When to send subscription reminder notices

Your plan

How the dates are worked out

• Plans with no introductory offer. One reminder in each six-month period, for the last renewal payment in that period, or for the first payment after it if none falls inside. The first period starts the day after sign-up; each later one starts the day after the last payment that needed a reminder (section 258(1), (2) and (5)). A plan billed every six months or less often needs a reminder for every renewal payment.
• Free trials and introductory prices. A reminder for the first renewal payment, and six-monthly after that (section 258(3) and (4)). Where the introductory price covers more than one payment, the reminder is for the first payment at the higher price, not the ones before it (draft regulation 33).
• When to send. The law sets no number of days. You state the period in the key information shown before sign-up (Schedule 23, paragraph 10), and it must end before the last day the customer could cancel and avoid the payment, and give them enough time to decide and act (section 259(3) to (5)). The government's draft guidance suggests stating it as "X to Y days before".
• Yearly and longer renewals. Count twelve months starting the day before the renewal payment. If the next renewal payment falls after those twelve months, or there is none but the contract runs on beyond them, an additional, earlier reminder is also needed, at a reasonable time before the main one (section 259(6) to (8)). A yearly plan meets this test at every renewal.
• Renewal cooling-off. The customer may cancel from the day of the first payment that follows a free trial or introductory price, and of any renewal payment that meets the twelve-month test above, until 14 days after it (section 265(2) to (4)). The cooling-off notice goes on the first day of that period, or as soon as reasonably practicable after it, separately from any other information (section 266(3)). The dates shown assume you give that notice; if you do not, the period runs longer (draft regulation 6).
• What we assume. The customer becomes liable for each payment on its payment date, and the last day to cancel and avoid it is the day before, less any notice period you set. Monthly payments fall on the same day of the month as sign-up, or on the month's last day when the month is shorter. The contract continues until the customer ends it. If your terms say otherwise, the dates move with them.

What a reminder notice must say

Schedule 23, Part 3 of the Act lists the content, given all together and more prominently than anything else in the same message (section 259(1) and (2)). The draft regulations add that it must be in writing on a durable medium, such as an email, and make it readily apparent that it is a renewal reminder (draft regulation 34). No wording is prescribed.

1. That the customer will become liable for the renewal payment unless they take steps to end the contract (paragraph 30).
2. The date they become liable for it, and its amount (paragraph 31).
3. The amount of the previous renewal payment, if there was one, and if the new one is higher, that fact and the difference (paragraphs 32 and 33).
4. If renewing commits them to further automatic payments before the next renewal payment, how often those fall due and the minimum amount of each, or how it is calculated if it cannot reasonably be calculated in advance (paragraph 34).
5. The amount of the equivalent payments since the previous renewal payment, and if the new ones are or may be higher, that fact and the difference, or the difference in how they are calculated (paragraphs 35 and 36).
6. The minimum total they will become liable for if they do not end the contract before the renewal date, ignoring anything already due before it, or how it is calculated (paragraph 37).
7. The date of the next renewal payment, or if there is none, the date the contract ends (paragraph 38).
8. The steps to end the contract and avoid further payments, with any website, email or other contact details needed, and the date by which they must act (paragraph 39).