Citizens Advice responds to Consumer Bill
Matthew Upton, Acting Executive Director of Policy & Advocacy at Citizens Advice, said:
“We all need new protections in the fast-changing consumer landscape. So it’s encouraging to see regulators given more powers to crack down on the businesses taking consumers for a ride.
“We’re glad to see action on subscriptions traps, after our own research showed people in the UK spent half a billion pounds on auto-renewals without realising.
“These are promising steps but the government has to acknowledge the pressure on consumers' pockets. This has to be the start of reforms, not the end.”
Background:
- Citizens Advice found that people in the UK in 2021 spent half a billion pounds on subscriptions that auto-renewed without them realising, and more than £306 million on unused subscriptions.
-ends-
Notes to editors
- Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
- Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.
- Citizens Advice helped 2.55 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2021-22. And we had 40.6 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
- Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 18,500 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales.
- You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.