It can happen that your .COM, .NET or other generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) suddenly becomes unreachable, even though you have not made any changes to your domain name or website yourself.
In most cases, the email address in your domain name’s registrant details has not been verified in time. As a result, the domain is given the status clientHold, which makes both the website and email temporarily unreachable.
In this article, we explain:
- what email verification for gTLDs is,
- why your domain name can be suspended because of it,
- and how to solve this problem quickly.
Are you using a country code TLD (such as .BE, .NL or .DE)?
Some ccTLDs, such as .be, have their own verification methods. Read all about it here. For other country code domains, email verification does not yet apply and the unavailability has a different cause. In that case, please contact our support department and we will look into it with you.
What is email verification for gTLDs?
For gTLD domains (all domains that do not end in a country code such as .be or .nl), it is mandatory to verify the email address in the registrant details. These registrant details are part of the WHOIS information and contain the contact details of the domain name owner.
The email verification requirement is imposed by ICANN, the international organisation that oversees domain name registrations. Its purpose is:
- to verify that email addresses are genuine;
- to limit abuse and fraudulent registrations.
- When does verification start?
- Email verification starts:
- when a new domain name is registered, or
- when you change the email address in the registrant details.
Verification only needs to be done once per email address. If the same, already verified email address is used again later, no new verification is required.
What happens if you don’t verify in time?
- You have 14 days to verify the email address.
If you don’t, all gTLD domains that use this email address in their registrant details will be temporarily suspended (clientHold).
Consequences:
- your website is unreachable;
- email on that domain no longer works.
- How can you tell that email verification is missing?
- In practice, you will often notice it through one of the following symptoms:
- your website shows an error message such as “server not found”;
- you see a message that the domain has been temporarily suspended (suspended).
When email verification is started for a domain name via Kyzoe Hosting, you will receive an email with the subject “E-mailverificatie”.
This email is sent a maximum of three times:
- when verification starts;
- after 6 days;
- after 12 days.
Clicking the link in one of these emails completes the verification immediately, and the domain usually comes back online quickly.
Important points when changing registrant details
- Changing the registrant details of a gTLD means the domain cannot be transferred for 60 days.
- Both the old and the new email address receive a notification about this.
- This restriction is also imposed by ICANN.
- Changing registrant details other than the email address costs €15
If you use an email address that has already been verified, your domain name will usually become active again almost immediately.
Please note: do not use an email address that ends in a domain that is itself suspended. In that case, you will not be able to receive the verification email.
