Extended Warranties

MylesBetter

I am trying to find on Martin's WEB site any articles on purchasing extended warranties.

I have been adviced if buying a notebook to get an extended warranty, but I want to find my own not take the expensive one offered by the supplier.

Can someone give me a link please.

I have searched under "Extended Warranties" "Insurance protection" etc but to no avail'.

joolsleeds

Just to bump this - can you buy an insurance policy separate to the purchase of the product/retailer?

I am looking at buying a number of domestic appliances - cooker, fridge, washer etc.....

Thanks

tawnyowls

MylesBetter wrote:

I am trying to find on Martin's WEB site any articles on purchasing extended warranties.
I have been adviced if buying a notebook to get an extended warranty, but I want to find my own not take the expensive one offered by the supplier.
Can someone give me a link please.
I have searched under "Extended Warranties" "Insurance protection" etc but to no avail'.

I'm sure there was an article on this, but I can't find it either. You will get a few threads if you put in 'extended warranty' (doesn't seem to like the plural). These might help:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=255323&highlight=extended+warranty
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=250305&highlight=extended+warranty


FWIW, most of these are a waste of money - you'd be better off putting the money into a high-interest account to pay for anything that might possibly go wrong. With a notebook, you usually get 3 year's warranty anyway - usually 1 year on-site and then 2 years back to the manufacturer cover. Definitely check out what the manufacturer offers you first before going for any other sort of warranty. Also check out your credit card - the second thread above mentions that Nationwide give a 2-year warranty on stuff bought with their card. You might well find that your house insurance will cover your notebook too, for accidental damage when you're away from home, for instance.

joolsleeds wrote:

Just to bump this - can you buy an insurance policy separate to the purchase of the product/retailer?
I am looking at buying a number of domestic appliances - cooker, fridge, washer etc.....

Yes, you can buy it separately, and it's usually sensible to do so, as the retailer ones are very poor value. With big appliances, they usually come with a 1 year guarantee, and as mentioned somewhere else, they usually go very quickly after purchase, or last a long time. This thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=241791&highlight=extended+warranty
gives the EU rules and links to the UK Sale of Goods law about purchases.

Again, I really wouldn't bother getting an extended warranty. People are brainwashed into thinking they must, must, must have these warranties because it would cost such a huge amount to replace them all. But what are the real chances of that happening? By the time you add up the payments over 5 years or whatever, it's often more than the cost of a new machine, and the chances of all 4 or 5 or however many you're thinking of buying all going just outside the normal warranty period must be millions to one. Even then, you'd probably be covered under the Sale of Goods Act, as items must last 'a reasonable period of time', and although that isn't defined, a big appliance is certainly expected to last more than a couple of years. It really is worth looking very carefully at the figures before buying warranties. I haven't bought a single one in the last 15 years, and so far, I've had one appliance (a 14-year-old WM) break down - AFAIK, all the other appliances (some were sold with previous houses) are still going strong. If you buy a decent make to begin with (lots of advice on here), you should be looking at 7 or 8 years of use out of it at least.

If you are going to buy so many big appliances, look at Kelkoo (https://www.kelkoo.co.uk) to find the cheapest places. Also, you may be able to negotiate a big discount from a retail outlet if you buy all of them together. Also have a look at the Comet clearance site: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=241791&highlight=extended+warranty

jos22

Sites such as this http://www.warrantyex.co.uk/?&rw.cm=Google,PPC,extended+warranty+insurance&WT.mc_t=PPC&WT.mc_n=Google&WT.srch=1 should help.

I have no experience of this company, just one that came from a search.

jos22

Oh, forgot to mention, I agree with Tawnyowls, they are an expensive way of covering against possible repairs.

Mrs_pbradley936

Do not bother with them. If anything goes wrong within a year it is usually covered anyway and if it does not go wrong within a year chances are it will not go wrong for a long time.