How to Reopen a Defaulted Plan

Step 1: Click the 'create new payment schedule' button

A Create New Payment Schedule button will appear at the top of the defaulted plan. Click it to go to the Create Payment Schedule page.

To see the original payment schedule, view a PDF of the customer's original contract under the Schedule tab of the plan.

Optional: Adding or deducting from the total

To charge an additional amount (e.g., a fee) or provide a deduction (e.g., a discount), click the Add Checkout Fee button on the right side of the page. To deduct, make the amount negative (e.g., -10).

See: How to Add to / Deduct from a Plan

Step 2: Down payment and processing missed payments

To immediately charge the customer any amount, set it as the down payment. The down payment will process when the plan is reopened.

Step 3: Setting up the payment schedule

Frequency — How often a payment is charged.
Term — How long the plan will last.
First Payment Date — Optionally set the date of the next payment after the down payment.

Optional: Customer flexibility

If emailing this plan to the customer, you can offer flexibility options by selecting the box under Customer Flexibility for each variable you wish to allow flexibility on.

Step 4: Create payment schedule

Once completed, click the Create Payment Schedule button.

Step 5: Email plan to customer

On the final review page, select the Send Open Plan Request to Customer button to email the plan to the customer for them to reopen themselves. You will be notified by email once they reopen the plan.

Optional: Opening the plan on the customer's behalf

Payment Method — Select the payment method the customer wishes to use. If they have a new payment method, click New Payment Method to add it, or direct the customer to add it themselves in the customer portal.
Authorize and Sign — Check the authorization box and sign the contract on the customer's behalf.
Open the Plan — Click the Open Payment Plan button.

More info on reopening plans

Authorization error

This error means the customer's bank requires their authorization before the plan can be reopened. Select the Send Open Plan Request to Customer button so the customer can reopen it themselves.

Process the remaining balance immediately.

Use the following terms so the remaining balance is processed when the plan is reopened:

Down payment: 100%
Schedule: Manual (requires a short description)

Customers can pay or reopen their own defaulted plans

Depending on your merchant settings, a customer whose plan has defaulted can resolve it themselves from their customer portal — you don't have to reopen it or take the payment for them. There are two independent options:

Reopen the plan — the plan is reopened with a new schedule that has a down payment equal to the last failed installment. The new schedule keeps the same payment frequency and number of remaining installments as the original schedule.
Pay the plan balance in full — the customer pays off the entire remaining balance at once.

Controlling customer self-service on defaulted plans

Both options above are enabled by default and are controlled by two separate settings under Settings > General > Payment Plans (the "Defaulted plans" section), so you can allow one, both, or neither:

Allow customers to pay full balance on defaulted payment plans — controls the pay-in-full option.
Allow customers reopen defaulted payment plans — controls the reopen option.

Disabling one does not affect the other. If both are disabled, customers cannot resolve a defaulted plan themselves, and you would reopen the plan or take the payment for them using the steps above.

If a customer does not see one or both options, check these settings and enable the corresponding option if you want to make it available. Select Update to save your changes.