How to stop an automatic renewal

An automatic renewal means a plan continues into a new period, and charges you again, unless you act before a deadline. It covers streaming and software subscriptions, gym memberships, phone and internet contracts, warranties, insurance add-ons and free trials that turn into paid plans. The charge is small enough to ignore, the date is easy to forget and the cancel button is not always where you expect it.

The FTC's advice on getting in and out of free trials, auto-renewals and negative option subscriptions makes the same point: find out how to cancel before you sign up, and keep records of the date and the terms. The steps below assume you are past that stage and want out now.

1. 1

   Find every recurring plan

   Go through the last three months of card and bank statements and note every charge that repeats, along with its date and amount. Add the plans you pay through app stores and through your phone bill. The subscription cost calculator turns that list into a monthly and yearly total, which shows what each renewal costs you.

2. 2

   Find the renewal date and the notice rule

   Check the account page, the confirmation email or the terms for the renewal date and for any notice period. Some plans need notice a set number of days before the date, not on it. The cancellation deadline calculator works out the last safe day to act.

3. 3

   Turn off renewal in the account

   Sign in and look under Billing, Plan, Membership or Subscription for a setting called auto-renew, or for a cancel option. Switch it off before the date, and take a screenshot of the confirmation. Many plans keep working until the end of the paid period, so turning off renewal costs you nothing you have already paid for.

4. 4

   Write to the company

   A written message creates a record that a click or a call does not. State your name, account details, the plan and the date you want it to end, and say that you do not agree to any renewal. Use our cancellation letter template, or find your company if you want a letter sent for you.

5. 5

   Watch the next statement

   Look for the next charge on its date and again a week later. A cancelled plan should show no new charge. Keep every confirmation until you have seen a statement with nothing on it.

6. 6

   Dispute a charge that follows

   If the company takes money after you cancelled, ask for a refund in writing first, quoting the date of your cancellation. If it does not refund you, dispute the charge, as described in the next section.

Two cases need extra care. A plan bought through an app store or a phone carrier is cancelled in that store or on that carrier's account, not with the company whose service you use, so cancelling with the company alone will not stop the charge. And turning off renewal is not always the same as cancelling: some accounts keep the plan open and simply stop charging, which can leave a balance or a later restart. If the screen is unclear, write to the company and ask it to confirm in writing that the plan ends and that no further charge will be made.

Do the account step and the written step both. The account setting stops the next charge fastest, and the letter is your proof if the setting fails or the company says it never heard from you.

How you dispute depends on how you paid. For a credit card, the FTC explains the steps in disputing credit card charges: write to the card issuer, describe the charge and the date you cancelled, and attach your proof. Federal billing error rules generally require the issuer to hear from you within 60 days after it sent the statement that shows the charge, so do not wait.

For a debit card or a direct debit from your bank account, the Electronic Fund Transfer rules in Regulation E apply. They let you stop a recurring payment by telling your bank at least three business days before the next scheduled transfer, and the bank may ask you to confirm in writing. Tell the bank promptly about a charge you did not authorize, and ask what time limit applies to your account.

• Your cancellation confirmation, screenshot or the delivery record of your letter.
• The statement lines for the charges you dispute, with dates and amounts.
• Any reply from the company, including a refusal.
• A note of the dates you contacted the company.

If you did not order the subscription at all, the FTC's alert on how to stop subscriptions you never ordered suggests checking your statements, contacting the company and disputing the charge with your card issuer or bank.

• Put the renewal date in your calendar with a reminder a week before the notice deadline, not only a week before the charge.
• Note the cancel route when you sign up, and screenshot the confirmation page.
• Use a free trial's end date as the real deadline. Cancel on the first day of the trial if you do not plan to keep it.
• Check statements monthly. Many people find the plans they forgot during a quick review.

Several states regulate automatic renewals, including what companies must tell you before and after you sign up. Our guides on automatic renewal laws by state and the status of the FTC click-to-cancel rule explain what protections exist today. If a company keeps charging you, see what to do if a company keeps charging you after cancellation.