Notice & Demand: templates and forms

For anyone in Italy who wants to end a subscription – gym, swimming pool, magazine, online service – or stop it renewing: the letter gives notice at expiry, withdraws on the contract’s terms or, if a documented illness or injury prevents you from using the service, asks for termination because performance has become impossible (Articles 1463 and 1464 of the Italian Civil Code). Italy has no specific law on gyms: the contract and the Italian Consumer Code’s rules on unfair terms decide. Many providers state in the contract how to cancel. Send this Italian letter by PEC to the company’s certified address or by registered post with proof of receipt.

For anyone in Italy who wants to end an insurance policy – home, accident, liability, health – at expiry so that it does not renew tacitly, or to withdraw from a policy lasting more than five years once five years have passed (Article 1899 of the Italian Civil Code). The notice period is the one the policy sets and counts from receipt of the letter. Motor liability insurance, by contrast, needs no notice: it never renews tacitly. Many insurers also accept cancellation free of charge from the customer area or through the agent. Send this Italian letter by PEC to the insurer’s certified address or by registered post with proof of receipt.

Many banks let you revoke a direct debit free of charge in online banking or at the branch. This document, in Italian under Italian law, is for doing it in writing, with proof: it holds two letters to send on the same day, one to the creditor revoking the SEPA mandate and one to your bank asking it to stop executing that creditor's debits (legislative decree no. 11/2010). Revocation does not cancel sums owed: the letter asks how to pay them another way.

For anyone in Italy who wants to end a landline, mobile, internet or pay-TV contract, even before it expires: the law lets you withdraw at any time, on no more than thirty days’ notice and without costs other than those justified by the operator’s own costs (Article 1(3) of Italian decree-law 7/2007, the «decreto Bersani»). Operators also offer free cancellation channels in the customer area or in their shops; to move to another operator and keep your number, just go to the new one. This Italian letter proves the date: send it by PEC to the operator’s certified address or by registered post with proof of receipt.

For an employer in Italy ending a job during the trial period. If the trial clause is valid, that is written before work began and naming the duties, the contract may be ended freely, without notice or compensation (art. 2096 of the Italian Civil Code). The letter states the end date and the final payments. It is not for a dismissal after the trial, which follows the rules on dismissal. Hand it over against a signed receipt, or send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In Italian.

For a family that, as a domestic employer in Italy, ends the job of its domestic helper, carer or nanny. In domestic work a dismissal needs no reason (art. 2118 of the Italian Civil Code; art. 4 of Italian Law 108/1990), but the notice of the collective agreement for domestic work must be given or paid in lieu. The letter states the dismissal, the notice, the last day and the final payments. It is not for a dismissal for just cause, nor during pregnancy or the leave that follows the birth. The end of the job is then reported to INPS, free of charge. Hand it over against a signed receipt, or send it by registered post. In Italian.

For a consumer in Italy who bought online, by phone, by mail order or from a doorstep seller and has changed their mind: you withdraw within 14 days without giving reasons (Article 52 of the Italian Consumer Code) and ask for everything you paid back within 14 days. The model form the seller must give you and, for contracts concluded from 19 June 2026, the «Recedere dal contratto qui» button on shopping websites are free and enough on their own. This Italian letter leaves written proof: send it by registered post with proof of receipt (raccomandata A/R) or by PEC to the seller’s certified e-mail address.

If you open an account with another bank in Italy, the new bank offers a free switching service that moves transfers and direct debits and closes the old account if you ask. This letter, in Italian under Italian law, is for closing the account only: it gives notice of withdrawal without penalty or charges (article 120-bis of the Italian Consolidated Banking Act), asks for linked cards and services to be closed, the balance transferred and a closing statement sent. Send it by registered post, by PEC or hand it in at the branch.

For a consumer in Italy who paid a trader – a shop, a tradesman, a service company – and did not get what was agreed, or was charged sums not owed: you formally call on the trader in writing to perform within at least 15 days, put it in default (Article 1219 of the Italian Civil Code) and interrupt limitation (Article 2943). You choose whether, once the deadline passes, the contract ends by law (Article 1454) or you will sue for performance. Energy, phone, bank and insurance disputes also have a free sector route. Send this Italian letter by registered post with proof of receipt or by PEC to the trader’s certified address.

For a business or professional wanting to leave a contract with a supplier in Italy (cleaning, software, equipment rental, maintenance): a letter in Italian exercising the withdrawal the contract provides (art. 1373 of the Italian Civil Code), citing the clause, the notice, the effective date and the requests to close the relationship: final invoice, collection of equipment, return of data, an end to direct debits. Sent by PEC to the supplier's address in INI-PEC or by registered post. If the contract allows no withdrawal, this letter is not enough.

For professionals and self-employed workers in Italy asking to be paid before invoicing: the Italian fee notice (avviso di parcella) lists the work, the fee, any pension contribution, VAT and withholding tax, the total and the IBAN, and asks for payment by a date. It has no tax value and is not an invoice: anyone with a VAT number issues the electronic invoice through the Exchange System (SdI) on payment; anyone without one gives an occasional-work receipt. Sent by e-mail, PEC or registered post.

For a landlord in Italy who does not want to renew a 4+4 lease after its first four years: the notice to the tenant refusing renewal on one of the grounds of art. 3(1) of Italian Law no. 431 of 9 December 1998 — residential or professional use by the landlord or close family, another free home available to the tenant, or a sale — with the facts that make it precise, because a notice without its ground is void. Sent by registered post with proof of receipt to every tenant at least six months before expiry. In Italian.

For a domestic helper, carer or nanny leaving a job with a family in Italy. Domestic work is excluded from Italy's online resignation procedure: here resignation is given in writing, and this letter gives it, with the notice set by the collective agreement for domestic work and the last working day, and asks for unused holiday, the accrued thirteenth-month pay, severance pay (TFR), the last payslip and the end-of-job report to INPS. Hand it over and have the copy signed, or send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In Italian.

For a landlord in Italy whose tenant is not paying the rent: the formal demand to the tenant listing the unpaid months and the total, recalling that a delay of more than twenty days is a ground for termination (art. 5 of Italian Law no. 392 of 27 July 1978), and requiring payment within fifteen days (arts. 1219 and 1454 of the Italian Civil Code), with the warning that otherwise the lease will be treated as terminated and an eviction for arrears will be brought before the court. By registered post with proof of receipt to the rented home, or by hand. In Italian.

For a business or professional not paid by a business client in Italy: a letter in Italian listing the unpaid invoices, recalling the late-payment interest and the €40 owed under Legislative Decree 231/2002 without any request, setting a deadline to pay, and acting, as chosen, either as a formal notice under art. 1454 of the Italian Civil Code (at least 15 days, after which the contract is terminated by law) or as a notice of default that interrupts limitation. Sent by PEC to the company's address in INI-PEC, or by registered post.

For a private-sector employee in Italy proposing to the employer that the job end by mutual agreement, on a date and on the terms asked for. The letter is only the proposal: the agreement takes effect if it is then made, free of charge, through the Ministry of Labour's online procedure or signed in a protected setting such as the labour inspectorate or a union office. After a termination by agreement, NASpI unemployment benefit is due only in special cases. Sent by registered post, PEC or by hand. In Italian.

For a tenant in Italy with faults the landlord must fix — leaks, boiler, systems, damp — that are not being repaired: the formal demand describing the defects, setting a deadline for repairs (arts. 1575 and 1576 of the Italian Civil Code), announcing urgent repairs done by the tenant with a claim for reimbursement (art. 1577), and reserving a court-ordered rent reduction or termination, while the rent keeps being paid. Sent by registered post with proof of receipt, PEC if the landlord has one, or by hand. In Italian.