What happens when domains are left to expire?
gTLD (generic Top-Level Domains) and ccTLD (country-code Top-Level Domains) domains have slightly different life cycles. In both cases, though, when a domain has expired, after a certain period of time, it will become available to the public for registration again.
Krystal does not accept any liability whatsoever for an inability to renew domains which have expired. It is imperative that domain owners read and respond to any email sent to them regarding domain ownership and owner verification - see Domain ownership verification for what is required, which differs between .uk and other extensions.
gTLD domain Lifecycle
- When your domain's registration period (0 to 10 years) ends, your domain expires.
- When your domain expires, then your domain will cease to work correctly.
- After this there is a grace period of up to 45 days - it can be shorter, so do not rely on the full period - during which your domain is still available to you for renewal at the normal charge, although your Krystal invoice will be cancelled after 30 days. If your invoice is cancelled, then you will have to contact us directly for help.
- After this, your domain enters what is known as the Redemption period (also known as the Pending Delete - Restorable period), which lasts 30 days.
The cost to renew a domain that is in Redemption is very expensive. The charge varies and is set by the registry that runs the extension, not by us. You'll need to contact us to renew a domain within the Redemption period and pay the Redemption fee plus the domain renewal charge. Depending on the domain/registrar the redemption fee can be hundreds of pounds. - After this, the domain enters a 5 day Pending Delete period, where it is essentially in limbo - there is nothing that can be done at this point other than wait for the domain to be dropped.
- The domain is dropped by the registry and becomes available for anyone to register again.
ccTLD domain Lifecycle e.g. .uk
- When your domain's registration period (0 to 10 years) ends, your domain expires.
- When your domain expires, it will continue to work.
- The domain will continue to work for 30 days before being suspended by Nominet.
- When your domain is suspended, then it will stop working and your Krystal invoice is cancelled.
- You then have 60 more days in which to renew the domain by contacting us directly for help.
- 90 days after expiry is the last day you can renew. After that the domain enters a final five day period during which nothing can be done.
- 95 days after expiry the domain is dropped and becomes available for anyone to register.
