How we register and charge for your domain name varies depending on the last section of the name (the top level domain, for example .com or .uk).
.uk domains
Since we register a large number of .uk domains Prater Raines Ltd is a Nominet Accredited Registrar. Nominet manage the UK’s domain registry and when you register a .uk domain you are also entering into a contract with them. This is a separate contract to any you may have with us or a third party for the provision of Internet Services. Please read our domain name terms and conditions and Nominet’s terms and conditions before registering or renewing your domain.
Nominet’s site describes the rules for the registration of .uk domains. There are additional restrictions on registrations in some second level domains. For example, to register a domain ending .ltd.uk or .plc.uk you must be a company of the appropriate type and the domain name must be your company name.
If you are transferring your .uk domain to us, our registrar tag is PRATERRAINES. Please follow the instructions of your existing registrar to change the tag (which may also be referred to as an IPS tag).
Once we have registered a .uk domain on your behalf we cannot refund you for the domain if you change your mind. However it may be possible to change a domain name registered in error (for example, where you made a spelling mistake when providing us with the domain name) free of additional charge, provided we are able to cancel the domain name before the seventh day of the month following its registration. Of course if we register a domain name incorrectly because of our mistake, you will not be charged again for changing the registration no matter when you inform us.
.biz, .com, .eu, .info, .name, .net, and .org domains
Since we do not register a significant number of these domains we use a third party supplier to manage our registrations. Currently this supplier Gandi. When you register a non-.uk domain you are also entering into a contract with Gandi and the relevant naming authority. These are separate contracts to any you may have with us or a third party for the provision of Internet Services. Please read our domain name terms and conditions and Gandi’s terms and conditions before registering or renewing your domain.
Once we have registered a non-.uk domain on your behalf we cannot refund you for the domain if you change your mind. In addition, if we are required to change the domain because of your mistake (for example, you provided us with an incorrect spelling), we will issue a further charge for the new registration. If the change is caused by our mistake, you will of course not be charged again.
Other top level domains
We may be able to register domains under different top level domains from those listed above. Please contact us for a quote if you need a different domain name.
Your details
When you register a domain, your name and address is published in an online register (whois). Although consumers may have a right to opt out of having this information displayed, businesses and organisations do not.
We have a responsibility to keep your contact information in whois up-to-date. Please tell us if you change address so that we can update the register.
Caching and Time To Live
When we configure your domain, we set a Time To Live (TTL) for the domain name information. When the information is requested by a user, the user’s personal computer and any intermediate servers (for example, the user’s ISP’s domain name servers) may cache the information for up to this period of time. This means that any changes we make to your domain name may appear instantaneously to some of the Internet but other computers may cache the outdated information until the TTL expires.
We ordinarily set a TTL of 24 hours. If your domain is currently with another provider, 48 hours is a more typical TTL. If we know you are about to change your domain name details, we will try to reduce the TTL ahead of time so that the outdated information is not cached for long.
Domain name expiry
Your domain name must be renewed at least every two years otherwise you may lose it.
Even if you no longer need your domain we advise that you continue to pay to keep it registered, either with us or by transferring the domain to another registrar.
Domains which have previously hosted websites and are then left to expire tend to get rapidly re-registered by third parties and are often used to host pay-per-click advertising. 7.5% of unrenewed domains are re-registered by another party within 10 seconds of their expiry (this is known as drop-catching). You will have no control over the content of the site hosted at your old domain and it may be difficult to get the domain back if you want to use it again in the future.
Charges
Our prices last changed on 11 March 2016.
| .uk domains | .biz, .com, .eu, .me, .name, .net, .org, .cymru or .wales domains | .info, .mobi, .tv, .email, .democrat domains | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registering or renewing a domain | £6.25 +VAT per year. | £35 +VAT per year. | £50 +VAT per year. |
| Transferring domains to another registrant (ie changing who owns the domain) or changing contact details. | Free of charge | ||
| Transferring a domain to another registrar (ie moving to a provider other than Prater Raines) | Free of charge (although the other registrar may impose a charge). | ||
| Transferring a domain from another registrar to Prater Raines | Free of charge (although the other registrar may impose a charge). | £35 +VAT. This charge automatically extends your domain registration by two years. | £45 +VAT. This charge automatically extends your domain registration by two years. |
| Reactivating a domain which expired recently but is not yet available for re-registration | The standard cost for renewing a domain applies. There is no additional charge. | £75 +VAT plus the cost of renewing the domain. This high charge is imposed on us by our supplier. | £90 +VAT plus the cost of renewing the domain. This high charge is imposed on us by our supplier. |
Other domain extensions are available: call or email for prices.
If these charges change we will post the new charges here and, if you have a domain registered with us, we will contact you at your last known email address to let you know of the changes.
Additional notes for business clients
We suggest that you register a domain ending in .co.uk if you only trade in the UK, and a .com domain if you trade internationally. If you would prefer, domains ending .ltd.uk, .plc.uk, .biz, or .eu may also be appropriate.
Additional notes for political clients
We suggest that you register a domain ending in .uk if you are a UK parliamentarian, council group, or campaigning organisation. If you would prefer, domains ending in .org.uk, .org, .me.uk, .name, or .eu may also be appropriate.
For parliamentarians, we strongly recommend that you do not include the letters MP, MEP, AM, or MSP in your domain name (except if they are part of your name!). If you do you may restrict your ability to add campaigning material to your website and you may not be able to use your website at all during election periods. In addition if you lose a future election you would have to change your domain name.