Failed Payments
What happens to your account and your estimator when a payment fails, who sees the warning, and how to fix it.
If a payment doesn't go through, your estimator keeps working at first while we retry your card. Leave it unfixed, though, and homeowners can't use your estimator until it's sorted. This only applies if you pay us by card — if a partner pays for your plan, you'll never see these warnings.
What happens, stage by stage
| Stage | Badge on your plan | Warning banner | Your estimator |
|---|---|---|---|
| A payment failed, and we're retrying the card | Past due | "Your last payment failed" | Still live |
| The retries ran out | Unpaid | "Your subscription is at risk" | Offline |
| Your first payment didn't go through | Incomplete | "Finish setting up your subscription" | Offline |
Your dashboard keeps working at every stage, so you can always sign in and fix it. We retry the card several times before giving up, but don't wait for that — Past due is your chance to fix it while homeowners can still get estimates.
The "at risk" banner says your account will be suspended soon — but your estimator is already offline by then. Homeowners can't get an estimate until the payment goes through.
Who sees the warning
Everyone on your team sees a red banner at the top of every page in your account:
- Owners get an Update payment method button.
- Everyone else sees "Ask a company owner to update the payment method."
Don't count on an email to tell you — the banner is the warning.
Fixing it
- An owner clicks Update payment method on the banner, or goes to Company Settings → Billing → Manage billing.
- Add a card that works, and pay the outstanding invoice if the billing page asks you to.
- Come back to your account.
Once the payment goes through, the banner disappears and your estimator comes back online by itself — there's nothing to switch back on.
Still offline after the banner has gone? Email support@instantestimatehq.com and we'll look into it.
What homeowners see while you're offline
Every link to your estimator shows a page headed "Temporarily Unavailable", which says "This contractor's estimate form is temporarily unavailable. Please contact the contractor directly for an estimate, or try again later." That includes results links homeowners already have — in your CRM or in emails you've sent, if you've set those up.
A homeowner who's partway through the form when you go offline gets "This contractor is not currently accepting submissions." when they submit it.
While you're offline, no estimates are saved and nothing is queued for later: no new leads, no lead notification emails, and nothing sent to your CRM.