Written by Sam Lyne SEO at Metric Hub
How many times have you signed up for a free trial, only to forget to cancel before it’s finished?
I can’t count the number of times I’ve been enticed into a free Amazon Prime trial with the trade-off of free delivery. Then life gets in the way, you forget to cancel and suddenly you’re out £8.99 for something you no longer need.
Although you agreed to it beforehand, you still can’t help but feel a bit duped.
The good news is that the government has started to catch on. PM Andy Burnham announced in August that “subscriptions will be easier to cancel and companies will be compelled to make it clear when contracts auto-renew at a higher price”.
It’s a step in the right direction, though it doesn’t solve the problem completely.
What is a subscription trap?
A digital subscription trap is basically where you end up making recurring payments you didn’t knowingly intend to make.
Like with Amazon Prime, you could intend to sign up for a free month trial but no more than that. The issue is, you can forget to cancel, or find it difficult to do so.
Once the trial ends, money is taken from your account that you may not have intended to spend. Sometimes that might only be a couple of quid, but in other cases it could be more substantial.
There has also been concern around so-called “silent scams”, where people believe they are making a one-off payment or signing up for something cheap, only to later discover that they have agreed to recurring charges.
Just to note – subscriptions and auto-renewal aren’t inherently bad. At times they can be convenient. The problem is that not everyone intends for them to go beyond the initial period.
Why are they becoming a problem?
There’s plenty of data out there to show why this has become such a prominent issue.
According to government research, there are an estimated 155 million active subscriptions in non-regulated UK sectors, representing roughly £26 billion in annual consumer spending.
Around 9.7 million are unwanted, with consumers spending an estimated £1.6 billion a year on subscriptions they do not want.
Of these, 3.6 million are thought to have resulted from free or discounted trials rolling over and another 1.3 million from auto-renewals.
This goes even deeper.
In December 2025, National Trading Standards released figures on what it referred to as a ‘silent scam epidemic’. A survey of 2,001 UK adults found that:
- 38% had signed up for a subscription without realising it
- of those affected, 23% were still unknowingly paying
- 17% didn’t quickly notice money leaving their account
- 8% took more than three months to notice
All in all, people are losing money for services they did not want.
6 types of subscription traps to look out for
Subscription traps come in all kinds of forms. Some are deliberate, some are accidental or down to forgetfulness.
1. The free trial that becomes a paid subscription
Probably the most recognisable example.
You sign up to a service for a free trial which requires you to enter your payment details. There’s usually a warning that money will be taken from a certain date – though this is not always clear.
If you don’t cancel before the trial ends, you’ll be charged for the following month.
Technically, it’s not as if your money has been stolen – you agreed to this when signing up. However, if this is not clearly stated, especially in marketing materials, it doesn’t bode well.
The ASA says adverts promoting free or discounted subscription trials must clearly state:
- whether a paid subscription automatically begins afterwards
- what the financial commitment will be
- significant conditions attached to the offer
A simple “T&Cs apply” isn’t considered enough to communicate the terms.
2. The £1 or very cheap introductory offer
We all love a good bargain, so as consumers any chance of saving money is going to catch our attention.
An initial discount is attractive, but it only lasts for a certain amount of time. After that, you’ll be charged the full amount.
Research from Which? looked into subscription businesses advertising tests, quizzes and online tools through social media and search advertising.
One example involved online IQ tests, where users paid a small amount for their result while the recurring subscription information was much less prominent.
One individual was reported to have discovered 31 payments totalling £464 over roughly seven months.
3. Subscriptions masked as a one-off purchase
Some subscription traps don’t look like subscriptions at all.
You might think you’re paying for one service or product, only to find out later that you’ve signed up to an ongoing subscription.
This has been seen with services such as:
- PDF converters
- online blog-building tools
- online quizzes and personality/IQ tests
- health and beauty products
- competitions
- expert-answer websites
- downloads and online utilities
The initial payment might be small enough that you don’t give it much thought. You enter your card details, get what you need and move on.
The problem comes when another payment is taken a week or month later.
In some cases, the recurring payment is mentioned during checkout, but it may not be particularly prominent compared with the initial offer.
4. Camouflaged adverts
Another one to watch out for is adverts which don’t immediately look like adverts.
You might be reading a website when a large button appears saying something like ‘continue’, ‘download’ or ‘open’. Naturally, you assume it’s part of the page you’re already on.
But clicking it can take you to a completely different website.
This is where people can end up entering their details into a service they never originally went looking for.
It doesn’t necessarily mean the service itself is a scam, but you should be cautious if you suddenly find yourself on another website asking for payment details.
5. Easy to sign up, harder to cancel
Signing up to most subscriptions is easy. All it takes is your email address, payment details and the click of a button.
Cancelling, however, isn’t always straightforward.
You might have to search through account menus, speak to customer services or click through several screens asking whether you’re sure you want to leave.
Giving customers the chance to change their minds isn’t necessarily a problem. It becomes more questionable when the cancellation option itself is difficult to find or unnecessarily complicated.
6. The annual subscription you’ve forgotten about
Monthly subscriptions are usually easier to notice because the payment keeps appearing on your bank statement.
Annual subscriptions are different.
You might sign up for software, cloud storage or another online service and then not think about it again for 12 months. By the time the renewal comes around, you’ve forgotten about it.
There can also be a big difference between the discount and the renewal price. Something you originally paid £29.99 for could renew at a noticeably higher amount the following year.
It’s one reason why checking only the last month or two of your bank statement won’t necessarily show every subscription you’re paying for.
How to avoid subscription traps
Don’t lose out. Make sure you have your ducks in a row before you sign up to any services. Here’s what you can do:
1. Check what happens after the introductory offer
Before entering your payment details, look for the normal price, when the first payment will be taken and whether the subscription renews automatically.
If a “free” trial asks for card details, that’s your cue to check exactly what you’re agreeing to.
2. Set a reminder before the trial ends
If you want to take advantage of a free trial, put the end date in your calendar straight away. Then, when the time comes, make sure you cancel if you don’t want to continue.
3. Look at the full price, not just an offer
£5 for the first month sounds great, but not so much if it’s followed by £19.99 every month after.
Check out what the service will cost overall rather than just the initial discount.
4. Check your statements regularly
Have a look at both your bank and credit-card statements for recurring payments you don’t recognise or no longer need.
Go back 12 months where possible, as this can uncover annual renewals that won’t appear in a monthly check. MoneyHelper recommends doing exactly this.
5. Make sure you know how to cancel before subscribing
It sounds excessive, but particularly with an unfamiliar website, check that there is actually a clear cancellation process.
Keep confirmation emails or screenshots of the offer and its terms in case there is a dispute later.
Subscription rules are changing
Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, new protections are due to come into force from January 2027. These aim to make it easier for people to opt out of subscriptions they no longer want.
Among the changes, businesses will be expected to:
- provide clearer information before you sign up
- send reminders at important points, including before some renewals and when trials are coming to an end
- make cancelling a subscription straightforward
- allow you to cancel online if you originally signed up online
- provide a 14-day cooling-off period after a free or discounted trial rolls into a paid subscription, and after certain longer-term subscriptions renew
The idea is fairly simple: signing up for a subscription shouldn’t be considerably easier than getting out of one.
These rules aren’t in force just yet, though. So until they take effect, it still pays to keep an eye on renewal dates, check your statements and cancel anything you no longer use.
