How do I cancel contracts I don’t want any more?

I recently wrote all about “Awful April” – the time of year when all of our main bills go up, from taxes to utilities. If you’ve been worrying about these extra costs, you might have found yourself looking at your finances and wondering if there are places you can make savings.

The good news is, there certainly are. From subscriptions you’d forgotten about – like anti-virus software, streaming services and cloud storage – to things you don’t want or need, such as old dating apps or insurance policies that haven’t been cancelled, you could save £1,000 or more each year!

That’s all well and good, but readers have been telling me they can’t cancel some contracts, or identify regular payments that could be binned. Here’s my guide to help your spring clean your finances and save some cash.

Too many TV streaming services? Cancel the ones you don’t use much and save some money (Picture: Adobe)

Finding missing payments

We pay for goods and services through a range of financial institutes, apps and even through our phones. So to track down payments you don’t want or need, you’ll need to check:

• Bank accounts
• Credit cards
• E-payment services (like PayPal)
• Your mobile phone bills
• Other online payment services (like Apple Pay or Google Pay)

I’d recommend noting down regular payments for contracts you want to keep on a spreadsheet or a piece of paper while you go – this will become your regular budgeting tool.

Use technology, but know its limits

Chances are you will have a list of subscriptions and regular payments on your accounts. I’ve yet to see a business that identifies all of these payments – or even gets close. You can download a range of “subscription tracker” apps to help you keep on top of your payments, but sadly, you’ll still need to go through your accounts for a year and one month to spot everything. That sounds like a lot to check, doesn’t it? Don’t make life difficult for yourself. Why not go back through each account in three-month chunks to check for payments you don’t recognise. Note down the point you stop so you don’t forget where to start again.

Dig out the laptop

Right! Let’s cancel things. To my immense annoyance, many businesses allow you to enter into subscriptions and contracts with just a click or two on your phone or even through your television.

But to get out of them you’ll sometimes need to dust off the laptop or computer and log on to the main website. Save yourself some time by typing “how do I cancel [brand]” into a search engine to find the quickest way to escape.

Use your bank or card company

Can’t find a way to contact a business or cancel a contract? Most businesses use a type of regular payment called a “continuous payment authority” or CPA. The good thing about CPAs is you just need to tell the card provider to cancel the payment and they must do this straight away.

The business may object, but in order to do that they have to contact you – which means you can tackle them directly.

Subscription traps

The government announced a few years ago that subscription traps – where you are lured, or even tricked, into a contract by a free trial or misleading information – are to be clamped down on. The new rules probably won’t be announced for a while yet. But you can simply tell your bank or payment service to cancel any payment you don’t want or need.

I don’t recognise that

When you check your accounts, you’ll spot a few things you don’t recognise. Some businesses trade under different names or use confusing codes for bills. Ask your bank or payment service for their advice on anything that seems wrong. Check to see if you’ve been debited more than once or if it’s a one-off and cross reference with your diary to see if that jogs your memory. Otherwise, dispute the transaction and get your cash back!

Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. Read more from him at this link.