How much notice do I need to cancel a contract or subscription?

The notice you need is whatever your contract says, and the law adds rights on top

The notice you must give to cancel a contract or subscription is the period written in its terms, such as “one month’s notice” or “30 days”. The law then adds rights that can override those terms: a 14-day cooling-off period for UK contracts made online or by phone, a penalty-free exit from UK mobile and broadband deals after some price rises, and, in the US, federal rules on how online subscriptions must let you stop recurring charges.

Start by finding three things in your contract: the notice period, the minimum term, and any auto-renewal clause. The contract date extractor pulls the notice, renewal and end dates out of a contract PDF so you can see your deadline before you write to the company.

A notice period in months ends on the same date in a later month

A notice period expressed in months runs in calendar months and ends on the matching date in the later month. The Interpretation Act 1978, Schedule 1, says “‘Month’ means calendar month” for UK legislation, and most contracts use the same meaning.

The courts count months with the “corresponding date rule”. A First-tier Tribunal decision published on GOV.UK quotes the House of Lords in Dodds v Walker [1981]: the day the notice is given is left out, and a period of a month or more “ends upon the corresponding date in the appropriate subsequent month”. In that tribunal case, a notice served on 2 March 2019 gave a month ending on 2 April 2019, so a rent change from 1 April was a day short and the notice was invalid.

Worked example. You give one month’s notice on Thursday 15 October 2026:

• One calendar month ends on Sunday 15 November 2026.
• If the contract says 30 days instead, 30 days after 15 October ends on Saturday 14 November 2026, a day earlier.
• If the contract says notice must end on your billing date and you are billed on the 1st, the first billing date after 15 November is 1 December 2026, so you pay for November.

Short months cause most arguments. One month from 31 January has no 31 February, so read how your contract deals with it, or give notice a few days early. To count exact days between two dates, including working days only, use the days between dates calculator.

Always send notice in a way you can prove: email, the company’s online form, or a letter with proof of posting. Keep a screenshot or copy with the date on it, because the date the company receives your notice starts the clock.

Rolling monthly contracts and auto-renewal let you leave on the notice in your terms

A rolling monthly contract continues month by month until you cancel, and you normally only owe the notice period in the terms, often one month or 30 days. An auto-renewing contract is different: at the end of a fixed term, such as 12 months, it renews for another term unless you cancel before a deadline.

The deadline is what catches people. A 12-month gym or software plan that renews on 1 January 2027 with “30 days’ notice before renewal” needs your cancellation by 2 December 2026. Miss it and you may be tied in for another year. Put the renewal date and the notice deadline in your calendar the day you sign.

Check these clauses before you sign, or before you cancel:

• Minimum term. Leaving before it ends can mean an early termination charge.
• Notice period. One month, 30 days, or “before the next billing date” are different deadlines.
• Renewal length. Some contracts roll to monthly after the first term; others renew for a full new term.
• How to cancel. Online, by email, by phone or in writing, and to which address.
• Price after the term. Many providers raise the monthly price when a deal ends.

The contract date extractor finds these dates and periods in a contract PDF, so you can see the notice deadline without reading every clause. Check the figures it finds against the contract itself.

UK online and phone contracts come with a 14-day cooling-off period

In the UK you can cancel most contracts made online, by phone or away from a shop within 14 days, without giving a reason. This cooling-off period comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. According to regulation 30, for a service “the cancellation period ends at the end of 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into”. For goods, the 14 days run from the day you receive them.

Worked example. You sign up to a streaming or broadband service online on 10 October 2026. Day one is 11 October, so your cooling-off period ends at the end of 24 October 2026.

Three rules change what you get back:

• If the service starts at your request during the 14 days, regulation 36 lets the trader charge a proportionate amount for the service supplied up to when you cancel. The trader can only start early if you expressly ask.
• If the trader never told you about your right to cancel, regulation 31 extends the period: it ends 12 months after the normal 14 days, or 14 days after you finally receive the information if that comes sooner.
• Broadband switches have the same right. Ofcom says “you have the right to cancel your order within 14 calendar days”, though you may pay for service used and any installation.

The cooling-off period does not cover contracts you sign in a shop. For those, the notice in your terms applies unless the goods or service are faulty.

New UK subscription rules are law but not yet in force; GOV.UK expects them in spring 2027

The UK subscription contract rules in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) have not started yet. In its response to the consultation, published on 2 April 2026, the government says: “We will legislate when parliamentary time allows and we anticipate that the regime will commence in spring 2027.” Until then, these rules give you no rights.

When they start, the government response says traders will have to:

• send reminder notices on a durable medium before a free trial or a contract of 12 months or more auto-renews;
• give you 14 days to cancel after a trial or a contract of 12 months or more renews, with a proportionate refund for services and digital content;
• let you leave “in a straightforward way without unnecessary hurdles”, and online if you signed up online.

Check GOV.UK for the start date before you rely on any of these rights. Until the regime starts, the cooling-off rules above and your contract terms decide how and when you can cancel.

UK mobile and broadband: you can leave penalty-free if a price rise was not in your contract

Ofcom’s rules let you leave a phone, broadband or pay-TV contract with no exit fees if the provider raises the price when the contract did not say by how much, or raises it by more than the contract said. According to Ofcom, the provider must tell you at least 30 days before the increase takes effect and give you 30 days from that point to exit.

From 17 January 2025, Ofcom banned price rises linked to inflation or set out as percentages in new contracts. Ofcom says providers that include price rises “must set these out clearly, in pounds and pence, before you sign up”. If your contract says the price rises by £3 a month next April and it does, that rise was agreed, so it does not give you a right to leave. Contracts signed before 17 January 2025 may still contain inflation-linked or percentage rises.

Worked example. Your provider emails on 1 March 2026 announcing a rise the contract never mentioned, starting on 31 March. You have 30 days from the notice, so you can leave without exit fees if you act by 31 March, and switch provider or take a new deal with the same one.

Switching is also protected. For mobile, you text “PAC” to 65075 to keep your number or “STAC” to 75075 if you do not, and your provider must reply within one minute. For broadband, One Touch Switch lets your new provider arrange everything. In both cases, Ofcom says your old provider must not charge you for any notice period after the switch date. If you leave during the minimum term for another reason, you might have to pay an early termination charge; text “INFO” to 85075 to check your mobile contract status.

US subscriptions: the FTC click-to-cancel rule was vacated, so ROSCA and the 1973 rule apply

The FTC’s 2024 “click-to-cancel” amendments to the Negative Option Rule are not in force. According to the FTC’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “On July 8, 2025, shortly before businesses would need to comply with all parts of the Rule, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the amended Rule”, finding the Commission had not done a required preliminary regulatory analysis. The FTC says the vacatur reinstated the earlier version of the rule, first made in 1973. The FTC’s business blog says that rule “currently only covers pre-notification plans”.

On 11 March 2026 the FTC announced that Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, asking whether the rule needs amending and whether to adopt parts of the vacated 2024 rule. The FTC’s business blog gave 13 April 2026 as the comment deadline. When checked on 27 September 2026, the FTC’s Negative Option Rule page listed no proposed or final rule after that notice.

A federal law still protects you when you buy a subscription online. According to the FTC, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), passed in 2010, bans charging you through a negative option online unless the seller:

1. clearly discloses all material terms before taking your billing information;
2. gets your express informed consent before charging you; and
3. provides simple ways for you to stop recurring charges.

ROSCA does not set a notice period. Your contract’s terms decide how much notice you give. According to its March 2026 business guidance, the FTC also acts against negative option practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

How to cancel with the right notice, step by step

You cancel cleanly by finding your deadline, sending notice in writing and keeping proof. These steps work in the UK and the US:

1. Find the notice period, minimum term and renewal date in your contract. The contract date extractor lists them from a PDF.
2. Check whether a legal right lets you leave sooner: the 14-day cooling-off period, an Ofcom price-rise exit, or a fault.
3. Work out your end date with the corresponding date rule, or count the days if the contract says days.
4. Send notice by email or the company’s cancellation page, stating your account number and the date you want the contract to end.
5. Keep the confirmation, cancel the direct debit or card payment only after the end date, and check your next statement.

Cancelling a direct debit is not the same as cancelling the contract. If you stop paying before your notice ends, the company can still chase the money you owe for the notice period.