DMCC Membership Compliance: What Every UK Membership Organisation Needs to Know
Introduction
A new era of consumer protection has arrived—and it could reshape how your organisation manages memberships. The DMCC Act 2024 introduces stricter rules around auto-renewals, cancellations and transparency, making DMCC membership compliance a priority for any organisation offering recurring services or digital access.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC) is a major piece of legislation that sets stricter standards around subscriptions, cancellations, and member communications. Although designed to tackle unfair digital practices in the commercial sector, the Act has direct and growing relevance for membership organisations.
Whether you’re a charity, professional body, trade association or subscription-based service, this new law brings responsibilities—and opportunities—you can’t afford to ignore.
This article is the first in a series to help you navigate the DMCC, understand what’s required, and strengthen how you engage, retain and support your members.
Why has the DMCC Act been introduced?
The DMCC is a response to growing public concern over unfair, confusing and sometimes exploitative subscription practices—especially online.
Key drivers include:
- £1.6 billion lost annually by UK consumers on forgotten or unwanted subscriptions (Citizens Advice)
- The average UK consumer now holds 7 active subscriptions—with growing confusion about renewals and charges
- Reports of manipulative design (known as “dark patterns”) used to make cancelling difficult or to mislead users into automatic renewals
- Government consultations revealed strong public demand for greater fairness, clarity and control
The result is a legal framework that places consumer rights and transparency at its core.
Why the Membership Sector is being caught up?
Although the Act targets consumer subscription services, traditional membership organisations now share many of the same characteristics:
Online joining and renewal journeys
- Auto-renewing payments
- Digital member benefits and content
- Monthly or annual billing models
- Try before you buy’ offers and discounts
The distinction between “membership” and “subscription” has blurred. From the member’s perspective, the experience is often the same.
That means your organisation is subject to the same rules—and expectations—as digital giants like Spotify or Netflix. You must offer clarity, control, and convenience throughout the member lifecycle.
What are the key changes you need to know?
Clear pre-contract information
Before someone joins, you must give them key facts—upfront and prominently. This includes:
- What they’ll pay and how often
- Whether there’s a trial or discount period
- How and when they can cancel
- What happens at renewal
What this means for you: If your membership offer is complex or unclear, now’s the time to simplify and be transparent.
Cooling-off periods at join and renewal
There are now two 14-day windows in which members can cancel:
- After joining
- After renewing (for 12-month terms or after a concessionary period)
What this means for you:
If members receive high-value benefits up front (like free entry or content), they could join, use everything, then cancel—leaving you unable to recoup full value. You may need to rethink how benefits are released during this period.
Click-In, Click-Out cancellations
Cancelling must be as easy as joining. If a member signs up online, they must be able to leave online too- no unnecessary hoops or hidden links.
What this means for you:
Expect churn to rise. But this also creates an opportunity to improve your cancellation journey and proactively engage members before they opt out.
Standalone renewal reminders
You must now send dedicated reminders – not buried in newsletters – around six and nine months into a 12-month membership. These must be the primary purpose of the message.
What this means for you:
There will be added costs (especially for postal reminders), but also a key chance to reinforce your value and mission before renewal comes around.
Marketing and design practices under scrutiny
The DMCC Act takes aim at misleading or manipulative practices – commonly known as “dark patterns” that make it harder for consumers to understand, manage or exit a subscription.
This isn’t just a web design issue. It includes any marketing, communications, or digital strategy that:
- Hides or downplays key terms (e.g. auto-renewal or cancellation rules)
- Uses pre-ticked boxes or vague wording to gain consent
- Buries cancellation links or makes the offboarding process unnecessarily difficult
What this means for you:
You’ll need to review not only your website layout and member portal, but also your email wording, offer design, and sign-up funnels. Compliance isn’t just about avoiding legal trouble—it’s also an opportunity to rebuild trust through clarity, fairness and ease of use.
Explore the DMCC Act in detail
Turning compliance into engagement: A Strategic Opportunity
Rather than treating this as a compliance burden, organisations have a chance to reimagine their member journeys through:
- Proactive engagement: Members who feel informed, valued and involved are less likely to leave. Pre-renewal reminders should reinforce impact, not just confirm payment.
- Personalised communications: Segmenting your member base and delivering tailored messages based on behaviour, preferences or tenure can dramatically improve retention.
- Timely interventions: A well-timed check-in or thank-you message can reduce the risk of churn—especially in the first few months or just before renewal.
How AI can help you stay ahead
New AI tools offer powerful ways to better understand and serve your members, including:
- Churn prediction models to identify at-risk members before they leave
- Automated personalisation to deliver relevant content, benefits and reminders
- Natural language insights from survey data or member feedback
- Intelligent journey mapping to track engagement and identify friction points
The opportunity:
By combining DMCC compliance with AI-powered engagement, you can build deeper relationships, reduce passive cancellations, and enhance the member experience at scale.
What should you do next?
We’ll dive into each of these areas in future articles, but for now, here are some practical next steps:
- Audit your member journeys—especially join, renew, and cancel paths
- Review all terms, offers and pricing to ensure clarity and fairness
- Map out a renewal comms plan that is compliant, timely and value-driven
- Engage your legal, CRM and marketing teams early to scope out changes
Final thought
The DMCC Act 2024 isn’t just a legal update—it’s a signal that the rules of engagement are changing. Membership organisations are now expected to operate with the same clarity, fairness, and responsiveness as leading digital subscription brands.
But this isn’t just about avoiding risk. It’s a chance to modernise your membership model, strengthen relationships, and re-centre your offer around what members truly value.
Handled proactively, the DMCC can become a catalyst for:
- Deeper loyalty through personalised engagement
- Smarter retention using data and AI
- A more ethical, transparent member experience that builds long-term trust
In short: compliance is the baseline. But what you build on top of it is where the real opportunity lies.
Coming up in this series:
- Designing compliant and engaging onboarding journeys
- Cooling-off periods: what you can (and can’t) do
- Renewal reminders that increase trust—not churn
- UX, dark patterns, and your website: what needs to change
- What this means for fundraising and Gift Aid models
About the Author
Mel Sallis
Turn DMCC compliance into stronger member engagement.
Whether you’re still figuring out what the DMCC means for your organisation or already planning your compliance journey, we’re here to help.
