# Automatic membership renewal: collecting fees within Dutch renewal law — MijnEvent [Home](https://mijnevent.nl/en) / [Blog for event organizers](https://mijnevent.nl/en/blog) / Automatic membership renewal: collecting fees within Dutch renewal law memberships modules legislation clubs # Automatic membership renewal: collecting fees within Dutch renewal law Automatic renewal saves your club a pile of chasing work, but the law has rules about cancelling. Here is how renewal works in MijnEvent, and how to keep it clean. [Jasper Koers](https://mijnevent.nl/en/author/jasper-koers) · 27 July 2026 · 6 min read ![](https://regify-mijnevent.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/blog/covers/automatic-membership-renewal-dutch-law.webp) Photo: [Towfiqu barbhuiya](https://unsplash.com/@towfiqu999999?utm_source=MijnEvent&utm_medium=referral) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=MijnEvent&utm_medium=referral) In short - You switch on automatic renewal per membership tier; the member then gets word thirty days before the renewal, stating the amount and the date. - The first payment establishes a mandate through Mollie, into the club's own account; every renewal is collected on that mandate without the member doing anything. - If a collection fails, the member automatically receives a payment request by email. That payment restores the mandate for the next period, and failed collections are fee-free. - Under the Dutch renewal law (Wet van Dam, article 6:236 sub j of the Dutch Civil Code), a silently renewed membership must be cancellable monthly with at most one month's notice. MijnEvent enforces that: shorter is allowed, longer is not. Not legal advice This article explains the rules as we read them, on the date of publication. It is general information, not legal advice — your situation may differ. Most clubs know the yearly ritual. In January an email goes out asking members to transfer their fee, in February the first reminder follows, and by May the treasurer is still chasing the last twenty people. Automatic renewal takes that work away. But collecting fees automatically touches on your members' rights — and Dutch law has something to say about that. Below is how renewal works in the **Memberships & season passes** module, and how to keep it within the rules. # Renewal is a setting per tier Renewal is not one switch for your whole organisation, but a setting on each membership tier. A yearly membership for playing members can renew itself, while a one-off supporter pass deliberately does not. When you switch renewal on, word automatically goes out to the member thirty days before the renewal date. That notice states the amount, the date, and how to cancel if the member does not want to continue. Thirty days is not an arbitrary number: it gives a member a realistic chance to respond before money leaves their account. What you do set yourself is the notice period that applies afterwards — more on that below. # The mandate: pay once, then it runs The first payment does two things at once. The member settles their first period, and they give a mandate. That mandate is established through Mollie, into the club's own account — so the fee arrives directly with the club, not with an intermediary. Every following period is collected on that mandate. The member does nothing: no payment link to open, no transfer to schedule, no payment request left sitting in an inbox for six months. # And when a collection fails? It happens. Not quite enough balance, a withdrawn mandate, a changed account number. A failed collection is not a disaster, as long as it does not go quiet. What happens instead: the member automatically receives a payment request by email with an ordinary payment link. Once they settle it, the period is paid *and* the mandate is good again for the next round. As treasurer you do not have to chase it. Two things worth knowing: - **Failed collections are fee-free.** The module fee applies per collected billing period, so an attempt that does not succeed costs you nothing. - **You see it in the dashboard.** Members with an outstanding collection appear separately in your overview, so you know who might still need a personal call. # Dutch renewal law: cancelling must not be hard Then the legal part. Since the Wet van Dam, stricter rules apply to subscriptions and memberships that roll on silently. The source is [article 6:236 sub j of the Dutch Civil Code](https://wetten.overheid.nl/jci1.3:c:BWBR0005289&boek=6&titeldeel=5&afdeling=3&artikel=236): a clause leading to silent renewal or continuation "without the counterparty having the power to terminate the continued agreement at any time with a notice period of no more than one month" is on the blacklist, and is therefore voidable. In practice it comes down to this: a membership may have one fixed initial term, but once it renews silently after that, the member must be able to cancel at any moment with a notice period of at most one month. Even if you bill per year or per season. The Dutch consumer authority ACM explains the same rule on [Abonnement opzeggen](https://consument.acm.nl/aankoop-dienst-annuleren/abonnement-opzeggen) (in Dutch). That rule is built into the module. After the first renewal a membership automatically falls under the monthly cancellation regime. As an organiser you can set a *shorter* notice period — zero days is allowed — but never a longer one than a month. The system simply will not take it. Which also means the notice period is not a retention tool. A member who wants to leave is gone within a month. What you do control is whether they have a reason to. # Members cancel themselves, from their own inbox The practical side of that same law: cancelling must be as easy as signing up. That too is on the blacklist — [article 6:236 sub o of the Dutch Civil Code](https://wetten.overheid.nl/jci1.3:c:BWBR0005289&boek=6&titeldeel=5&afdeling=3&artikel=236) forbids any clause that "excludes or limits" the power to terminate an agreement concluded electronically in that same way. So every renewal notice and confirmation email carries a signed cancellation link. The member clicks, sees what cancelling means, and confirms. No account to create, no password to remember, no phone call to a committee member who is not around. That saves the member hassle, and it saves you the argument afterwards about whether someone did or did not cancel. # What happens to fees already paid A cancellation never takes effect before the end of the period already paid for. If a member is still in their first term, the membership simply runs to its end date — membership card and member rate included. If the membership has renewed before and the member cancels halfway through a paid year, it ends after the notice period. The part of the fee covering the remaining time is **calculated pro rata** — by calendar second of the period, and never higher than the amount actually collected. If the period was free or waived, there is nothing to calculate. # The member knows what they are signing up for None of these rules help if a member only finds out once the money is gone. So it is stated on the sign-up page, before payment, in plain language: - that this membership renews automatically, and at what interval; - that a mandate is given at payment; - that word arrives 30 days before every renewal; - that after the first renewal the notice period is at most one month; - that overpaid fees are calculated pro rata. On a tier without renewal it says the opposite just as explicitly: a one-off payment that does not roll on by itself. # What you see in the dashboard The members page shows the fee picture: the running amount per month and per year, what has actually been collected this year, how many collections are coming up and for what total, who cancelled, and where something is overdue. Worth knowing how to read those numbers: it is a **snapshot**, not a revenue forecast. The running amount says what your current members represent right now, normalised to a monthly figure. What has been collected this year is a cash figure — a member who joined in March did not pay a full year. Both are useful, as long as you do not mix them up in the budget. # What it costs The module is a year licence of €99 plus €0.25 per collected billing period, with volume tiers above certain numbers. Free and trial memberships cost nothing, and neither do failed collections. The fees themselves land directly in the club's own account. Wondering whether this fits your club? Have a look at the [Memberships module page](/en/modules/memberships), or read how [the membership card in a member's wallet](/en/blog/membership-card-in-your-wallet) works — renewal keeps that card valid without anyone lifting a finger. Legislation changes and tariffs are revised annually. We do our best to keep this article current and link to the source where we can, but we cannot guarantee everything still holds at the moment you read it. If a decision carries financial or legal consequences, check with the authority itself or put it to a lawyer or adviser. See also our [general disclaimer](https://mijnevent.nl/en/disclaimer). Frequently asked questions ## Frequently asked questions ## How does automatic collection of membership fees work? On the first payment the member gives a mandate through Mollie, into the club's own account. Every renewal is collected on that mandate, without the member having to do anything. ## What happens if a collection fails? The member automatically receives a payment request by email. Once they pay it, the mandate is good again for the next period. Failed collections do not cost a module fee. ## How does a member cancel? Through a signed link in their own email — no account, no login, no phone call to the committee. After the first renewal the notice period is at most one month. ## Does a member get money back when cancelling mid-period? Cancellation never takes effect before the end of the period already paid for. If the cancellation date falls inside a paid period, the amount for the remaining time is calculated pro rata — never more than what was actually collected. 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