Subscription services to face UK government clampdown over payment traps
Subscription services that do not make it clear they will take regular payments at the end of a trial offer will be targeted in the budget next week.
'Subscription traps' will be targeted in the UK's budget next week
Chancellor Philip Hammond will set out plans to give consumers greater protection from so-called "subscription traps", which sting them with unexpected payments after a free or subsidised trial.
Proposals include forcing companies to make small print shorter and more readable and giving customers more notice that a payment will be taken.
The government's crackdown follows a 2016 Citizens Advice report that found as many as two million people struggle to cancel continuous payments.
Four in five people have had issues cancelling contracts after being signed up without their knowledge, the charity found.
Its chief executive Gillian Guy said: "Subscription traps are taking hundreds of pounds from people’s bank accounts without their permission.
“From beauty treatments to gym contracts – consumers are signing up to free trials or one-off discounts only to find that money is then taken from their account each month."
Guy added that shorter, clearer smallprint would help consumers understand exactly what will be taken from.
“Firms are bamboozling consumers with lengthy terms and conditions and complicated clauses making it really difficult for people to know what they’re signing up to,” she said.
“The government’s welcome clamp down in this area will help people know where they stand and challenge unfair practices.”