If a payment doesn't go through, don't worry. There are several common reasons this can happen, such as an expired card, insufficient funds, or a temporary technical issue.
If your payment fails, we'll:
Send you an email explaining what happened.
Show a notification in your Helpling account with the outstanding amount.
❌ Why did my payment fail?
A payment can fail for different reasons, including:
Your credit card has expired.
There weren't enough funds available.
A technical issue occurred during processing.
The next steps depend on your payment method.
🔄 Will Helpling try to charge me again?
Payment method | Automatic retry |
💳 Credit card (expired) | ❌ No. Please update your payment details. |
💳 Credit card (insufficient funds) | ✅ Yes. We'll automatically try again after 72 hours. |
🏦 SEPA Direct Debit | ❌ No. Failed SEPA payments are not retried automatically. |
💳 How do I pay the outstanding amount?
To settle an outstanding payment:
Log in to your Helpling account.
Open Account Settings.
Under Payment Method, select Edit.
Enter your valid payment details.
Save your changes.
💡 Good to know
Even if your SEPA bank details haven't changed, you'll still need to enter them again to reactivate your payment method.
Once you've updated your payment information, we'll automatically attempt to process the payment again using the saved payment method.
Can I pay by bank transfer?
No.
Payments by bank transfer aren't supported.
Please update your saved payment method instead.
What happens if I don't pay?
If an invoice remains unpaid:
We'll send you at least three reminder emails.
Your service provider will be informed that payment is still outstanding.
If the payment hasn't been received within 30 days of the invoice date, your service provider may transfer the claim to PAIR Finance for collection.
❗ Important
Once a claim has been transferred to PAIR Finance, it can no longer be paid through the Helpling platform.
PAIR Finance will contact you directly with payment instructions. After they confirm your payment, we'll receive notification and allocate it to the relevant booking so your service provider can receive their payout.
💬 Need help?
If you're unsure why your payment failed or need assistance updating your payment method, our support team is happy to help.
👉 Contact Helpling Support
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