FAQ on Family Accounts

Introduction to Family Accounts

At mailbox, you have the option to create a Family Account, which allows you and your group of users to share various functions and resources. The Family Account was formerly known as Team Account and represents a collection of individual mailbox accounts connected together. This way, you can share calendars, contacts, tasks, and other functions. Here you will learn how Family Accounts work and what benefits they offer.

What are Family Accounts?

A Family Account at mailbox enables multiple users to merge their individual mailbox accounts into one shared account. They can then share various functions, such as calendars, tasks, and contacts. The Family Account also offers the ability to manage, share, and synchronize content like calendars and contacts.

Each member of a Family Account can create their own folders, mailboxes, and tasks. The Family Account allows these data to be shared and collaboratively edited among the group members.

A user who created the Family Account can also act as Admin, who manages the members and grants them corresponding access to data. It is possible to combine up to ten accounts in one Family Account.

Shared Storage Space

Another highlight of the Family Account is the shared storage space available to all members. The storage space is combined based on the plan of each individual member. This means all members share a common drive storage, where the available space equals the sum of the megabytes of all booked plans.

Administrative Rights

The user who created the Family Account receives a special role as Admin. The Admin has control over the family members and can manage their permissions and access rights. The Admin can also reset the password for the account and manage all other members of the Family Account.

Anonymous Accounts

If one of the members in the Family Account is an anonymous account, i.e., an account without stored personal data, the Admin will be able to perform important security measures such as receiving password reset links. This function is especially useful if a Family Account member accidentally loses access to their account.

What do Family Accounts cost?

The costs for using a Family Account depend on the plans booked by the individual members. The Admin of the Family Account does not have to pay any additional fees to manage the account.

When new members join the Family Account, the Standard Plan is activated by default for these new accounts. This plan can be changed after the first login of a new member. There is no free trial month for newly added members, and billing is done according to the plan of the respective member.

The billing method can be changed at any time in the main account under "All Settings | Family Account | Change Billing Method" (see article "(Creating a Family Account)").

Billing of Family Accounts

There are two different billing methods that can be chosen for a Family Account: joint billing or separate billing.

Joint Billing

In this option, all payment transactions are handled by the Admin of the Family Account. The Admin is responsible for adding deposits and settling payments. Invoices are sent exclusively to the Admin, and if the Admin is no longer solvent, all members of the Family Account are also deactivated.

Separate Billing

In this case, each member pays for themselves and receives their own invoices. Members have the option to add further members and manage their own billing.

The billing method for a Family Account can be changed at any time in the main account of the Admin. To do this, go to All Settings | mailbox | Family Account | Change Billing Method.

Family Accounts for Business Customers

Although the Family Account was originally designed for private customers, business customers can also use it. However, business customers should note that the mailbox Business Account offers many advantages that the Family Account does not provide, such as:

• Extended Support: Business customers receive dedicated support.
• Invoicing and Direct Debit: Business customers have the option to customize invoices and process payments via direct debit.
• Central Admin Interface: For business users, there is an admin interface where accounts for new employees can be created, passwords reset, and many other administrative tasks can be performed.

Business customers with more than ten members in their team should note that there is currently no possibility to migrate the Family Account to a Business Account.

Further Information and Support

If you want to learn more about the features and management of Family Accounts, you can read the detailed information in the article (Creating a Family Account). There you will also find additional notes and details on the individual functions you can use in the Family Account.

How are contributions debited in jointly billed families/teams?

• The Admin is responsible for the duration of the team's term. If another team member joins, the remaining term is simply divided. For example, if an account has a term of 12 months, it is halved to 6 months when the account owner creates a second team account: The term for both accounts is now 6 months – if a third account joins, it is only 4 months for all three. mailbox bills exactly by the day: If a second account is added after 10 months, the remaining term for the two accounts is split into one month each. At the end of the term, the accounts are placed in a limited status, which is described in the article My contract term has expired - what now?.
• Each member can extend the term for the entire team via "All Settings | Contract | Upgrade Plan".
• The Admin can easily track under All Settings | Invoices when money was debited for which accounts. The booking text shows the email address of the account responsible for the transaction.

Which accounts are shown under contract?

The display of information under "All Settings | Plan" depends on the plan and the chosen billing method in the team:

• With joint billing, members also see other members here, but not the Admin.
• With joint billing, the team Admin sees all accounts (members and own account).
• With separate billing, no other account is visible, not even for the team Admin.

Can I also link my own domain for family members?

Regardless of the plan used, each team member can also use their own email addresses (from their own domains) within the team, as described in this article: Use email addresses with your own domain

A family member has forgotten their password, what can we do?

Open https://login.mailbox.org/en/passwordrecovery and follow the steps described in the article Forgot Password. If a family member has no contact data and thus no reset method saved, only the team Admin, i.e. the account that created the team, can receive the reset link.

Can I delete a family account?

Only family members themselves can delete or cancel their accounts. If a family member does not want or cannot delete their account, the only option is to move to a new family – the contract terms can then be transferred by mailbox support. Changing to separate billing can also help, because an account is deleted if it is not paid and its contract term has expired. Once the unwanted account has expired and been removed, the billing method can be switched back to joint billing.

Old plans

Until 2020, different rules applied in mailbox plans:

• In older mailbox plans, the Admin was responsible for paying the entire team. The costs for the family members were debited monthly from their account. If there was not enough credit on the account, the family members were placed in a limited status in the order of creation (see My contract term has expired - what now?).