When you register a .uk domain name the domain name is registered to you for a period of one to ten years, after which you will have the opportunity to renew it for a further period of time.

Domain names are subject to renewal to ensure that those that are no longer wanted are removed from the register database and become available for others to use.

Expernet will contact you in advance of the renewal date to check whether you wish to renew your domain name. We will notify you 6 weeks before a domain becomes due for renewal. We require that if you wish to cancel a domain registration that you send us notification 8 weeks before the renewal date so that we can process the termination or transfer in good time.

If Expernet does not renew your domain name before its expiry Nominet will send you an email to notify you that the domain name has reached its expiry date (the anniversary of its registration or last renewal date) and is due for renewal. The email contains contact details for your registrar to help you to renew the domain name.

N.B. In the vast majority of cases, the point of cancellation is approximately 92 days after expiry

If a renewal request is not received within 30 days of expiry the domain name will be suspended. Seven days before suspension we will send you a suspension warning. When the domain name is suspended we will send you a suspension notice. Throughout this period it is still possible to renew your domain name.

When a domain name is suspended all services that use the domain name will stop working. This means that your web site at that domain name will not work and any email using the domain name will not be delivered.

After a 60 day suspension period the domain name will be put into a cancellation schedule. Cancellation occurs randomly at some point after entering the schedule. Once cancelled, the domain name will then be immediately available for re-registration by someone else. At any point during the suspension, your registrar can renew the domain name for you and the suspension will be lifted. One final reminder will be sent to you 83 days after the expiry date: this will be seven days before the domain name is scheduled for cancellation, so you will need to act quickly if you wish to renew it at this stage.

If you know that you no longer require your domain name you can ask your registrar to mark it as 'renewal not required'. This stops us from sending you the renewal