Last updated 30 August 2026
Some legs of my option strategy did not go through
The result window tells you. When a strategy is placed into several accounts, each account is placed on its own, so one account can fall short while the rest complete. The accounts that fell short are listed first, each naming the exact leg that was refused and what your broker said; the accounts that placed in full follow on a single green line. The most common cause is not enough margin in that one account. Nothing is cancelled for you, so check that account's order book and decide whether to complete the structure or close what is already open.
When this happens
- 1 Not enough margin in that one account when its leg was sent.
- 2 The broker refused one leg, most often a sold leg, because it needs more margin than a bought leg.
- 3 A very large leg is sent as more than one order, and one of those orders was refused.
- 4 The broker rejected the order a few seconds after accepting it, so it is not counted in the result window.
What happened
An option strategy has several legs. When you place it into several accounts at once, every account is placed on its own. That is deliberate: if one account is refused, the others still complete, instead of one account’s problem stopping everybody.
The cost of that is what you are seeing. One account can end up holding part of the structure while every other account holds all of it.
How to find the account and the leg
The result window shows this for you.
- Read the accounts listed first. The ones that fell short come before the ones that succeeded, under a red notice saying how many there are. Each names the exact leg that was refused (for example SELL PE 24000 failed), how many later orders in that account were never sent, and the message your broker sent back.
- Check the green line below them — it lists every account that placed in full, and the order count.
- Open that account’s order book at your broker and confirm what is really there.
Keep the result window open until you have read it. It is the only place the per-account outcome is shown.
Why the rest of that account stopped
Legs are placed buys first, then sells. The bought leg is the one that limits your loss, so it goes on before the sold leg that needs the bigger margin.
If a leg does not go through in full, that account stops there. A very large leg is sent as more than one order, because there is a limit on how much can go in one order — if any one of those orders is refused, the whole leg counts as not placed.
This is on purpose. A bought leg that only half went through only half protects the sold leg that would follow it, so the account is stopped rather than sent a sold leg bigger than the protection behind it.
What to do next
Nothing is cancelled for you. The legs that did go through are live and stay live.
- Decide, do not rush. Look at what that account is actually holding before you act.
- Either complete the structure or close what is open, by hand, at your broker or from the Portfolio screen.
- Do not simply place the same strategy again into that account. The legs that succeeded the first time are still on, so placing again doubles them.
- Fix the cause before retrying. If it was margin, add funds or lower that account’s size. Retrying without changing anything usually fails the same way.
Why it is usually margin
A sold option leg needs far more margin than a bought one. An account with enough money for the bought legs can still be refused on the sold leg.
Two things make this more likely:
- Margin requirements rise on expiry day, so a size that works all month can be refused that day.
- An account holding the sold legs without the bought legs needs much more margin than the same structure with its protection in place.
See Not enough margin for how to read a margin shortfall from your broker.
Always check your order book
A broker can accept an order and reject it a moment later, for example on margin. The result window shows what your broker accepted at that instant, so a strategy reported as fully placed can still have a leg that was rejected seconds afterwards.
Check the order book at your broker, or the Orders tab, before you rely on the result.
