Our new reminder programme and the fact that we are no longer sending pro forma invoices should dramatically reduce the number of direct renewals, to the benefit of registrants and registrars. However, registrants can still make renewals directly with Nominet at £80 plus VAT, so we are also introducing a further hurdle to prevent your customer mistakenly renewing directly with us.

We will allow you to submit a message and URL that will be displayed within our online service function at the point at which registrants make the direct renewal with us. This message will be seen by all registrants with a domain name on your tag who are attempting to renew directly with us. It will not prevent them from making that direct renewal, but provides you with the final opportunity to persuade them that they should renew through their domain name provider (registrar or reseller).

We want your registrants to renew their domain names through you. Whenever we communicate with a registrant about their expired domain name, we advise them to contact their provider for help to renew their domain name. At no point in our emails to registrants with domain names on your tag do we mention the ability to renew directly with Nominet. Furthermore the ability to renew directly with us is only available in their online account 23 days after the expiry date (7 days before suspension).
 
Your message and URL that will be displayed to your registrants gives you a final chance to persuade them that they should renew through you. The URL can either be the public URL that we currently hold for your tag or a custom URL, for example to your renewals information or your customer login page.

If you want to add this extra information to the direct renewal payment page, you can do this through your registrar online services account in the section:

• Registrars > Renewal text

Basic Option

This is the default setting. We will advise the registrant that renewing a domain name directly with us does not renew any hosting or email services that may be associated with the domain name. We suggest that the registrant contacts you to to renew the domain name for them.

Advanced option

The advanced option allows you to display a message from you to your customers to encourage them to contact you to renew their domain name. We will use your tag's public URL or you can give us a custom URL, perhaps directly to your own renewals information or to a special offers page. It is your responsibility to maintain this link and update it if things change.

When you submit your message, it will go through our approval process before going live in our direct renewal payment page. Once approved, you will receive confirmation by email.

Guide to writing custom  text

Careful consideration needs to be given to the text you write for the Nominet direct renewal payment page. All text submitted will be checked by us prior to going live, however we will not be liable for any errors whether factual or typographical. If your text is not accepted we will give you a reason why, additionally we may suggest some changes if necessary. 

• Your text will start with the sub-heading :
  "A message from your registrar: XYZNames Ltd"
• Ensure your text is consistent with the style and language used in the rest of the page
• Be concise – text may not be read in full
• Defamatory or negative text will not be approved
• Any specific pricing or promotional offers will need to be kept up-to-date
• You can preview how your message would affect the appearance of the direct renewal payment page

If you have any queries about this system or require assistance please contact our Member and Registrar Support team by email support@nominet.org.uk or by calling 01865 332233.