What does "Paused" subscription status mean?

Paused is the rarest of the four subscription statuses in Valid Email Checker. It is not something the system applies automatically — Active, Past Due, and Cancelled all flip on their own based on cron logic, but Paused requires a human at VEC support to set it. If you see Paused on your account, support already knows about it because they were the ones who paused it.

When VEC applies Paused

• Chargeback under investigation. A card issuer raised a chargeback against a recent charge, and we pause renewals while we work the dispute. Continuing to charge during a chargeback investigation creates messy issuer-side noise, so the pause is protective for both sides.
• Extended-absence request. Some users email support asking for a freeze (medical leave, sabbatical, project paused). Support can pause the subscription with a future resume date rather than making you cancel and re-subscribe later.
• Fraud hold. If an account fails post-charge fraud signals (heavy bulk usage from new IPs, mismatched billing details, suspicious refund patterns), we pause it while a manual review happens. Either the account clears and resumes, or it gets escalated to a refund.
• Compliance reviews. Occasionally a corporate account needs a tax-document update or a sanction-list re-check. The pause keeps the account intact without billing while we sort it.

What changes while Paused

• No renewal cron attempts run. next_billing_date is removed or shown as N/A on the Subscription tab.
• Monthly credits remain in the bucket at whatever balance they were at the moment of the pause — they do not zero, but they do not refill either.
• PAYG credits work normally. Verifications can still run against them.
• API keys still authenticate. The account is functional; only the recurring side is on hold.
• No emails about renewals, invoices, or grace periods are sent — the renewal cron skips Paused accounts entirely.

How to leave Paused

Only support can move an account out of Paused. Reach out via support@validemailchecker.com or the in-app help widget. Typical resolutions:

• Chargeback resolved in your favour → status returns to active with a fresh 30-day cycle starting from the day of resumption.
• Chargeback resolved against you → status moves to cancelled and any disputed funds remain held.
• Extended-absence resume → status returns to active with a fresh cycle and the next charge runs as a normal renewal.
• Fraud cleared → status returns to active. If not cleared, the account is typically refunded and the subscription cancelled.