Why registrar renewal emails get missed (and what ICANN actually requires)

Updated 21 October 2026

What's required

Under ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy, registrars must send gTLD registrants at least two reminders, about one month and about one week before expiry, and one more within five days after expiry. Registrars must explain on their website how they send these notices. If you didn't get them, ICANN has a complaint form.

Why they still get missed

Wrong recipient. Notices go to the registered name holder. Namecheap's agreement, for example, says reminders go to the registrant email in the domain's WHOIS record.
Stale contact. The client contact left, or the address is on the very domain that's expiring.
Volume. An agency inbox receiving dozens of registrar emails a month learns to ignore them.
Many registrars. Each formats and times reminders differently.

The fix

Keep your own list, independent of registrar emails, and alert the people who will act: your team at 60/30/14/3 days and the client under your brand.

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Sources

ICANN Expired Registration Recovery Policy (checked 21 Oct 2026)
ICANN: About not receiving renewal reminders (checked 21 Oct 2026)
Namecheap Registration Agreement, section 13 and 23 (checked 21 Oct 2026)

Stop tracking renewals in a spreadsheet

RenewRoster tracks every client's domains and certificates, reminds clients under your brand and gives you a monthly renewals report.

The online waitlist opens with the app. To join the beta now, email [email protected] with your agency name and roughly how many domains you manage.

Founding agencies get early access and 50% off their first year. No spam; one confirmation email.