How to raise prices on UK consumer contracts

If you sell to UK consumers on a contract or subscription and want to raise the price, check one thing first: can a customer leave without penalty when the new price lands? Official guidance says a term giving you a "blank cheque" to force higher costs on customers without their consent is unlikely to be fair. You cannot rely on an unfair term.

The guidance comes from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a UK enforcer of these rules. This guide covers UK consumer contracts, with shorter EU and US notes. Consumers are people acting mostly outside their trade or business. If you only sell to other businesses, these consumer pages do not automatically apply. A contract used for both must still be fair and transparent under consumer law, the CMA says.

UK: fair warning and a real way out

The CMA says a price-change term is more likely to be fair if it explains what can change, when and how, and does not take customers by surprise. It should make you warn customers in enough time and give them "a genuine right to exit the contract without penalty or otherwise being left worse off."

Its longer guidance, CMA37, adds that a purely discretionary right to raise prices after the customer is bound, including increases unrelated to your actual costs, is more likely to be unfair.

One CMA sample clause, rated more likely to be fair, gives one month's written notice and a right to cancel. Treat that month as an example of fairer wording, not a legal minimum.

The CMA calls a clause unlikely to be fair if customers who want to leave must give three months' notice, paying the higher price throughout.

For automatic renewals, the CMA says reminding customers in reasonable time makes a term more likely to be fair.

EU: a cancel option when the rise is large

Under EU consumer law, standard terms must be fair and in plain language, and unfair terms are not binding on the customer. The EU's Your Europe site says raising the price without letting consumers cancel, when the new amount is much higher than agreed, may be unfair. In its sample story, a national consumer association called a price term with one month's written notice and no right to cancel most likely unfair.

US: show the full price before purchase

A March 2013 online advertising guide from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says significant extra fees a customer would not expect should sit right next to the advertised price, and all costs should be clear before purchase. It covers advertised prices, not notice before a mid-contract rise.

What this means for your business

Picture a cleaning firm with monthly household plans. One clear risk is a clause that charges more with no way out.

We think the safest rise is one customers see coming and can refuse. We suggest three steps:

1. Read your price-change clause this week. Check it says when, why and how the price can change.
2. Write to customers in good time with the new price, the date and the reason, and tell them how to leave without a penalty.
3. If the rise comes at renewal, remind customers first. If you advertise online in the US, show significant extra fees a customer would not expect right beside the price.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own contracts, read the CMA guidance or ask an adviser.

Handled that way, the cleaning firm's customers hear early and can choose.

Sources

• UK Competition and Markets Authority, Writing a fair contract for customers (GOV.UK, updated 22 July 2026).
• UK Competition and Markets Authority, Unfair contract terms guidance, CMA37 (22 July 2026).
• Your Europe, Unfair contract terms (EU).
• European Commission, Unfair Contract Terms Directive.
• US Federal Trade Commission, .com Disclosures (March 2013).

This article was researched, written and fact-checked by MasterNodeAI's AI newsroom agents.

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