Is Argos Monthly Care worth it .. fridge & washing machine

WLM21

Our daughter is about to buy a new fridge freezer, as well as a washing machine and has been tempted to add the 'Argos Monthly Care' insurance scheme .. is this a good idea? 

The fridge cover would be about £2.50 a month .. I guess for ever, or there's a 3-year breakdown cover for about £50.

We've always just bought from JL in the past as their guarantee was always very good.

I'm sure I read somewhere that some EU rule has come into effect meaning BY LAW goods should last a reasonable time, but how long is this

thank you

PRAISETHESUN

Personally I just self-insure these things (put aside some money each month in case stuff breaks). It's unlikely brand new goods will breakdown in the first year or three, and if it has a manufacturer's warranty it'll get fixed for free anyway.

I think the EU laws you're referring to is the "right to repair" stuff, which doesn't necessarily mean goods have to last, just that manufacturers have to make spare parts available for a certain period of time. Even then you still will have to pay for them, and to get them installed if you can't do it yourself!

WLM21

OP here .. I see the monthly carte plan can be taken out up to 45 days after purchase, so that's another option.

I think there are also 'third party' appliance insurance schemes, maybe worth taking out after the manufacturer warranty has run out for each ite,

Sandtree

WLM21 said:

I'm sure I read somewhere that some EU rule has come into effect meaning BY LAW goods should last a reasonable time, but how long is this

Unfortunately you seem not to have read that you no longer live in the EU.

There are two things you may be thinking of...

1) EU introduced a minimum 2 year warranty however this was not adopted into UK law because we already have the Consumer Rights Act (and SOGA before that) which makes the merchant liable if goods dont last a reasonable duration

2) New laws are being passed at the moment requiring manufacturers to make more effort in making things repairable (ie more screws and less glue) plus they must make parts available for repairs for 10 years. That doesnt mean parts will be cheap nor that the item is less likely to break down in the first place.

Warranties are on top of your statutory rights and normally go further. So under CRA retailer can choose to refund minus use received so at 2.5 years old your likely to get less than half its original purchase price back whereas a warranty can be "new for old" so you get a brand new machine back.

You ultimately need to look at the warranty -v- machine cost and decide for yourself if its cost effective. Some warranties on budget machines can be 50% of the price and certainly to me that'd be highly questionable as cost effective.

chrisw

Fridge freezers rarely break down. It's usually the plastic internal bits such as the drawers which break after 10 to 20 years. These wouldn't be covered anyway.

Sandtree

chrisw said:

Fridge freezers rarely break down

Should tell that to our Samsung Freezer... had 3 of them break down before finally managed to get a refund

CoastingHatbox

UK right to repair law is here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57665593

Quite honestly, I think it is much better to ignore these schemes (IME excesses usually apply, and they will let you pay for cover indefinitely when it transpires the cover will only apply to devices under a given age)

Save the money instead into a "Home Appliance Repair/Replacement Fund"

cymruchris

Personally I wouldn't bother - if it's a concern - set up a 'pot' within one of these modern App based current accounts - and call it 'Breakdown' - then set a transfer of £10 a month into it. At 3 years there'll be £360 sat there, and if nothing has broken down, she's still got £360. If something does break down (if it's repairable) then after trying to wangle the repair and failing the £360 would be a good contribution either to the repair or a new unit. 

J_B

I've always been of the 'don't bother' method which has stood me well,

chrisw said:

Fridge freezers rarely break down. It's usually the plastic internal bits such as the drawers which break after 10 to 20 years. These wouldn't be covered anyway.

but 2 years ago, our 18 month old Beko FF broke and it was the condenser (?) which we were advised, made it beyond economical repair!

WLM21

OP here .. thank you for all your comments.
As suggested, our daughter will just put some money every month away, in case a repair/replacement is required in the future

forgotmyname

£2.50 a month may not seem like a lot but I could have purchased 2 Fridge Freezers so far and a fair way
towards the 3rd on the money I saved by not buying one of those policies.

Choose the simple products without the silly gadgets, why does our budget washing machine need access to the
internet, my email address and need to know where we live?