Quick answers to common questions - still want to know more? Chat to our team any time using the chat button in the corner of your screen.
General Questions
I've not heard of you before, how long have you been in business?
We’ve been providing great quality hosting services to clients around the world for 20 years! Launched in 2002, Valcato Hosting has grown from a small local hosting service into a worldwide multiple award winning hosting brand with clients on 5 continents!
For more information about our business, please visit All About Valcato
What is a 'Valcato' anyway?
Pronouced ‘Val-CAT-oh’, you definitely won’t find a dictionary definition for our company name! Valcato began by reselling hosting for other providers, operating from a small home office and employing just one person; our company founder. Over the years, Valcato Hosting has recruited a passionate team to manage the day to day operations of the business. As for the definition, we like to think that it encompasses everything we stand for – a group of passionate people providing a world class service at a great value price.
What guarantees do you offer?
We offer our 30 day money back Happiness Guarantee, a server uptime guarantee of 99.5% per month, a 100% network uptime guarantee, a no overselling guarantee and a loyalty reward guarantee. More information is available on our guarantees page
Where are you located?
Our support centre is based in Staffordshire, UK. This is where we manage our billing, administration and tech support operations. Our server hardware is split between four datacentre locations; one in Milton Keynes, UK, one in Chicago, IL, one in Dallas, TX and a fourth in Los Angeles, CA.
Do you really offer 24/7 support?
Yes we do! Our team work around the clock to provide an excellent service, we offer 24/7 support via live chat, telephone and our ticket system. We don’t close for weekends, public holidays, we’re even around on Christmas Day!
What payment methods and currencies do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards via our processing partner, Stripe. We also accept PayPal payments and Apple Pay.
During signup you can select whether you’d prefer to pay in GBP, USD or EUR.
Do you offer any discounts?
We have one current long-running promotion which is our famous “12 months for the price of 10” deal on annual Web Hosting plans. This offer has been running for over 10 years now and we have no plans to discontinue it. For all other current offers please visit our Web Hosting Deals page, or grab some exclusive discount codes on our Facebook and Twitter pages – be sure to follow us if you’re the bargain hunting type.
Do you offer a reseller plan?
If you’re a web designer or developer, we have a white-label plan exclusively for you - click here to find out more.
If you simply wish to recommend us to others, we can pay you a generous commission for every client you refer! Check out our affiliate scheme to find out more!
Web Hosting Questions
Which hosting plan is right for me?
All of our shared hosting and VPS plans benefit from our instant upgrade system. At any point you’re free to upgrade or downgrade your account, so whether you start small and then require further resources along the line, or buy a large plan and wish to save money at quieter periods, we’ve got you covered.
What is your average server uptime?
Our average server uptime is currently 99.9%, as monitored by an external 3rd party service. You can view detailed uptime reports on our platform status page
Can you help me move my website from my old host?
Absolutely! Our FREE Website Switching Service can move everything across from your old host, for free with no downtime and no hassle
What do you consider as overloading the server (In terms of resources, quota etc)?
The quotas in place are for you to use – if you have 50GB of space, you can use 50GB of space – no sneaky small print here. We use CloudLinux technology to limit some resources such as RAM and CPU usage on our Web Hosting plans – details of this can be found on our plans page.
Do you offer free SSL certificates via Lets Encrypt?
We use AutoSSL to issue completely free Sectigo SSL certificates for each and every domain you add to your account. This works in a very similar way to Lets Encrypt, and is just as quick, simple and free!
Do you have any e-mail sending limits?
For security reasons, all new accounts are limited to 100 outgoing e-mails per hour by default. If you need to send more than this, for example if you operate a mailing list, just get in touch and we can adjust this for you. There’s no additional charge for this.
What's your policy on bulk email?
There are lots of valid uses of bulk email – how else would we get our discount vouchers for Dominos at the office? However, all e-mail lists operated using our service must be fully compliant with GDPR regulations – double opt-in, one click unsubscribe, no spam whatsoever. We care passionately about our mail server reputation and we’ll immediately suspend any accounts that send unsolicited bulk e-mail. For further info please see our Terms and Conditions.
Do you offer Managed WordPress hosting?
We ❤️ WordPress! Our WordPress Cloud platform has been engineered from the ground-up to provide unbeatable performance and guaranteed resource availability for even the most demanding sites. Visit our WordPress Cloud page to learn more.
Will you ever suspend my account without warning?
We do everything possible to avoid suspending an account, and this can include informing a customer of a problem and giving them time to resolve it. There are certain situations where an account may already be affecting other clients, and so we are left with no alternative but suspending. If we do this we will email you straight away informing you of the reasons, to arrange a suitable time for you to fix any issues.
Are you a `reseller` for another hosting company?
No, we own and operate our own servers in all four of our datacentres. For more information on our network click here.
Which PHP version is installed?
You are now able to log into cPanel and select which PHP version you’d like to use. Current options are 5.1-5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.4, 8.0 and 8.1.
Is PHP Safe Mode Enabled?
Nope.
Do you have module 'xyz' installed?
We support more modules and frameworks than your average shared hosting company! If you’d like to check compatibility on a certain module or feature please do get in touch – if we don’t currently support something we’ll certainly take a look, if it’s compatible with a shared cPanel hosting environment then we’ll certainly get it installed for you.
Domain Registration Questions
Is it true that you shouldn't register your domains with your hosting company?
We’ve heard horror stories from clients regarding other hosting companies giving away free or discounted domains to lure in new hosting clients, and then making it difficult or levying admin charges when it’s time to transfer the domain away.
We’d like to state for the record that if you register a domain through us, the domain is your property – this is the same whether you paid full price, half price, or even got it for free on an annual plan. We provide full DNS management tools right here, but if you did want to transfer the domain to another provider then that’s fine too – we’ll make the transfer process as simple as we can and we will never charge fees for transferring away.
So if I register my domain name through you, will I be the owner?
Yes, always.
Can I change the WHOIS information on my domain?
Yes, just log into your Valcato Account.
If I register my domain name with you, do you also need to host my website?
No, you can use any host you like, we won’t take it personally. Well. We’ll try not to take it personally 🙁
What is ID protection?
If you choose our ID Protection service, we will display generic information in the Whois database instead of yours. That way no one can find out your home address, use your e-mail address to send you spam, or take out Blockbuster memberships in your name and not return the videos on time.
Why isn't ID Protection available on .us .in .eu or .uk domains?
The registries that administer these domains do not permit the use of such ID Protection services, unfortunately this is beyond our control. However if you register a .uk domain for personal use then your postal and email addresses will be hidden anyway (only your name will be shown).
How can I ensure my transfer is smooth?
Transferring a domain name to a different company involves a few security procedures to ensure you are the legitimate owner of the domain. For a full outline of how to transfer a domain name please refer to our guide.
Can I transfer my domain name to a different registrar, are there any costs involved?
Yes, as you are the owner you are totally in control. We do not charge for transfers away.
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