Subscription cancellation: a full checklist + a cancellation notice template

Service page: Consumer claims and class actions lawyer.

How do you cancel a subscription so that the cancellation really takes hold?

A subscription cancellation takes hold when three simple conditions are met: the notice was delivered through one of the channels the law requires the business to offer, it includes your name and ID number, and you have evidence of the delivery and of its date. All three are set in section 14I of the Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981. You do not need legal wording, you do not need to explain why you are leaving, and you do not have to go to the business in person. From the moment of delivery, a short and strict deadline starts to run, at the end of which the engagement, and with it the charges, must stop.

The checklist below follows the order of the actions: where to deliver, what to write, when it takes effect, what to keep, and what to do if the charges continue anyway.

Step 1: the channels the law requires the business to offer (section 14I(a))

Section 14I(a) provides that when a consumer has a right to cancel a transaction, under the law or under the contract, the business must allow them to deliver a cancellation notice in any of these ways, using the contact details the business gave for that way:

• Orally: by phone or by an oral notice at the place of business; unless the law provides that the cancellation must be made in writing.
• By registered mail.
• By email.
• By fax: if the business has a fax.
• Online: in a transaction that can be made with a consumer by this means.
• By any other means set by the Minister.

And that is not all: in a transaction that can be made online, section 14I(b) requires the business to create a dedicated link for sending a cancellation notice on the website’s home page, and to place it prominently and clearly. Sections 14I(d)–(f) add a duty of disclosure: the business must tell you in writing, no later than the date the goods or services are supplied, what the ways to cancel are, what the contact details for each way are, and which details the notice must include; and it must repeat this information on the invoice, the receipt or the payment notice, and on the website’s home page next to the dedicated link. The information must appear with special prominence and in clear, legible letters.

The practical conclusion: a business that demands that you come to a branch, wait for a retention representative or fill in an internal form as a condition for canceling is adding a requirement that is not in the law. One channel from the list is enough.

Step 2: what the cancellation notice must include (section 14I(c))

Section 14I(c) is short and clear: in a cancellation notice the consumer shall state their name and ID number. If the notice is given orally, another identifying detail must be added, but only if it was agreed with the consumer when the engagement was made. The Minister, with the approval of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Knesset, may set additional details.

That is the full bar the law sets. There is no requirement to give reasons, no requirement to attach documents, and no requirement for particular wording. Still, it is worth adding, not as a duty but to prevent an argument, the name of the business, the customer number or contract number, the date the notice was delivered, and the last four digits of the payment method from which the charges are collected.

Step 3: when the cancellation takes effect: the three-business-day rule (section 13D(c))

If your subscription is a continuing transaction, as defined in section 13C(a) of the Law (a transaction for the purchase of goods or services on an ongoing basis, whether for a fixed period or for an unlimited period), section 13D(c) applies to you. Under it, a contract in a continuing transaction will end within three business days of the day a cancellation notice was delivered under section 14I, and if it was delivered by registered mail, within six business days of the day it was handed in for sending; all this unless you stated a later date in the cancellation notice. On the cancellation date the business must stop supplying the goods or services, and must not charge you for goods or services supplied after the cancellation date.

Note the wording: the deadline is counted from the delivery of the notice, not from the day the business decided to deal with it, and not from the end of the billing cycle. Section 13D(d) sets one narrow exception: if the business kept charging because of circumstances it did not know of and should not have known of, or did not foresee and should not have foreseen, and cancellation of the transaction was impossible because of those circumstances, the provisions of 13D(c) and section 31A(a)(2b) will not apply as long as those circumstances continue. This is an exception for unusual external circumstances, not cover for a routine operational failure.

Certain types of transactions are subject to additional special rules, for example a gym membership for a fixed period, whose cancellation takes effect at the end of a month from the delivery of the notice under item 2 of the Fourth Schedule to the Law. The full comparison between the regimes appears in the article Subscription cancellation for an app or streaming service: what the law says, and how it differs from a gym.

Step 4: which evidence to keep, and why it is exactly what decides the matter

Almost every dispute about a subscription cancellation comes down to one question: when the notice was delivered. So the evidence is no less important than the cancellation itself. Keep:

• By email: the message sent from your mailbox, including the recipient’s address, the time and the date. Send a copy to yourself.
• Through the dedicated link on the website: a screenshot of the confirmation screen and of the request number, and the confirmation message sent to your email.
• By phone: the request number, the representative’s name, the date and the time; and if the call is recorded, a written request to receive the recording.
• By registered mail: the Israel Post delivery confirmation.
• In every case: the credit card or bank account statements for the months after the cancellation, which will show which charges continued and when.

A point many people miss: for exemplary damages for continued charging after cancellation, section 31A(b) of the Law provides that delivering a cancellation notice under section 14I(a) is enough, except for paragraph (1) of it, that is, except for oral cancellation. If you are considering suing for exemplary damages, send the notice in writing, and not only by phone.

A cancellation notice text to copy and adapt

The text below meets the requirements of section 14I(c) and adds details that prevent an argument. Copy it, fill in the details in the square brackets, and send it by email or through the dedicated link on the business’s website, with a copy to yourself.

If the subscription is to a gym for a fixed period, replace paragraph 4 with a reference to item 2 of the Fourth Schedule to the Law, under which the cancellation takes effect at the end of a month from the date the notice is delivered.

If the charges did not stop: what happens next

A business that kept charging you in breach of section 13D(c) is exposed to two cumulative remedies: a full refund of what was collected for the period after the cancellation date, and exemplary damages without proof of damage under section 31A(a)(2b) of the Law: up to NIS 10,000, and up to NIS 50,000 for a repeated or continuing breach or in aggravating circumstances (section 31A(c)). In addition, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority.

The full route (mapping the charges, the demand letter, which is a written request and a condition for claiming exemplary damages under section 31A(b), and a small claim versus a class action) is set out in the article Charged after subscription cancellation? 5 steps to get a refund. If you were charged after canceling and want your case reviewed, see the page Subscription cancellation and charges after cancellation and the office’s class action and consumer claims practice area.

When the charges continue even after the demand, the next step is set out on the page subscription cancellation lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Can you cancel a subscription by phone, or do you have to send a letter? You can cancel by phone. Section 14I(a) of the Consumer Protection Law requires the business to allow oral cancellation (by phone or at the place of business), as well as by registered mail, by email, by fax if the business has one, and online in a transaction that can be made that way. The exception is types of transactions for which the law provides that cancellation must be made in writing. However, if you are considering suing for exemplary damages, writing is better: for this purpose section 31A(b) specifically excludes oral cancellation.

What must the cancellation notice say? Under section 14I(c): the consumer’s name and ID number. In an oral cancellation, another identifying detail must be added, if one was agreed when the engagement was made. There is no duty to give reasons for the cancellation, and there is no mandatory wording for it. It is advisable to add the customer number, the date of the notice and the last four digits of the payment method, to prevent an argument about identifying the transaction.

How soon must they stop charging me after a cancellation notice? In a continuing transaction, within three business days of the delivery of the notice, and if it was sent by registered mail, within six business days of the day it was handed in for sending (section 13D(c) of the Consumer Protection Law). On that date the business must stop the service and may not charge for services supplied after it. If you asked for a later date in the notice, that date governs.

The business claims it did not receive the notice. What do you do? You present the evidence of delivery: the outgoing email with the date and time, a screenshot of the sending confirmation and the request number, the registered mail delivery confirmation, or the request number and the representative’s name in a phone call. That is why it is worth delivering the notice through a channel that leaves evidence, and sending a copy to yourself. Without evidence of the date of delivery, it is hard to prove when the three business days began to run.

The business demands that I come to a branch or go through a retention representative before canceling. Is that legal? No. Section 14I(a) requires the business to allow cancellation in each of the ways it lists, and section 14I(b) requires a dedicated and prominent link for sending a cancellation notice on the home page of a website where the transaction can be made. Making cancellation conditional on coming in person or on a retention call adds a condition that is not in the law.

I canceled but the service is still active: is the cancellation void? No. The cancellation is determined by the date the notice was delivered, not by the date the service was actually cut off. If the business kept supplying and charging in breach of section 13D(c), you are entitled to a refund of everything collected after the cancellation date, and in suitable cases also to exemplary damages under section 31A(a)(2b): up to NIS 10,000, and up to NIS 50,000 for a repeated or continuing breach or in aggravating circumstances.

What happens to a business that does not provide the cancellation channels required by section 14I? It is exposed to a monetary sanction. In the register of monetary sanctions of the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority, as checked on 17 October 2026, a sanction of NIS 485,128 is recorded in proceeding 208-24 for breach of section 14I(a) (not providing ways for cancellation of a transaction), alongside section 14C and section 2(a), and the appeal column of the register states in the same line that an appeal was filed, with no outcome recorded, so the amount is not final. In the same check of 17 October 2026, the register also records a sanction of NIS 125,384 in proceeding 237-25 and a sanction of NIS 676,272 against viagogo GmbH in proceeding 93-23, both for breach of section 14I(b), which concerns a dedicated cancellation link on the website, and section 14I(e), which concerns setting out the ways to deliver a cancellation notice. In the line of proceeding 93-23, too, the register states that an appeal was filed whose outcome was not recorded, while in the line of proceeding 237-25 the appeal column is empty.