Auto Renewal

Nicpin

Is it a legal requirement for a company to give notice of a renewal a certain amount of time before they try and take money?
April 2016 I purchased a years subscription to some on-line software. At the bottom of the footer (i.e bottom of the small print) of the invoice received via email in April 2016 were these words "The license term of the subscription is automatically extended for another 12 months if not cancelled in written form 28 days prior to expiry. "
I no longer have a need for this software but received no email giving me notice that it was going to be renewed and they were going to take the money otherwise I would have cancelled on-time. I wrote to them at the end of April to say I did not need the software, but they have said that was too late and they want the £500 in full in the next 7 days otherwise they will stat proceedings. The only reason they didn't get the money when they initially tried was because my card had expired.
Where do I stand?

JJ_Egan

<automatically extended for another 12 months >

Thats the answer Automatically and no its not a legal requirement to remind you .

You knew when the initial twelve months expired and how to prevent a new charge but forgot .

antrobus

Nicpin wrote: »

..Where do I stand?

Assuming that you are a consumer, then 'unfair contract term' is what you want.

This is what the government says about Subscriptions and automatic rollovers

For example, your terms are more likely to be fair if:

• It is made clear to customers at the outset how their subscription or contract will be renewed and the contract requires that they are sent a reminder a reasonable time before it is due to be renewed. The reminder should include clear information about the terms of the proposed renewal of the contract and the reasonable steps customers need to take to stop the renewal, if they wish to.
• They give your customers the right to cancel a contract once it has been renewed, without having to pay a cancellation fee, and any requirement to provide notice of cancellation is reasonable (ie it does not have the effect of tying the consumer into the contract unfairly).

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/unfair-terms-explained-for-businesses-full-guide

wealdroam

Nicpin wrote: »

Is it a legal requirement for a company to give notice of a renewal a certain amount of time before they try and take money?
April 2016 I purchased a years subscription to some on-line software. At the bottom of the footer (i.e bottom of the small print) of the invoice received via email in April 2016 were these words "The license term of the subscription is automatically extended for another 12 months if not cancelled in written form 28 days prior to expiry. "
I no longer have a need for this software but received no email giving me notice that it was going to be renewed and they were going to take the money otherwise I would have cancelled on-time. I wrote to them at the end of April to say I did not need the software, but they have said that was too late and they want the £500 in full in the next 7 days otherwise they will stat proceedings. The only reason they didn't get the money when they initially tried was because my card had expired.
Where do I stand?

What software are we talking about here?

Was it a business purchase?

Is the seller in the UK?
Unfair contract terms may not apply to overseas sellers.

marliepanda

Nicpin wrote: »

Is it a legal requirement for a company to give notice of a renewal a certain amount of time before they try and take money?
April 2016 I purchased a years subscription to some on-line software. At the bottom of the footer (i.e bottom of the small print) of the invoice received via email in April 2016 were these words "The license term of the subscription is automatically extended for another 12 months if not cancelled in written form 28 days prior to expiry. "
I no longer have a need for this software but received no email giving me notice that it was going to be renewed and they were going to take the money otherwise I would have cancelled on-time. I wrote to them at the end of April to say I did not need the software, but they have said that was too late and they want the £500 in full in the next 7 days otherwise they will stat proceedings. The only reason they didn't get the money when they initially tried was because my card had expired.
Where do I stand?

When did you sign up and when did you cancel.

You say signed up 'April' and tried to cancel at the end of April. Did you try to cancel AFTER it had already renewed?

angryparcel

My business deals in subscriptions on a daily basis and when i started 12 years ago i was told them that no legal requirement to inform users if this is stated when they initial sign up that they are signing up to a subscription service with payment taken every ** days/weeks/months/years, but i was advised best practice to give at least 14 days notice if possible.
So we now issue invoices 14 days before their due date, with a reminder 1 day before the due date.

unholyangel

JJ_Egan wrote: »

<automatically extended for another 12 months >

Thats the answer Automatically and no its not a legal requirement to remind you .

You knew when the initial twelve months expired and how to prevent a new charge but forgot .

Did they inform you of automatic rollover prior to entering into the contract? If not, they cannot vary/add terms of the agreement without your agreement (regardless of whether consumer or business). Assuming the email was received as a confirmation of a contract you had already entered into rather than during negotiations/before the contract was actually formed.

ARandomMiser

I think any auto-renewal request should be treated the same as marketing flags ...... You must explicitly opt in and a reminder should be sent at least 4 weeks in advance of the renewal date.

angryparcel

unholyangel wrote: »

Did they inform you of automatic rollover prior to entering into the contract? If not, they cannot vary/add terms of the agreement without your agreement (regardless of whether consumer or business). Assuming the email was received as a confirmation of a contract you had already entered into rather than during negotiations/before the contract was actually formed.

OP says it was on the invoice

At the bottom of the footer (i.e bottom of the small print) of the invoice received via email in April 2016 were these words "The license term of the subscription is automatically extended for another 12 months if not cancelled in written form 28 days prior to expiry. "

unholyangel

angryparcel wrote: »

OP says it was on the invoice

Yes - which normally isn't given until the contract is already formed therefore cannot form part of the contract.

angryparcel

unholyangel wrote: »

Yes - which normally isn't given until the contract is already formed therefore cannot form part of the contract.

Contract is normally accepted when payment is made, so it is part of contract, one paid it is accepted.