# Failed payments and suspended services

> Why a payment fails, how Coritan retries it, when a service is suspended, and how to get the service running again.

Source: https://docs.coritan.com/billing/failed-payments/

When Coritan cannot collect an invoice, it retries the charge, then suspends the services on the invoice, and in the end deletes them. Paying the invoice in full at any point before the deletion stops this and brings the services back. [Hourly services](/billing/hourly-billing/#when-your-credit-runs-out) have no renewal invoice and follow their own rule.

With the default settings, the steps fall on these days. Coritan runs each check once a day, so a step can come up to a day later than the table says.

| When | What Coritan does | The email's subject |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Up to 3 days before the due date | Raises the renewal invoice, takes what it can from your credit, and charges your default payment method for the rest. | `Your Coritan invoice INV-20260925-48213 is ready` |
| After a charge fails | Tries the charge again on its own. | `Payment failed for invoice INV-20260925-48213` |
| 1 day after the due date | Suspends the services on the invoice. | `Your services have been suspended` |
| 4 days after the due date | Reminds you. | `Urgent: update your payment method for INV-20260925-48213` |
| 3 days after the suspension | Sets a date to delete each service, at least 3 days ahead, and takes a snapshot of each Container Apps server. | `Action needed: we will delete your server on`, then the date |
| 6 days after the due date | Sends a last reminder. | `Final notice for invoice INV-20260925-48213`, then the days left |
| On the deletion date | Deletes the services and cancels their unpaid invoices. | `Your server has been deleted` |

The reminders start only after a charge has failed. When Coritan has nothing to charge, the invoice email and the emails about the deletion are the only ones you get ([No payment was attempted](#no-payment-was-attempted)).

## A payment was declined

Cause
: Your bank or PayPal refused the charge. The `Payment failed` email gives the reason after `Error:`, such as `Insufficient funds` or `Card has expired`.

Fix
: Pay the invoice now with credit or another method ([Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/)). You can also save a method that works on the **Payment methods** tab of **Billing** ([Manage payment methods](/billing/payment-methods/)), and Coritan charges it at the invoice's next try.

Coritan retries a decline that can succeed later, such as `Insufficient funds` or `Card declined`: 4 hours after the first try, then at gaps that grow from a day. After a decline that cannot succeed, such as `Card has expired`, `Card reported lost` or `Bank will not honor`, it stops and starts again only when you add a payment method. The API lists every try with its reason ([Payment attempts](/billing/transactions/#payment-attempts)).

When the reason is `Payment submitted, awaiting settlement`, nothing was declined. Some payment types take days to settle, and the invoice is paid once the payment clears. Do not pay it again.

## Your bank asks you to confirm a payment

Cause
: Your bank wants the cardholder to approve the charge, for example with a code, and a charge Coritan makes on its own cannot do that. The `Payment failed` email gives a reason that starts with `Customer authentication required`.

Fix
: Pay the invoice yourself: in the sidebar, select **Billing**, then the **Invoices** tab, and select **Pay** beside the invoice. When the card form reads **Confirm with your bank**, complete your bank's check ([Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/)).

## No payment was attempted

Cause
: Your account has no saved payment method and not enough credit, so Coritan has nothing to charge. The reminders about failed charges never start, so the next email after the invoice is the one that gives the deletion date.

Fix
: Pay the invoice before its due date ([Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/)). To have Coritan pay renewals for you, save a payment method on the **Payment methods** tab; Coritan charges it at the invoice's next try. When a card and a PayPal account both show `Default`, Coritan cannot choose between them, and [Manage payment methods](/billing/payment-methods/#troubleshooting) explains the fix.

## A service is suspended

Cause
: An invoice for the service was still unpaid 1 day after its due date, by default. The **Suspended** box on the service's page gives the reason, such as `Unpaid invoice INV-20260925-48213`, and the server's or instance's own page shows **This server is suspended** or **This instance is suspended**. The **Suspended** filter of **Services** lists every suspended service.

Fix
: Select **Open invoices** in the **Suspended** box, or **Open Billing** in the server's or instance's alert, and pay each unpaid invoice for the service. Coritan lifts the suspension once an invoice is paid in full. A part payment, such as credit that covers only some of it, does not lift it.

A suspended service stops working: a server or instance is shut down and cannot be started, and a floating IP is detached. Coritan keeps the data until the deletion date.

A service suspended with the reason `Insufficient credit balance` is an hourly service whose credit ran out, and adding credit does not resume it. [Contact support](/support/conversations/) after you add credit, as [How hourly billing works](/billing/hourly-billing/#when-your-credit-runs-out) explains. For any other reason, [contact support](/support/conversations/).

## The service is still suspended after you paid

The payment has not cleared
: The message after paying read `Payment submitted. The invoice updates once your bank settles it.` Coritan lifts the suspension when the payment clears. Do not pay again.

Another invoice for the service is unpaid
: Select **Billing**, then **Invoices** and **Unpaid**, and pay the rest. Any invoice for the service that is still unpaid a day after its due date suspends it again at the next daily check.

A Container Apps server is stopped
: A server comes back stopped. Open it and select **Start**. A Cloud Compute instance starts again on its own.

A floating IP is detached
: The suspension detached it. [Attach it again](/floating-ips/attach-and-detach/).

None of these
: [Contact support](/support/conversations/) with the invoice number.

When you pay after the reminders have started, the receipt's subject is `Payment received and services restored`.

## An email says the service will be deleted

Cause
: The service has been suspended for 3 days, by default, and its invoice is still unpaid. Coritan has set the deletion date that the email gives, at least 3 days ahead. The service's page shows **Cancellation scheduled** with that date, and **Services** marks it **Ending**. For a Container Apps server, Coritan also takes a snapshot whose name starts with `Saved before removal for non-payment`, marked **By the platform** on the **Snapshots** page.

Fix
: Pay the invoice before the date ([Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/)). Paying cancels the deletion and lifts the suspension. The **Cancellation scheduled** box asks you to contact support, but paying is enough. If a payment is still settling on the deletion date, Coritan waits a day before it deletes the service.

Once the suspension lifts, Coritan deletes its own snapshot of the server unless you locked it ([Lock, download and delete snapshots](/snapshots/manage-snapshots/)).

> [!CAUTION]
> Coritan cannot bring back a deleted service. Everything on it is lost, apart from the snapshot of a Container Apps server.

## A service was deleted for non-payment

Cause
: The deletion date passed and the invoice was still unpaid. Coritan deleted the service, cancelled its unpaid invoices so that you owe nothing on them, and sent the email `Your server has been deleted`.

Fix
: Order the service again ([Order a service](/get-started/order-a-service/)). For a Container Apps server, [start the new server from the snapshot](/snapshots/new-server-from-a-snapshot/). The snapshot stays on your account after the deletion, and the email gives the date it expires when it has one ([How snapshot storage works](/snapshots/storage-allowance/)).

## Related

- [Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/)
- [Manage payment methods](/billing/payment-methods/)
- [Add credit to your balance](/billing/add-credit/)
- [Turn on automatic top-up](/billing/automatic-top-up/)
- [Transactions and payment attempts](/billing/transactions/)
- [Manage your services](/get-started/services/)

## With the API

List what you owe with [`GET /billing/invoices`](/api/reference/client/billing/#op-get-api-v1-billing-invoices) and `status_filter=open`:

```bash
curl "https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/billing/invoices?status_filter=open" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN"
```

Read a service's state with [`GET /services/{service_ref}`](/api/reference/client/services/#op-get-api-v1-services-service-ref):

```bash
curl https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/services/311 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN"
```

The answer, cut down to the fields that matter here:

```json
{
  "id": 311,
  "hostname": "survival-smp",
  "status": "suspended",
  "suspension_reason": "Unpaid invoice INV-20260925-48213",
  "termination_date": "2026-10-04T03:05:00"
}
```

`status` is `suspended` while the service is suspended, `suspension_reason` says why, and `termination_date` is the deletion date once Coritan has set one.

[`GET /payments/attempts`](/api/reference/client/payments/#op-get-api-v1-payments-attempts) lists your last 50 payment attempts. A declined charge has `status` `failed`, the reason in `error_message`, and `decline_type` `soft` when a retry can succeed or `hard` when it cannot ([Payment attempts](/billing/transactions/#payment-attempts)). To pay, charge a saved method or use your credit, as [Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/#with-the-api) shows.