Washing Machine breakdown insurance

jo124_2 · 2 June 2004 at 7:55PM

Anyone know of a reputable company that provides good but cheap cover for washing machine breakdowns - mine is almost a year old now and I have been offered cover with Indesit for £229 want to know whether this is a good deal or not

lisyloo · 2 June 2004 at 7:58PM

What period is this for?

How long is your manufacturer guarantee?
Often manufacturers will extend their guarantee at cheaper prices than elsewhere.
Information would be in the box when you buy it.

jo124_2 · 3 June 2004 at 1:48AM

the manufacturers guarantee is 12 months - the warranty is for another 4 years - is it really worth it as the machine only cost me £299

lisyloo · 3 June 2004 at 11:27AM

I would say not.
If you can afford to do so then the cheapest option is to self insure (not buy the insurance and just pay for repairs or a new machine yourself).
This works out cheaper across many appliances.

Some credit cards (like nationwide) offer extended warranties for free, so that may be worth considering in the future for large purchases.

In general these days, electrical items either tend to fail quite quickly (faulty) or last for a reasonable time.

Personally I wouldn't bother because you could get a new machine (cheap one) for the cost of the warranty.

Cameron · 11 June 2004 at 1:29PM

Slight expansion on lisyloo post.

Let me tell you some Cameron advice - "advice is cheap you can take it or leave it"

Ask yourself how many appliances/gadgets/etc you have in your house? (breakdown insurable items) - Washing m/c, TV's, Computers, Printers, Fridge, Freezers, Oven, Hob, Hifi's, Videos, Dishwasher, Boiler, Kettle, Toaster, Blender/Liquidiser, Plumbing system, Lawn mower, Garden Shredder, Hedge cutters, etc etc etc. but please make your own list.

Now how much will it cost to insure the above lot for one year against breakdown? My guess is well in excess of £1000 (could be £2k) but please make your own guess.

Now how often do these items break down OUTSIDE the warrenty? My guess is two items per year but please make your own guess.

How much on average would you expect to spend repairing or replacing the above items? My guess is £600 but please make your own guess.

What did lisyloo say - "Self Insurance" - One word of warning the more items you un-insure the more risk free and profit you make - if you say to yourself I'll just insure my expensive flat screen TV, then you loose, the £250 it just cost could have bought that new washing machine.

You may have a couple of bad years - the TV, washing machine and fridge might go, but the laws of average are in your favour in the long term.

You also have the power to control your spending, just beacause your - Trinton plasma super dooper flat screen TV's blows up outside the warrenty - its not a life and death situation that you have to replace it with an equalant - "Live within your means!" -but thats another piece of Cameron advice..

Cooper8 · 4 August 2004 at 3:32AM

Home Appliance Insurance

The cameron advice was one of the most straightforward descriptions of the logic of insurance that I have seen in 40 years in the industry. But I am still looking for a package policy that would cover all our home appliances for a single premium. Norwich Union do list such a product on their website but the links don't work. Anybody heard of anything similar please?

royalsteve · 13 August 2004 at 3:49AM

better advice would be to stick the money you would spend on these waste of money policies in a decent savings account.....when it breaks down then use the money saved to repair it or to buy a new machine......

in any case 229 seems expensive for something worth 299...I mean....would you pay 229000 to insure your 299000 house or 11450 to insurance your 15000 car? (crazy examples i know)

cameron's post is plain common sense in my book.....just risk analysis in its' simplest form.....if you take the 'hit' there is a reasonable probability you will be better off...likewise unless you are unlucky there is a reasonable probability you will be worse off...

depends if you are a gambler/risk taker....at the end of the day its up to you.......

Suzz_2 · 20 August 2004 at 12:30AM

Some good advice here... I don't take out extended warranties / insurance & hate it when I get pressurised to take it when I buy something.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, equipment is far more likely to fail during the manufacturers' warranty period; and unlikely to fail after that until the end of it's useful life.

If a device does fail, I find you can normally get a local repair service to fix it, for a fraction of the cost of the insurance. Of even an agent of the manufacturer can do repairs at a fairly reasonable price.

bs7 · 1 September 2004 at 7:58PM

domestic general seem to be the only ones doing warranties really.

try getting a quote through warrantyex.co.uk and it seems to be a little cheaper though

1jacks64 · 27 October 2004 at 3:45AM

I think washing machine insurance is a waste of money. My nan covered her washing machine for breakdowns for 12 years and she only had to claim on the policy once. For the amount of money she paid in premiums she could have had something like 6 brand new washing machines!

reeda · 20 February 2009 at 3:54PM

In my experience, washing machine breakdown insurance IS worth the money. I purchased 5 years warranty with our new Bosch and the warranty has just run out. Over the 5 years we had 3 breakdowns (£50, £110 & £310), at total of £470. It certainly didn't cost that much to insure!

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Washing Machine breakdown insurance

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