> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.paddle.com/llms.txt).

# Apply updates to automatically-collected subscriptions when payment fails

Upgrade a subscription, add items, bill for one-time changes, and change billing dates for a subscription even when payment fails.

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## What's new?

We added a new `on_payment_failure` field that you can include when making changes to subscriptions to tell Paddle how to handle payment failure.

- **on_payment_failure** (string): How Paddle should handle changes made to a subscription or its items if the payment fails during update. If omitted, defaults to `prevent_change`

## How it works

When [making changes](https://developer.paddle.com/build/subscriptions/add-remove-products-prices-addons.md) to automatically-collected subscriptions where the `proration_billing_mode` is `prorated_immediately` or `full_immediately`, Paddle tries to collect for the amount due right away. Similarly, Paddle collects right away when you [bill for one-time charges](https://developer.paddle.com/build/subscriptions/bill-add-one-time-charge.md) effective immediately.

Previously, Paddle returned an error if you tried to make a change or bill a one-time charge that resulted in a charge and the payment failed. Your change was not applied.

With this release, you can now optionally include `on_payment_failure` in your request to tell Paddle how to handle payment failure when updating a subscription or billing for one-time charges.

To apply a change or bill for a one-time charge even if payment fails, set the value to `apply_change`. The change is applied to the subscription. The subscription remains `active`, but the related transaction is `past_due`.

If omitted, this defaults to `prevent_change` meaning that Paddle returns an error and doesn't apply subscription changes when payment fails.

## Next steps

This change is available in version `1` of the Paddle API.

It's a non-breaking change, meaning it doesn't impact existing integrations. The default behavior is unchanged.
## Summary of changes

| Name | Type | Change | Entity | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `on_payment_failure` | Field | added | subscription | How Paddle should handle changes made to a subscription or its items if the payment fails during update. If omitted, defaults to `prevent_change`. |