Guides · Agreements and policies
What is the UK’s 14-day cancellation right, and does it apply to you?
In the UK, a consumer who agrees to a service online or by phone can cancel within 14 days and get their money back. If they ask for the service to start sooner, they can still cancel, but pay for what’s been provided. It applies to most practices that take bookings online, and not to business clients.
A client in Leeds books six sessions on your page on a Monday and has the first on Thursday. On the following Tuesday they change their mind. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, they can cancel: the 14 days started the day after they agreed. You refund what they paid, less a fair amount for the session they’ve had.
Who it covers
- Consumers: people buying for themselves, not for a business.
- Contracts made at a distance, such as on a web page, by email or by phone, or away from your premises.
- Services, digital content and goods, each with its own rules.
Sessions inside the 14 days
A client can ask for the work to start before the 14 days are up. If they do, and they’ve been told they’ll pay for what’s provided, canceling later means paying for the sessions already held. If the whole service is finished inside the 14 days, and they agreed that finishing it ends the right, the right to cancel ends with it.
What the regulations exclude
Business clients, and some services for a specific date, such as leisure activities and catering. Whether a particular service counts can be a question for a lawyer; most coaching, tutoring and consulting for individuals is treated as covered.
If you don’t tell them
The right has to be explained before the client agrees. If it isn’t, the cancellation period can stretch to a year and 14 days. Put it in your agreement in a sentence.
The UK agreements WorkWith starts with say it: a consumer may cancel within 14 days of accepting and be refunded for sessions not yet delivered.
This explains what agreements commonly cover. Your profession, your country and the size of the work can each change what yours needs, and a lawyer who knows them is the person to ask.
Sources: The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Checked 2026-10-11.