Things that expire, and how early to start

The lead times below are starting points, not rules. Processing times, validity rules and renewal windows differ by country, issuer and year, so check the issuer’s current guidance before you rely on any of them. In Kounts Due you set the lead time per item, from the day itself up to 365 days before, so you can tune each one once you know how long yours really takes.

Passports, visas and travel documents

A passport is the item where the date on the page is not the date that matters. Many destinations require it to be valid for a set period beyond the day you arrive or leave, commonly three or six months, and an airline can refuse to board you if it is not. That makes the useful deadline earlier than the printed expiry date, and renewal itself can take weeks.

• Track: passports (one item per person), visas, residence permits, electronic travel authorisations, national ID cards.
• Start reminding: about six months before a passport expires, and three to six months before a visa or permit, unless you know the renewal window is shorter.
• In the item: put the person in the “belongs to” field, attach a scan of the photo page, and add the issuing office’s renewal website so the link is one tap away.

Car, inspection and driving licence

Vehicle dates come in clusters: the inspection, the road tax or registration, the breakdown cover, and the licence of whoever is driving. They rarely fall on the same day, and a missed inspection can invalidate other things that depend on it.

• Track: annual inspection (MOT, safety check or smog check, depending on where you live), road tax or registration, breakdown cover, driving licence, parking permits.
• Start reminding: around 30 days ahead for inspections and tax, long enough to book a slot and fix whatever fails. Allow two to three months for a driving licence.
• In the item: some places let you inspect early without losing your renewal date. Put the rule in the notes once you have checked it, so you do not look it up again next year.

Insurance policies

Most insurance renews automatically, and the renewal price is often higher than what a new customer would be offered. The useful reminder is not the end date but the point where you can still compare quotes and switch.

• Track: home and contents, car, travel, pet, life and health cover, gadget cover.
• Start reminding: 30 to 45 days ahead, which leaves time to shop around.
• In the item: turn on auto-renews, enter the premium in the cost field so you can compare it with next year’s, and attach the policy schedule so the policy number is to hand when you need to claim.

Subscriptions and free trials

Subscriptions are the shortest cycle on the list and the easiest to lose track of, because each one is small. A free trial is the extreme case: the date that matters is the day before it turns into a charge.

• Track: streaming, software, cloud storage, news, memberships, free trials, annual plans billed once a year.
• Start reminding: a week or two ahead for annual plans, two or three days ahead for a trial.
• In the item: set the repeat cycle (monthly, quarterly or yearly), mark it as auto-renewing, and add the cancellation page as the renewal link.

Warranties and guarantees

A warranty is the one expiry you want to hit early. A fault that appears in the last month is a claim; the same fault a month later is a repair bill. Knowing the end date lets you use the product properly before it passes.

• Track: appliances, phones and laptops, tools, bikes, anything with an extended warranty or a long guarantee.
• Start reminding: 60 to 90 days before the end.
• In the item: scan the receipt or the warranty card. Kounts Due recognises warranty terms, such as a number of months from the purchase date, and suggests the end date, which you confirm before saving.

Health: vaccines, check-ups and prescriptions

For health items, the right date comes from your clinician or pharmacist, not from an app. Kounts Due does not provide medical renewal schedules and will not tell you when something is due; it keeps the date you were given and reminds you early enough to book.

• Track: booster vaccines, recurring check-ups, dental and eye appointments, repeat prescription reviews, medical certificates.
• Start reminding: as far ahead as appointments take to get, which is often several weeks.
• In the item: enter the date as you were told it, and keep the letter or card as an attachment.

For a medicine you take every day, with doses and refills, Kounts Dose is the app built for that.

Domains, hosting and certificates

A lapsed domain takes a website and its email offline together, and an expired certificate shows visitors a security warning. Both are cheap to renew and expensive to forget.

• Track: domain names, hosting plans, SSL or TLS certificates, software licences, developer programme memberships.
• Start reminding: 30 to 60 days ahead for a domain, two to four weeks for a certificate.
• In the item: add the registrar’s renewal page as the link, and note whether auto-renew is on and which card it uses.

Everything else with a date on it

The category called Other is where the odd ones live: gym and club memberships, library and loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers, first-aid and professional certificates, a sports licence, a parking permit. If losing it would cost you money or a day, it is worth an item.

How to set one up in Kounts Due

• Tap Scan and point the camera at the document, or bring it in from Photos, Files, pasted text or the share sheet in Mail.
• Check the suggested expiry date against the document and tick I’ve checked the expiry date.
• Pick the category, the person it belongs to and the lead time, then save. Notification permission is asked for after your first item.
• When you renew, tap Mark renewed. The next date is suggested and the old one stays in the history.

Kounts Due is a tool to help you remember. Always confirm important dates with the issuer of the document.