I just started using photobucket and have a few concerns. I used a hosting site once before to free up space on my laptop and few months later it said my account expired. I lost all of the pictures that I had uploaded including those of my father'* 100 yr. old aunt. Has anyone ever had this problem with photobucket?

Not me so far 3 years

nope...

i had an old account on there, that i totally forgot about. Like a year later i remeberd about it, went back to it, and all my pics were still there...

No. I have had my Photobucket account since 2004, and it hasn't been removed. It was even left idle from October 2004, to around November 2005, and it wasn't changed or removed.

Thank you all for replying so quickly and clearing up any of my concerns

Don't ever rely on online photo hosting as "backup"

That being said, I have never had any problems with Photobucket other than the few down times they have for changes and updates.

If you truly need backup for a ton of photos, get yourself a good USB hard drive.
As for Photobucket, aside from the occasional downtime for upgrades and maintenance, it'* been perfectly reliable for me for four years. However, I still use SmugMug.com for my good pictures. It'* a pay site, but it gives you original size pics, unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth.