Subscription Contracts: Right to Cancel

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for that. This is precisely why the Government are taking their time. We have consulted widely—the consultation finished at the end of February—and we are analysing the responses. There are various complexities. It also impacts on HMRC, as far as gift aid is concerned. We must ensure that we get this absolutely right, and we will make a decision in due course.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, while we are on this subject, is it not the case that our regulators and our consumer rights are letting Britain down, and that we are in what we call rip-off Britain? Do we not need to look at regulation and consumer rights as a whole and come forward with a package to address the problems?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right. As it stands, all consumers are protected under the consumer contracts regulations, which basically allow consumers to have that cooling-off period if they subscribe to a service online. The Act extends that to subscription in person so that consumers will be protected under this legislation.