Why your account email should not be on a domain you keep with us

If the email address on your account is an address at your own domain — something like [email protected], where yourdomain.com is registered or hosted with us — your account login and that mailbox depend on the same service staying active. This article explains why that is worth avoiding, and the arrangement we recommend instead.

What can go wrong

Domains and hosting services are suspended when they expire or when an invoice goes unpaid. That is normal, and it is usually easy to fix: you pay the invoice and the service comes back.

The problem is the order in which things stop working:

1. An invoice goes unpaid, or a domain passes its expiry date.
2. The domain or hosting service is suspended, so email on that domain stops being delivered.
3. Our reminders, invoices, suspension notices and password reset emails are all sent to that same address — and none of them arrive.
4. You go to sign in to pay the invoice, cannot remember the password, and request a reset. The reset email is sent to the mailbox that is currently switched off.

At that point you are locked out of the account you need in order to restore the service that would bring your email back. It is recoverable — our support team can verify your identity and help — but it happens at the worst possible moment, usually when a domain is close to expiring and time matters.

The same applies if you ever move your domain or hosting elsewhere, or let a domain go deliberately. The mailbox disappears along with it, and the account it was attached to becomes hard to reach.

What we recommend

Split the two roles:

• Primary account email: an address that does not depend on anything hosted with us. A Gmail, Outlook, or an address from your internet provider all work well. This is where password resets and account notices go, so it needs to keep working even when your services are not.
• Your domain address as a secondary user: add [email protected] to the account as an additional user. It still receives account notices and can still sign in, so nothing changes about your day-to-day — it simply is not the single point of failure any more.

This is the same reasoning behind a recovery address on any other account: the backup should not live inside the thing it is backing up.

How to change your primary account email

1. Sign in to your client area.
2. Go to Hello, Your Name > Edit Account Details, or open the account details page directly.
3. Change the Email Address field to your independent address.
4. Click Save Changes.

You will be asked to verify the new address, so use one you can read straight away.

How to add your domain address as a secondary user

1. In the client area, go to Hello, Your Name > User Management.
2. Under Invite New User, enter [email protected].
3. Choose the permissions that user should have — you can grant all of them if this is your own second address.
4. Send the invitation, then accept it from that mailbox.

Common questions

Will I stop receiving email at my domain address?
No. Adding it as a secondary user keeps it on the account and it continues to receive account email. The only thing that changes is which address we treat as the account owner for password resets.

Does this mean my domain email is unreliable?
Not at all — it is about not depending on a service to recover that same service. We suggest exactly the same arrangement to customers using large mailbox providers for their domain.

Can I use a second address at a different domain I own with you?
We would not recommend it. If both domains are on the same account, a single unpaid invoice can suspend both at once, which leaves you in the same position.

What if I am already locked out?
Open a ticket from any working email address, or reply to any invoice or notice you still have. We will verify your identity and help you regain access.

A note on billing reminders

Whichever address you use, keep an eye on renewal notices. An independent primary address means you will actually receive the reminder that prevents a suspension in the first place — which is the real fix. The secondary user arrangement is there for when something is missed anyway.