Your web agency locked you into a contract you never agreed to

How the lock-in happens

You signed up two years ago. The agency sent over a quote, you said yes by email, and they built the site. Nobody mentioned a contract length. You have been paying monthly ever since.

Now you want to leave, and suddenly there is a contract. It was attached to an email you do not remember reading, or buried in their terms and conditions linked at the bottom of an invoice. It says 12 months minimum, auto-renewing for another 12 months unless cancelled 90 days before the renewal date.

You never agreed to any of that. You agreed to pay them to build a website.

What is actually enforceable

A contract has to be agreed by both sides. In the UK, that means you knew about the terms before you said yes. If the agency is now waving a PDF at you that you never signed, never opened, or never had pointed out to you, their position is weaker than they want you to think.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers sole traders and very small businesses in most cases. It says unfair terms are not binding. Specifically, terms that:

• Were hidden in small print or behind a link you never clicked
• Were not brought to your attention before you agreed
• Create a significant imbalance against you (a 12-month tie-in with a 90-day cancellation window is exactly that)
• Auto-renew for long periods without clear notice

None of these are automatically void. But if you challenge them, the agency has to prove the term was fair, clearly communicated, and properly agreed. Most cannot.

The auto-renewal trick

This is the one that catches most people. The original contract was 12 months. You barely noticed when it rolled into year two. Now you are in year three, and they are telling you that you missed the cancellation window so you are locked in until next September.

Auto-renewal clauses with long cancellation windows are some of the easiest terms to challenge. The Competition and Markets Authority has been clear for years that businesses must give clear, prominent notice before an auto-renewal kicks in. A single line in a PDF nobody reread does not count.

If your agency never wrote to you saying "your contract is about to auto-renew, you have until X to cancel", they have not done what they need to do to make the renewal stick.

How to challenge the contract

Email them. Not a phone call. You want everything in writing.

Keep it short and factual. Ask three things:

• A copy of the original contract you signed, with the date
• Evidence that the contract terms (specifically the minimum term and auto-renewal clause) were brought to your attention before you agreed
• Copies of any renewal notices they sent you before the auto-renewal dates

Most agencies cannot produce this. They will have an unsigned PDF, a generic terms link, and no renewal notices at all. At that point you are not asking to cancel, you are pointing out that the lock-in they are claiming does not exist.

If they push back, mention the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the unfair terms provisions. Mention that you are happy to take it to the small claims court or your card issuer if needed. The cost-benefit calculation flips for them at this point. Chasing one £80 a month client through court costs more than letting you go.

How to leave cleanly

Before you fire the email, get your house in order. You want to be ready to move the moment they agree.

Three things you need from them:

• Your domain name transferred into your own account (not theirs)
• A copy of your website files
• Confirmation that any direct debits will be cancelled on a specific date

The domain is the one most agencies try to hold onto. They registered it in their name, which they should not have done, and now it sits in their account like a hostage. They are legally required to transfer it to you. Ask in writing, give them seven days, and follow up.

The phrase "goodwill gesture" is industry code for the agency knowing they are in the wrong.

What a fair contract looks like

A reasonable arrangement for hosting and maintenance of a small business website looks like this: short minimum term (three months is plenty), then rolling monthly. 30 days notice to cancel, in writing, no questions asked. Your domain in your name. Your website files yours on request.

That is what I offer at SkipTheAgency. The Maintained plan is £65/month, three-month minimum, then rolling monthly. If you want to leave after that, you give 30 days notice and you take everything with you. No 90-day windows, no auto-renewing year-long tie-ins, no hostage situations.

If you are stuck in a contract right now and not sure where you stand, the first step is the email I described above. Most agencies fold the moment they realise you have read the small print they were counting on you ignoring.