---
title: "insufficient_allowance — top-up not possible"
url: https://lumean.app/en/developers/docs/errors/insufficient-allowance
locale: en
description: "The order was not created. Body: `reason: \"insufficient_allowance\"` — and, unlike `payg_topup_required`, it does NOT contain the top-up fields (`shortfall_*`, `quote_token`, `expires_at`)."
generated: 2026-10-17
---

# insufficient_allowance — top-up not possible

- HTTP: `402`

- `reason`: `insufficient_allowance`

- `Retry-After` header: no

## What happened

The order was not created. Body: `reason: "insufficient_allowance"` — and, unlike `payg_topup_required`, it does NOT contain the top-up fields (`shortfall_*`, `quote_token`, `expires_at`).

## Why

The subscription quota was not enough, and pay-as-you-go is disabled for this service (`Service.payg_access = disabled`). That is exactly why you get a refusal instead of a top-up offer: there is nothing to top up with and nowhere to top up — no top-up mechanism exists for the service.

## What to do

This is a dead end on your current plan: neither a retry nor `confirm_payg_topup` will help — the server simply ignores the latter field. There are three workable options: wait for the quota to renew in the new billing period, change your plan, or reduce the size of the order so it fits into what remains.

## Next request

`GET /subscriptions` — `items[].tokens_remaining` shows how many tokens actually remain; cut the text to fit that amount.

## Related

- [payg_topup_required — when a top-up is allowed](https://lumean.app/en/developers/docs/errors/payg-topup-required)
- [limit_exceeded — the neighboring subscription limit](https://lumean.app/en/developers/docs/errors/limit-exceeded)
- [Guide: LMC, quotas, and PAYG](https://lumean.app/en/developers/docs/guide/billing)
- [GET /subscriptions](https://lumean.app/en/developers/docs/api/get-subscriptions)
- [Change plan](https://lumean.app/en/shop)

---

- This page in the browser: https://lumean.app/en/developers/docs/errors/insufficient-allowance
- Full machine-readable reference: https://api.lumean.app/docs/llm.md