By James Maroney
State Sen., D-14
James Maroney
Have you noticed lately that you are getting more emails letting you know that a service you purchased is about to auto-renew? Have you wondered why that is? A large part of the reason is a bill we passed last session, HB 5314, that went into effect on Oct. 1.
Most of us have many different subscriptions set on auto-renew, and if you’re like me, you probably have several that you have forgotten about. Whether you pay weekly, monthly or yearly for a particular subscription, auto-renewals can be convenient. On the subscription’s expiration day, your credit or debit card gets charged, and the subscription is automatically renewed for another term.
Since the bill has passed, though, before a company can auto-renew your subscription it needs to send you a renewal notice, thus giving you the opportunity to cancel subscriptions you may no longer be using so that you can save money.
Have you ever paid for a subscription that you signed up for online, but when you went to cancel it, they made you call a phone number and likely put you on hold for a while? That too will change with the recently enacted bill. If you sign up for a service online, they need to make it so that you can also cancel the service online. This should help save you both time and money when you want to cancel a service you no longer need.
In addition, we also enacted requirements when free gifts or trial periods are offered. For those consumer agreements offering free gifts or trial periods, Connecticut’s automatic renewal law requires that businesses disclose to consumers, before entering into the agreement, the amount that the consumer will be charged after the trial period ends. The business must disclose that there will be an automatic renewal unless the consumer takes an action to prevent automatic renewal, the length of the term, and a description of how to terminate the automatic renewal. Where the free gift, trial period, discounted or trial promotional period is at least 32 days in duration, the disclosures must be made at least 21 days after the trial.
Another key provision of that bill is that businesses will no longer be able to charge you to send you a paper bill or statement if you opt to receive them, as long as they already offer paper statements. I have heard many people complain about the fact that they are getting charged to see account balances and receive statements. This is another consumer-friendly provision of the bill.
Auto-renewals are beneficial. They allow people to effortlessly continue their subscription services. But what is also beneficial is a little reminder that the renewal is happening. Life is busy.
As we prepare to start the 2024 legislative session, please reach out if you have suggestions for any more consumer-friendly laws. Please email me at james.maroney@cga.ct.gov.