Shoppers' rights
Most extended warranties are sold alongside domestic electrical
goods and there are laws to protect you if you are pressured into
buying a policy without having the chance to consider it properly.
So if a persistent salesperson is trying to sell you a policy
ensure that they adhere to the following regulations.
The Supply of Extended Warranties on Domestic Electrical Goods
Order 2005 is enforced by the Office of Fair Trading. It says that
electrical retailers must:
- Advertise the price of a warranty next to the
electrical goods, in store. Some information about extended
warranties must also be available on websites and in their printed
advertising material.
- Tell you that you have rights to buy a warranty
elsewhere (for example, from a manufacturer or an
insurance company), and that the electrical appliance you are
buying may already be covered by your household contents insurance
policy.
- Give you a written price for a warranty if you
ask for one, which retailers must honour if you go back to buy it
within 30 days of buying the product it covers.
- Give you information about your consumer
rights and your rights to cancel the warranty.
- Give you details of the warranty, including
whether the warranty is protected if the company providing it goes
bust, and whether the warranty ends if you claim on it.
- Give you the right to cancel a warranty. If
you cancel within 45 days of taking out the
warranty, and you have not made a claim on it, you must be given a
full refund. If you've made a claim or it is beyond 45 days, you
must be given a pro-rata (partial) refund.
Remember you may not even need an extended
warranty
In certain circumstances you are legally entitled to get things
repaired for free or replaced even after the manufacturer's
guarantee has run out, so you do not necessarily even need an
extended warranty.
Under the Sales of Goods Act, goods should be of "satisfactory
quality" and last a "reasonable" amount of time. So, say for
example, the LCD screen on a £200 digital camera fails after 2
years, the retailer will be legally responsible to repair or
replace that camera for free.
How
to make a warranty claim
Claims Financial
Testimonial
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