Evergreen clause: contracts that renew on their own, and the notice window to get out

How does an evergreen clause work?

An evergreen clause starts a new full term on the day the old one ends, unless one side has given written notice by a deadline in the contract. Silence renews it. Three facts decide what you owe: the length of each new term, the notice deadline, and how a notice must be delivered.

WellTrans’s Indiana provider agreement is a plain example. The first term is one year from the effective date. The agreement then renews for successive one-year periods unless either party gives notice of termination 45 days before the last day of the term. For a term ending December 31, that notice is due by November 16.

Missing the date costs less in that agreement than it sounds. It also lets either party end the agreement without cause on 60 days’ written notice. The leaving a broker guide puts both clocks side by side.

Which ride contracts do not renew on their own?

Some do not, and for those silence ends the deal rather than extending it.

• MTM Health. The standard agreement (01.01.2023 version) runs three years and is renewed or extended only by mutual written agreement.
• Monroe County, Florida. The social services transportation agreement posted for the county’s September 9, 2026 meeting runs one year, from October 1, 2026. The county may extend it for four more one-year periods, but only if both parties agree, based on performance and mutual acceptance.
• Southern Mississippi area agency on aging. Its 2026-27 transportation contract runs one year. The agency decides on renewal from compliance, quality of service and the price increase proposed, and it tells the provider at least 60 days before it renews or lets the contract expire.

The second and third are renewal options, covered by the option year entry. Each renewal needs a decision, by both sides in Monroe County’s case and by the agency in Mississippi’s, so a missed date cannot hold you to a new year.

Facility and vendor agreements can go either way. The facility transportation agreement template runs one year and renews for one-year terms unless a party gives notice a set number of days before the term ends, which is an evergreen clause you fill in.

What do state laws say about automatic renewals in business contracts?

A few states regulate them, and the laws protect the buyer. Two examples:

• New York, General Obligations Law 5-903. Covers contracts for service, maintenance or repair to or for real or personal property. A clause that renews the contract unless the customer gives notice is not enforceable against the customer unless the provider sends a written notice, by personal delivery or certified mail, pointing out the clause. The notice must go out at least 15 days and no more than 30 days before the date the customer’s own notice is due.
• Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. 134.49. Covers contracts for business services and leased business equipment, and excludes any contract with a government entity. If a contract renews for more than one month, the seller must give disclosures at signing: that it renews, for how long, whether charges rise, how to decline and the deadline. Without them the renewal clause is unenforceable and the contract ends with its term. A contract with a first term over one year and a renewal term over a year also needs a second written notice 15 to 60 days before the decline deadline, or the renewal clause cannot be enforced. The statute also voids a clause that makes you let the seller match any competing offer.

Both laws protect the party buying the service. For a ride company that means contracts it buys, such as maintenance plans and equipment leases. A facility ride agreement sits further from their wording, and the facility is the buyer in it, so have a lawyer in that state read the clause before you rely on a renewal date in a New York or Wisconsin facility contract.

Keeping track of renewal dates

A renewal missed by a day can cost a full term, so log every contract the day you sign it. Record:

1. The term end date and the length of each renewal term.
2. The notice deadline, counted back from the end date by the number of days in the clause. Add a margin for delivery.
3. How notice counts. WellTrans counts personal delivery on receipt, overnight carrier on the next day, and certified mail on the third day after mailing.
4. Where it goes, the named address and attention line in the contract.
5. Who decides, and the date by which they must decide.

Set one reminder 90 days before the deadline and another at 30. The facility template suggests a yearly review of the renewal date, the rate schedule and certificates of insurance together.

Asking for a better clause

When you are the one signing, push for:

• Renewal by written agreement, as in MTM’s, or at least a deadline of 30 days or less.
• A reminder from the other side a set number of days before the deadline.
• A price statement. Wisconsin’s disclosure list includes whether charges go up on renewal, and you can ask for the same in any contract.
• A notice rule that works both ways, with the same days and the same delivery methods for each side.

Deciding before the date

Before a renewal deadline, look at what the contract is worth. HealthRide’s payer summary lists trips completed, revenue billed and the balance still owed for each payer across any date range, so the keep-or-leave call rests on numbers instead of memory.