It was my first email account ever, I would have been a paying customer if they asked. Or I would have been able to atleast download some important documents and pictures.

But they didn't even send a single warning or notification. I was also not aware when they added the inactive account policy to their terms.

Very stupid policy, whoever at Yahoo/Verizon made this decision.

In internet v1 years, around 2000-2005 the limit was 2 months of inactivity even for new accounts (also an inbox limit of 6MB, later reduced to 2MB).