UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that he will be rolling out a series of ‘everyday fixes’ to help people with the cost of living, kicking off with two measures.

Pretend prices and deceptive deals will be a thing of the past under the Prime Minister’s plans to ban retailers from making misleading claims to customers about discounts. Shoppers have increasingly complained about outlets artificially inflating prices to give a false sense of value, such as increasing them only to then immediately advertise ‘discounts’ to make savings look larger than they really are.

This includes discounted prices being the same as they were before the discount, intended to trick consumers into thinking they are getting good value whilst saving them nothing and creating an uneven playing field for honest competitors.

The Prime Minister also wants to see an end to subscription traps, where people find it hard to cancel their subscriptions and contracts are automatically renewed at a higher cost. New rules will now come into force in January 2027, in time for when customers often start new subscriptions for the year ahead.

Saving an average of £14 (€16.35) a month for every unwanted subscription, the changes will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders and a much easier exit to contracts. A new 14-day cooling-off period will also let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews.

With households still watching every pound, it’s right to act to restore fairness, says the government. There are around 155 million active subscriptions in the UK, with consumers spending an estimated £1.6 billion a year on ones they don’t actually want, a direct hit to family budgets.

For the many businesses who already give customers plenty of notice before subscriptions renew and make contacts easy to leave, very little is changing. They will benefit from clearer rules and a more level playing field, without being undercut by competitors who have more complicated processes that rip off consumers.

Certain charitable memberships for cultural and heritage organisations will be excluded from the new subscription rules given the unique role they have in preserving and opening up access to the nation’s history, landscapes, and cultural collections.

“I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps,” commented Burnham. “Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life. I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives. I’m determined to pull every single lever we can to provide people with some room to breathe on the cost of living.”

“We’re putting an end to phoney bargains. If something is advertised as half price, it should actually be half price. We’re also making it as easy to leave a subscription as it is to join.”

“These are just two of the everyday fixes we’re going to be rolling out – today is just the start. We want to put more money in people’s pockets and give people hope that politics really can work for them and their everyday lives.”

Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “There’s nothing worse than realising you’ve been fleeced by a dodgy deal, or seen money leaving your account because of a subscription you didn’t want to renew or couldn’t easily cancel.”

“This Government is on the side of families working hard to make ends meet, while making sure the rules are clear for businesses and easy to follow.”

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Categories: Articles, Business, Policy, Regulation

Tags: Andy Burnham, Jonathan Reynolds