PM Andy Burnham has promised to tackle labrynthine unwanted online subscriptions among a series of measures to tackle the cost of living. His plans also include a ban on “fake discounts.”
The crackdown on “rip-off” business practices is expected to benefit consumers by around £400m a year and will be the first in a range of “everyday fixes” to be implemented in the coming months.
Writing in The Guardian, the prime minister said his government would step in wherever it could as he sought to put the cost of living at the heart of his premiership: “We won’t be able to solve every frustration overnight,” he conceded. “But where the government can save people money, remove an unnecessary obstacle or simply make something work better, we should and we will.”
The government will ban misleading pricing practices that retailers use to make discounts appear better than they really are, including fake “was” prices, invented reductions and misleading recommended retail prices.
Ministers will consult in the autumn on the exact practices to be covered and how the ban will work, before introducing the changes through secondary legislation.
Downing Street hopes the measures can be implemented as soon as possible and does not expect a lengthy parliamentary process to bring the proposals into law.
The government will speed up new protections against subscription traps, bringing forward their introduction from next spring to January. The rules will force businesses to provide clearer information when people sign up, regularly remind customers about their subscriptions and make it easier for them to cancel. Customers will also be given a 14-day cooling-off period after a trial period ends or a long-term contract renews.
The average person has about three subscriptions and spends around £500 a year on them, according to the government’s figures. There are about 155m active subscriptions across the UK, and about £1.6bn a year is spent on unwanted or forgotten ones, or those that are overly complex to end.
Ministers estimate consumers will save an average of £14 a month for each unwanted subscription they are able to leave.
“Too many companies want you to sign up in seconds but then make it feel impossible to leave. It’s exhausting,” the PM added.
On the issue of fake discounts, Burnham said: “The changes are intended to stop retailers inflating the price of an item before cutting it to give shoppers the false impression they are receiving a bigger discount. If something is advertised as half price, it should actually be half price. We’ll make sure that when families snatch a deal, they can be confident they’re actually saving. That’s the least they deserve when budgets are so tight.”
The two initial measures will be followed by more over the coming months as he attempts to show voters his government can make a noticeable difference to household finances. Burnham also promised “bigger plans to make life easier and fairer for people over the longer term.”
He continued: “As far as I’m concerned, whatever the size, big or small, if it’s a problem for you, it’s a problem for us. That’s why I’ve made it clear from day one that creating room to breathe is my number one priority, and the whole of government is united on that.
“Every single unexpected payment, rip-off or hidden catch chips away at hope. That might sound dramatic – but it’s true. Every single one is another message that this country is built to catch people out rather than help them get on.”
The announcement comes as Burnham revealed that he will spend the rest of his summer travelling around Britain in an attempt to reconnect the government with voters: “I’ll be asking people what action they want to see on the cost of living,” he said. “Because if we want to find the problems that make everyday life harder, we need to listen to the people dealing with them.”
