An outage can mean a credit on your next bill.
Work out what your company may be owed, get the request written and keep track of the deadline; you send it.
You need four numbers: users on your plan, how many lost email, for how long, and what you paid for November.
Does this apply to us? Probably, if your company buys a paid Microsoft 365 business plan from Microsoft itself, not through a reseller. Open and Open Value licences get days of service instead. See who cannot claim.
- Work it outFour numbers give the credit the agreement allows.
- Write itThe request, with the details the agreement asks for.
- Send it before 31 December 2026The day Microsoft must receive it, and a reminder.
Write it
Fill in what you know. Anything left out stays as a highlighted blank in the request, for you to complete before you send it.
Fields marked asked for are items the agreement lists; leave any blank and fill it in later in the letter.
Bought through a reseller? Your provider files the request. See who cannot claim.
No credit level applies at this uptime, so there is no request to send.
Paste it into a support request to Microsoft. If someone else manages your Microsoft account, send it to them.
Send it before
One all-day event on the deadline, with reminders 14 days and 3 days before.
Sooner is safer. The agreement names no time zone, and the claim must arrive with all the information it asks for.
See the agreement's text
Who can claim, and what counts
Check these before you send: who the agreement leaves out, what it counts as down, and which fee to type.
Who cannot claim here
What counts as down
Microsoft counts a user as down only when they could not send or receive email in Outlook on the web (the browser version of Outlook). Count only those people and that time.
Groups of people
If some people were down longer than others, add a line for each group. Each group holds different people: count nobody twice.
The fee and the month
See the agreement's text
These rules are Microsoft's. For your own contract, check who can claim and what counts as down in your agreement.
Your incidents
Keep each outage here with its credit and deadline, nearest deadline first. The list stays in this browser only.
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