You must pay for your domain renewal *BEFORE* the expiry date on the domain to ensure you can keep and secure your asset and protect your brand/online-identity/internet-connection/website/email-addresses/dns etc.
Failure to pay for your domain renewal before the expiry date will result in downtime and disruption, which may last several days. Leaving your domain renewal to the last minute is not advised.
In December of 2012, ICANN approved and adopted the terms set forth in the Expired Registration Recovery Process (ERRP).
The ERRP terms/policies affect all domain extensions managed by ICANN (gTLDs) expiring on or after 1st September 2013 and various ccTLDs and subdomains which have adopted the same policies are effective August 31st, 2013.
At 60 days prior to renewal date ...
We will notify you of the need to renew the domain name.
ICANN mandates that this will be sent even if you have previously indicated that you do not wish to have the domain renewed.
If you are certain you do not wish to retain the domain name, you will need to mark it as "allow to expire" through the client portal.
At 30 days prior to renewal date ...
We will notify you of the need to renew the domain name.
The domain registries mandate that this will be sent even if you have previously indicated that you do not wish to have the domain renewed.
On sending this notification by email we will queue the generation of your renewal invoice (if you have not set the allow-to-expire). At this point the domain is no longer eligible for transfer to another registrar - if you wish to manage the domain elsewhere you *MUST* first pay for the renewal, wait 60 days and then follow the standard transfer procedure. (this does not stop you _hosting_ the domain somewhere else or otherwise "using" the domain as normal)
At least 7 days prior to renewal date ...
We will notify you of the *URGENT* need to renew the domain name.
ICANN, Registries and Registrars mandate that this notice will be sent even if you have previously indicated that you do not wish to have the domain renewed.
If you have already paid the renewal invoice then the domain period will have been extended for however many registration years you paid for. If you have not already paid the renewal invoice you must do so immediately to prevent downtime and potentially the loss of your domain name.
Average renewal price for domains in these period is ~£10+vat/year
On reaching/passing the renewal date ...
We will notify you of the urgent requirement to pay your rewal invoice and disable access to and use of the domain.
At this point you no longer "own" the domain, although you *MAY BE* able to renew it (additional costs may apply to renew in this post-expiry period, depending on the TLD - prices will be on our website).
Average restore and renewal price for domains in this period is ~£160+vat
We will at our discretion also notify other domain contacts if they are not all the same, from either our "retail" registration system, our "reseller" registration system or our "back-end" registrar management system depending on the TLD and the method you used to register the domain.
If 30 days or more after expiry date ...
If the domain registry offers a period of "grace" after redemption, you may still be able to redeem and then renew the domain, although this will be at a much higher cost than simple restoration - you are advised *NOT* to allow domains to expire and renew them promptly.
Average restore, redemption and renewal price for domains in this period is ~£260+vat
If a domain registry has no "redemption" period or the domain is still not renewed
After any possible renew/recover/restore period, if you have still not paid the renewal, restore and redemption fees and completed the renewal process, the domain may be retain by the registrar or registry for sale/auction, retained but not made available for reuse, or deleted and available to anyone who wishes to register it.
Should you wish to re-obtain the domain at this stage, please talk to our domain acquisition brokers for details on the costs and procedure.
Minimum prices for domains in this period is ~£1000+vat