Gym membership refund: How to get your money back amid the coronavirus pandemic

6 April 2020, 14:40

By Alice Dear

All gyms across the UK have closed to stop the spread of coronavirus, but what does this mean for your memberships?

Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on coronavirus

On March 23, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK was going into lockdown to slow the spread of COVID 19 and help ease the strain on the NHS.

Among other rules, this meant all gyms across Britain closed.

But what does this mean for your membership fees? Will they be frozen, and do you need to do anything?

We've found the refund rules from the top UK gyms and what they'll be doing during the pandemic:

Fitness First

- All gyms closed

- Accounts will be freezed, free of charge

- No direct debits being taken during closing period

View this post on Instagram

In light of the uncertainty we’re currently facing, we want to keep you updated and let you know what DW Fitness First is still 🔺open for business🔺 — We’re here to help you stay fit and healthy and have taken additional measures to keep you safe, you can take a look at the link in our bio to read more ... — Please help us to prevent the spread: 🗑 Catch it, Bin it, Kill it 🏋🏻‍♀️ Lift it, Wipe it, Kill it 🙅🏻‍♀️ Keep a 2m distance

A post shared by DW Fitness First (@dwfitnessfirst) on Mar 18, 2020 at 5:10am PDT

The Gym

- All gyms closed

- Customers won't pay for any memberships while the gym is closed

- All membership payments have been frozen

- Offering home workouts via the Fiit App

Pure Gym

- All PureGyms have closed

- Have automatically stopped payments while gyms are shut

- When the gym is back open, they will credit your first payment by any outstanding amount from your current monthly subscription

- Offering classes and workouts on their app as well as tips on fitness, health and nutrition

Virgin Active

- Closed all 42 Virgin Active clubs across the UK

- Automatially freezing all Virgin Active memberships at clubs

- No fees to pay until the clubs open again

- Memberships will automatically un-freeze when the gyms open again

View this post on Instagram

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister regarding COVID-19 made today, Friday 20 March, we will be closing all Virgin Active clubs with effect from close of business on 20 March. They will remain closed until further notice. The health and safety of our people and our members is our number one priority. We are continuously monitoring the situation and will keep you all updated on any developments relating to your club and your membership as soon as we can. During the time our clubs are closed, we will be automatically freezing all of our memberships with no fee to pay until the clubs re-open and will also credit members with their pro-rata membership fees already paid for the period from 21 to 31 March. Although our clubs are closed, our social channels will be full of health advice and work outs that you can do at home. We encourage all of our members to stay fit and healthy during these uncertain times. We look forward to welcoming you all back into our clubs as soon as we are able. Thank you for your ongoing support, it means a lot to us. Ashley Aylmer Managing Director #LiveHappilyEverActive

A post shared by Official Virgin Active UK (@virginactiveuk) on Mar 20, 2020 at 3:24pm PDT

David Lloyd

- All David Lloyd Clubs and head offices are closed

- While closed, they cannot process membership changes or respond to membership queries

- All memberships are frozen and they will not be taking payments during the closures

Nuffield Health

- All fitness and wellbeing clubs closed

- Memberships frozen, with no direct debit collections happening until clubs open again

View this post on Instagram

In line with guidance from both the government and Public Health England, we are now closed. ⁣ ⁣ Your membership fees will be frozen and we won’t be collecting your direct debit until we can re-open. Please check your email for regular updates regarding re-opening and alternative ways to stay fit, healthy and active during this time. Please bear with us, we know you will have a lot of questions and we will keep you regularly updated as soon as we can. ⁣ ⁣ We look forward to seeing you again soon and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

A post shared by Nuffield Health (@nuffield.health) on Mar 20, 2020 at 12:33pm PDT

Better

- Better Leisure Centres, Better Gyms, Libraries, Trampoline Parks and Spas across the UK have closed

- People who are a part of a Better Leisure Centre or Better Gym will have memberships frozen

- Customers will not have to pay while they are closed