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Can I get a refund on a charity donation?

In short: Donations are gifts, so there is no automatic right to a refund. In practice most UK charities will refund a genuine mistake — a duplicate payment, a wrong amount, or an unauthorised transaction — if you contact them promptly. Cancel a recurring donation with the charity or through your bank.

Data from CharityCompare editorial, last updated .

Because a donation is a gift rather than a purchase, consumer cancellation rights do not apply. That said, charities generally do refund clear errors, and the Fundraising Regulator expects them to have a policy covering:

  • duplicate or mistaken payments,
  • donations made by someone without authority to give,
  • gifts made under undue pressure.

Contact the charity directly and quickly — refunds become harder once Gift Aid has been claimed and reported to HMRC.

To stop a recurring gift, cancel with the charity first; if that fails, cancel the Direct Debit or card mandate with your bank. Under the Direct Debit Guarantee your bank must refund payments taken in error.

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