whois record

[stender]

I was looking to purchase a domain which has a site which is pretty dated and a lot of links don't work, but looking on the whois on whois-search it says
Registration status: Renewal request being processed.
The domain was regged in 1997 and isn't due renewal until 2009

My question is..... Is the whois record accurate? i.e. is it definately being renewed? how long would it take to update if it was?
I don't want to waste time and persue it if is being renewed.

I chose another domain at random to check and that was the same??

 

[grantw]

It means the domain has been renewed via Nominet but the monthly invoice containing the renewal has not yet been paid by the registrar.

Grant

 

[stender]

Oh Well! Cheers Grant.