Streaming price rises: what to check before your subscription renews
A dated note on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and what it changes for reminders before a UK streaming subscription renews.
Published January 2026
What changed
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 introduces new requirements for consumer subscription contracts, including reminder, cancellation and cooling-off provisions.
Streaming services are subscription contracts and the renewal date is when the next billing period is charged at whatever price the platform is then offering.
What it means before the renewal date
Streaming subscriptions continue to be charged at the current price on the renewal date until the household actively reviews them. The renewal date is the only natural checkpoint built into the product.
Price rises are typically announced ahead of a billing cycle and applied to the next renewal — so the household's own diary entry is what makes the review possible before the charge.
What to do now
Check the renewal date and current price for each active subscription.
Check whether the household has actually used the service over the last billing cycle.
Check any tier change that would better match actual usage.
Related pages
Streaming reminders
Track your streaming renewal date so the next change is on your calendar, not the provider's.
Streaming subscription renewal report 2026
Evidence on how UK prices move at this renewal — what households are paying and why.
What to check before a streaming subscription renews
A short guide to the dates, terms and decisions behind this renewal.
Sources
- UK Parliament — Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. New UK legislation introducing reminder, cancellation and cooling-off requirements for consumer subscription contracts.