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Guidance

Rural Payments service: scheduled downtime and technical issues

Get help if you’re having problems using the Rural Payments service, check when service maintenance is planned, or report a technical issue.

Applies to England

If you’re having problems signing in to or using the Rural Payments service, it could be because: 

  • the service is offline for planned maintenance 

  • your password has expired 

  • you have the wrong permission level for the service 

  • you’re using an older device or browser version 

Check for Rural Payments service maintenance and downtime 

There will be times when the Rural Payments service is unavailable because of essential planned maintenance and updates. 

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will aim to minimise disruption to the service by scheduling planned maintenance times. We will try to give as much notice as possible about maintenance and downtime of the service, though we may not always be able to do this. 

Scheduled maintenance and downtime 

See maintenance and downtime that’s scheduled for the next 4 weeks. Some dates and times may change during the 4-week period.

From To Reason for downtime
5:15pm Tuesday
1 September
9:00am Wednesday
2 September
Major

Types of maintenance

There are different types of maintenance that need to be carried out.

Type of maintenance Maintenance details
Major Planned downtime to release new functionality and software upgrades
General Weekly planned downtime to update land and customer details
System To fix system functionality

Create a new password

You can create a new password if yours has expired.  

You’ll need to give the Customer Reference Number (CRN) and email address linked to your Rural Payments service account. 

Check your permissions 

Check your permission level for using the Rural Payments service

A person with the relevant permissions for the business can give or update your permissions.

Check your web browser 

You should check you’re using the most up-to-date version of your web browser. If you’re not, do any updates that are needed.

Report a technical issue  

If you have tried the solutions on this page and are still experiencing technical issues, you can report it to the RPA

You will need to upload screenshots showing error messages, or what the page looks like when you’re experiencing the issue, to make it easier to investigate. 

Screenshots should: 

  • be clear and titled 

  • show the full screen, including the web address (URL), date and time

Start now

Updates to this page

Published 1 September 2026

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