From 2027 your customers must be able to cancel online in one click. Does your account page pass?

The test is as easy to leave as to join

The guidance frames it as symmetry. If joining took a form and a button, leaving must take no more. A customer should be able to find the cancel option, confirm, and be done, in one clear step. Anything that adds steps the join flow did not have is a risk: a compulsory survey, a required phone call, a chat with an agent, a waiting period, or a form that has to be printed.

The cancel option has to be findable, too. A button that exists but is buried behind several menus, or only works at certain times, does not count as one clear step.

What you can still do

• Make one offer to stay. You may show a single offer (a pause, a cheaper plan, a discount) before they confirm, and they must be able to skip it in one click. A second offer, or a loop that sends them back to the offer, is not allowed.
• Check who they are. Asking them to log in, or to enter the email address on the account and a code sent to it, is fine.
• Tell them what ends and when. Showing the end date, whether any refund is due and what happens to linked add ons is good practice and makes the confirmation email easier.
• Ask why, afterwards. Once the cancellation is confirmed you may ask. Never before.

What to send afterwards

A written confirmation, within 24 hours if they cancelled online, or by the end of the third working day if they cancelled another way. Working days leave out weekends and bank holidays. It confirms the subscription has ended, when, and any refund due. Cancellations made in your billing system's portal or by your own staff still need the confirmation. See cancellation confirmation.

If the cancellation fell inside a 14 day change of mind period, the refund is due within 14 days and depends on what you sell. See change of mind refunds.

A cancel flow that passes

1. The customer opens the cancel link from their account page or from any reminder email. The link is secure, so it identifies the subscription without a password.
2. The page shows the plan, the end date if they cancel now, and any refund due.
3. One offer to stay is shown with a clear "No thanks, cancel" beside it.
4. The customer confirms. The subscription is cancelled in the billing system straight away or at the end of the period, as the rules and their 14 day status require, and linked add ons end with it.
5. The confirmation email goes within 24 hours and is recorded with its delivery confirmation.
6. An optional one question survey appears after the confirmation.

Common ways to fail

We give you a one click cancel page that follows the flow above, linked from every email and your account page, and send the confirmation inside the deadline. See where your own page stands with the free check.

• The only way out is a phone line or an email to cancellations@.
• The cancel button is behind a login the customer has forgotten, with no email plus code alternative, and no link from the emails.
• A survey must be completed before the cancel button works.
• Two or more screens trying to keep them, or an "are you sure" loop.
• The billing system's customer portal is treated as the way out, but it is not linked from the emails and sends no confirmation.