Cancelling a gym membership

Summary

You probably can’t cancel if you’ve changed your mind about wanting the gym membership. You can try, but you’ve legally entered into a contract with the gym that you’ll need to stick to. Your gym should let you cancel your contract if you have a serious injury or illness that is preventing you from exercise. You’ll need to get evidence from a doctor or medical professional to prove that you can’t exercise. Talk to the manager at your gym. If they won’t let you cancel, you should say the following (or put it in writing): “The Competition and Markets Authority advises that a gym contract is unfair if it doesn’t let a member cancel through serious injury or illness.” Your gym should let you cancel your contract if you’ve had a change in circumstances that means you can’t afford the monthly payments. It would have to be something significant, eg you’ve lost your job or suddenly found yourself in a lot of debt. You’ll need evidence to prove this to your gym. Talk to the manager at your gym. If they won’t let you cancel, you should say the following (or put it in writing): “The Competition and Markets Authority advises that a gym contract is unfair if it doesn’t let a member cancel.

Key information

• allow your contract to be automatically renewed without your permission
• set a minimum contract term that’s more than one year
• allow the gym facilities to change significantly
• allow the price of the gym to change significantly mid-contract
• You probably can’t cancel if you’ve changed your mind about wanting the gym membership. You can try, but you’ve legally entered into a contract with the gym that you’ll need to stick to.
• Your gym should let you cancel your contract if you have a serious injury or illness that is preventing you from exercise.
• You’ll need to get evidence from a doctor or medical professional to prove that you can’t exercise.
• Talk to the manager at your gym. If they won’t let you cancel, you should say the following (or put it in writing):
• “The Competition and Markets Authority advises that a gym contract is unfair if it doesn’t let a member cancel through serious injury or illness.”
• Your gym should let you cancel your contract if you’ve had a change in circumstances that means you can’t afford the monthly payments. It would have to be something significant, eg you’ve lost your job or suddenly found yourself in a lot of debt. You’ll need evidence to prove this to your gym.
• “The Competition and Markets Authority advises that a gym contract is unfair if it doesn’t let a member cancel because they’ve had a change in circumstances which means they can’t afford the membership.”
• It’s possible that the contract terms dealing with cancellation are unfair. If this is the case, those terms might not be legally binding so you should try to get the the gym to let you cancel.

Practical guidance

• Source: Cancelling a gym membership

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