> Is it actually legal to "cancel" a service by having your credit card expire?
Especially for services that are paid up-front, they sometimes specify in the contract that the service is terminated upon non-payment (my renters insurance is this way).
Many services don't contractually specify this, but they are still in the habit of doing it because documenting debt takes effort, and selling it to debt collectors only gets you a fraction of its value. It's relatively easier for them to just shut down the account and move on.
That said, the terms of most services I've interacted with require you to explicitly end your service via one of a contractually specified set of communications channels (e.g. "call us or send a letter to XYZ address").
So yes, it's also the case here that you risk accumulating debt and being send to collections.
Especially for services that are paid up-front, they sometimes specify in the contract that the service is terminated upon non-payment (my renters insurance is this way).
Many services don't contractually specify this, but they are still in the habit of doing it because documenting debt takes effort, and selling it to debt collectors only gets you a fraction of its value. It's relatively easier for them to just shut down the account and move on.
That said, the terms of most services I've interacted with require you to explicitly end your service via one of a contractually specified set of communications channels (e.g. "call us or send a letter to XYZ address").
So yes, it's also the case here that you risk accumulating debt and being send to collections.