Extended warranties

[jaffasdad]

Has anyone any experience/thoughts/views on taking out an extended warranty (ie an insurance policy) for caravan repairs once the normal warranty period is over? Are they worth the money? Are any firms better to deal with than others?
Thanks in advance.

 

[darrenm]

We have a 2007 caravan and when we bought it from the dealer he gave use 12 months warranty so just before it ran out I decided to extend it so took another 2 years at a cost of £240 in the last 10 months we have had the fan on the heater changed and also the front section of the floor repaired for delamination and also a faulty tap replaced all under warranty so for us it has been worth while

 

[Di3]

Hi
We had 3 year warranty with new van 2009 bought from dealer, had option of extended warranty as long as we agreed to take out before 3rd anniversary at a cost of £300 - since taken out had new extractor fan above cooker and motor on flush fitted under extended warranty, but also have piece of mind to know have another three years (April 2015) of caravaning without any major expense plus should we change the van warranty will be transferred to new van.
Di

 

[ProfJohnL]

I do wish these arrangements were not called 'extended warranties' It is in my view misleading, warranties should be free. What you are purchasing is an insurance policy.

You should also be aware that as these are insurance policies, the people encouraging you to buy one are likely to be receiving commission for your business. In some industries the commission payments were a very substantial part of the salesman's employment package. If you really want to take one out it must be worth getting alternative quotes.

Now my comments do not relate specifically to caravans, but the same principals apply to all purchases:

In essence you need to assess the likely risk of the product failing in some way that is going to cost you to either put it right or replace it.

Also bear in mind that you also have certain protections under the Sale of Goods Act. This may already cover some types of failures, so why pay for something when your statutory rights give it to you for free? Though to be fair some failures would not be covered by SoGA. And as a product gets older SoGA is more difficult to apply, and the effort in pursuing a SoGA claim can become disheartening.

Even the policies have limitations, so it is vital that you read the policy terms and conditions.

In many cases -especially with electronic products (TV's etc) such policies are rarely necessary as they are so reliable, but it is a sad comment of the caravan industry their products have such a poor reputation for reliability.

Ultimately only you can decide if such policies are worth while. Some of these policies have I am sure been miss-sold rather like the PPI scandal!