Pocket money... subscription amnesia costs us dear

⬤ The amount we’re all paying in accidental subscriptions has doubled in a year, according to Citizens Advice. More than 25% of us – 13 million people – have accidentally taken out a subscription in the past 12 months. It could be anything from a fitness app to pet food to a food-delivery service.

You may think you have made a one-off purchase or signed up to a free trial, but instead you have agreed to a recurring payment. These accidental subscriptions cost us £688m in 2023, up from £306m at the end of 2022. “Companies relying on people forgetting to cancel at the end of a free trial is an unacceptable business model that exploits busy, cash-strapped consumers,” says Clare Moriarty, CEO of Citizens Advice.

It takes some legwork, but cancelling all your unused subscriptions could save you thousands of pounds. You can usually see all your direct debits and standing orders in one section of your online banking or banking app. Go through all your bank accounts and look at yours. Make a note of the payments for services or goods you don’t use and look up any that you don’t recognise. You’ll then need to contact the merchant to cancel your subscription. Don’t forget to check for recurring payments in PayPal too, as you can get signed up for subscriptions through your PayPal account. Also, check your Apple Pay or Google subscriptions and Amazon.

⬤ A survey of parents who’ve taken out Interactive Investor‘s Junior Isas for their children found that around a third were not planning to tell their children about their accounts until they absolutely had to. “Most of those keeping it secret feel their children are not financially mature enough to know yet,” says Tanya Jefferies in the Daily Mail, “while others fear they will spend all the money immediately on reaching young adulthood.”

⬤ The highest student loan debt in the UK is a whopping £231,000, according to the Student Loans Company. Another graduate’s account has built up £55,000-worth of debt in interest alone. The average student now graduates from an English university with £44,940 of student-loan debt, says Fran Ivens in The Telegraph. Twenty years ago, the average student debt was £3,190.