This document sets out the uptime we commit to for our hosting services and what we do if we miss it. It forms part of the Terms of Service.
1. The commitment
On paid hosting plans we commit to 99.9% network and server availability measured per calendar month. That corresponds to roughly 43 minutes of unplanned downtime per month.
The commitment covers the availability of the server and the network. It does not cover your own application failing through its own fault.
2. Exclusions
The following are not counted as downtime:
- Planned maintenance. Announced by email at least 72 hours in advance, carried out where possible between 02:00 and 06:00 Türkiye time, and not exceeding 4 hours in total per month.
- Emergency security maintenance. Closing a vulnerability under active exploitation. Announced afterwards — waiting would cause more harm than the interruption.
- Problems originating in your application, theme, plugin or configuration.
- Slowness or errors caused by exceeding your plan's resource limits.
- Suspensions for breach of the Acceptable Use Policy or for unpaid invoices.
- Access problems caused by your domain's DNS settings, its expiry, or its status at the registrar.
- Problems in the wider internet between you and our data centre that are outside our control.
- Force majeure: natural disaster, war, general strike, nationwide infrastructure or power failure, or an order of a competent authority.
3. Service credits
If we fall below the commitment we credit your account against the monthly fee for the affected service:
| Monthly availability | Approximate downtime | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 99.90% – 99.00% | 43 min – 7.2 hours | 10% of the monthly fee |
| 99.00% – 98.00% | 7.2 – 14.4 hours | 25% of the monthly fee |
| 98.00% – 95.00% | 14.4 – 36 hours | 50% of the monthly fee |
| Below 95.00% | More than 36 hours | 100% of the monthly fee |
On annual plans the monthly fee is one twelfth of the annual amount.
Claiming
Credits are not automatic; you must claim them. Open a support ticket within 30 days of the end of the month in which the downtime occurred, stating the dates and times. We compare your claim against our own monitoring records and decide within 10 business days.
Credits are applied to your account balance and used against future invoices. No cash payment is made. Total credits in a calendar month cannot exceed that month's service fee.
4. Free plans
Trial and promotional services are outside this SLA. We make every reasonable effort to keep them running but give no commitment, and no credits apply.
5. Support response targets
Support requests can be raised from the client area or by emailing support@hostexpress.co.uk. Our target first-response times:
| Priority | Example | Target first response |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Site entirely unreachable, server down | 1 hour |
| High | Email not sending, SSL failure, severe slowness | 4 hours |
| Normal | Configuration questions, panel usage | 12 hours |
| Low | Information requests, upgrade questions | 24 hours |
These are targets, not commitments, and missing one does not generate a credit. Our servers are monitored automatically around the clock and critical alarms reach us immediately, but we do not offer 24/7 live telephone support. We would rather be precise about what we provide than promise something we cannot keep.
6. Data durability
Automatic backups run on active hosting plans and are accessible directly from your HostExpress client control panel.
Backups are a convenience, not an archival guarantee; you should keep your own independent copy. Where a backup proves incomplete or unrestorable, our liability is limited to the service fee for the month concerned.
7. Sole remedy
The credits described here are your sole and exclusive remedy for a failure to meet the uptime commitment. That limit does not apply to damage arising from our wilful misconduct or gross negligence, nor to mandatory consumer rights.