, as long as it's set the same minute you sign up, before you forget.
Some banking apps (several UK banks and challenger banks offer this) let you create a separate virtual or disposable card number for online sign-ups, which you can freeze or delete at any time without affecting your main card. If your bank offers this, it's a genuinely useful way to try a trial knowing you can cut it off instantly if cancelling through the company itself turns out to be a hassle.
Where possible, check the cancellation method before you sign up, not after. If a company's cancellation process involves a phone call during limited hours, or multiple confirmation steps, that's a sign to be extra careful with your reminder.
You can cancel through your bank, not just the merchant
A lot of people don't realise this: when you give a company permission to take recurring payments from your debit or credit card, that's called a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA). Under UK rules, you have the right to cancel a CPA directly with your bank or card provider at any time — you do not have to go through the merchant if they're making cancellation deliberately difficult, and your bank cannot refuse to action this for you. In practice, contacting the company first is usually quicker and cleaner, but knowing your bank can also stop it is a genuinely useful backstop if a company is being unreasonable about letting you leave.
Once a month, scroll back through your bank statement specifically looking for recurring payments, not just big one-off purchases. Subscriptions are easy to forget precisely because they're small and repeat quietly — a five-minute scroll once a month catches almost all of them.
New rules are coming, but don't rely on them yet
The UK is introducing stronger legal protections against "subscription traps" under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which will require companies to send clear reminder notices before a free trial converts to a paid subscription, and before each renewal payment, plus make cancellation genuinely straightforward. As of late 2026 this regime is expected to come into force in early 2027 — but the date has already shifted once, and it isn't law yet. Use the habits above now rather than waiting for the new rules to do the work for you.
If you've already been charged for something you forgot
Contact the company first and ask for a refund, pointing out when you actually stopped using the service — many will refund at least the most recent charge, particularly for a genuine oversight. If they refuse and you believe the charge was unauthorised or unfair, you can raise a dispute with your bank or card provider, who are required to investigate.
While you're reviewing old payments and accounts for forgotten subscriptions, it's also worth checking for other money that might be sitting forgotten in the opposite direction — old bank accounts, unclaimed Premium Bonds, or a Child Trust Fund are all surprisingly common things people simply never got round to checking.
Check what you might be owed with Refund Checker →
A one-line version of all of this
Set the cancellation reminder the second you sign up, scroll your statement once a month for quiet recurring payments, and remember your bank can cancel a Continuous Payment Authority directly if a company won't make it easy.