# Microsoft owes you money for the Outlook outage

> When Microsoft services went down this week, the company's Service Level Agreements meant business customers became entitled to compensation. Here's how to claim it.
- Title: Microsoft owes you money for the Outlook outage · WIRED
- Summary: When Microsoft services went down this week, the company's Service Level Agreements meant business customers became entitled to compensation.
- Keywords: microsoft, outlook, service outage, service level agreement, exchange online, teams, compensation, microsoft 365, WIRED
- Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/outlook-went-down-microsoft-may-owe-you-money
- Author: Christopher Null
- Published: 2026-11-14T07:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: microsoft, outlook, service outage, service level agreement, exchange online, teams, compensation, microsoft 365
## Microsoft's services went down this week
Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft services were offline during a major outage, while the company's billing operations continued running normally.
## Business customers are owed compensation
Microsoft's Service Level Agreements guarantee uptime for business accounts. When the company fails to meet those promises, customers are entitled to refunds or credits.
## Consumer accounts get no protection
If you have a Microsoft 365 Family plan or personal account, you are not covered by Service Level Agreements. Microsoft can refuse compensation at its sole discretion.
## How downtime is measured
Downtime is defined as any period when users cannot send or receive email with Outlook Web Access. It is measured in user-minutes: the length of each incident multiplied by the number of affected users.

> Any period of time when users are unable to send or receive email with Outlook Web Access.
## The credit tiers for this outage
An eighteen-hour outage equals a two point five percent downtime or ninety-seven point five percent uptime. This puts you in the fifty percent service credit tier.
## What information you must provide
Microsoft requires a detailed description of the incident, downtime duration, affected resource names, number and location of affected users, and error descriptions. Include the outage codes: EX1550543 for Exchange, MO1550821 for Outlook, TM1550488 for Teams.
## Calculate your bill and credit amount
Find your subscription costs in Billing > Bills & Payments in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Your credit is fifty percent of the total bill for affected services during the outage month.
## How to file your claim
In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, click the headset icon at the bottom right for Help & support.Click the headset icon again to reach Contact support, select Email, and submit your claim with collected information.
## You have until December 31, 2026
Claims must be submitted by the end of the month following the outage. You have until December thirty-first, twenty twenty-six to file for the November twelve incident.
## Microsoft's response so far
Microsoft said it is deeply sorry for the disruption and takes customer trust seriously. The company has not yet detailed how quickly it will process compensation claims.

> We are deeply sorry for the disruption this incident has caused our customers and partners.
## Key takeaway

Microsoft's Service Level Agreements entitle business customers to credits for the November 12 outage, but claiming them requires navigating a complex process.