The reason for refunds in the hosting business is not to compensate the buyer for any loss of business they might suffer if their site goes down (this will prob

The reason for refunds in the hosting business is not to compensate the buyer for any loss of business they might suffer if their site goes down (this will probably be many times what the service provider would make from the account); it's to tie the failure of the buyer's systems to something the service provider would self-evidently prefer to avoid. Service providers could also signal their reliability by offering "loss of business" insurance at low premiums. If a service provider will pay you $10,000/day in the event that your site is unavailable, and the premium on this insurance is $5/month, it's pretty likely that they're not expecting to have to pay this out very often. (Royal Mail offers fairly cheap loss/damage insurance, which is a good sign their service is reliable. Not sure about DHL/Fedex.)