Extended warranties -uk

I am in the process of buying a new 5d mk11 which will have the normal year warranty that comes with the camera but would like to extend it for 2 or 3 years,any ideas or advice welcome please.

I pay £12 a month with my bank for holiday insurance, phone insurance, breakdown cover and extended warranties on anything I buy with my debit card.....

Thanks for that but i was thinking more of just for the camera.

What do you expect the extended warranty to cover that a) your legal rights and b) decent insurance will not cover?

As the UK is part of Europe Canon have to offer a 2 year warranty, not just 12 months.

They don't advertise it, but when challenged have admitted it to me.

Lowner wrote in post #15464899
As the UK is part of Europe Canon have to offer a 2 year warranty, not just 12 months.

They don't advertise it, but when challenged have admitted it to me.

Nope. This is an urban myth.

For a start, no manufacturer has a legal requirement to offer any sort of warranty at all! The law only applies to the contract between a customer and the retailer.

The urban myth arose because of an EU directive (not law) that consumers should have their purchases protected for at least 2 years against inherent faults with a product. But the law in the UK already gives the consumer such protection - but for 6 years, not two. More details here - LINK

Hollis is right. Extended warranties are a money-spinning opportunity for the providers. You're very well protected in UK law against genuine product faults. Anything else (damage, theft etc), requires insurance, not an extended warranty. I never buy extended warranties on anything and I've never regretted not doing so.

paulkaye wrote in post #15464950
Hollis is right. Extended warranties are a money-spinning opportunity for the providers. You're very well protected in UK law against genuine product faults. Anything else (damage, theft etc), requires insurance, not an extended warranty. I never buy extended warranties on anything and I've never regretted not doing so.

That's a differing point of view,we have extended warranties on most of our stuff and boy have we needed them.
Not quite sure what Hollis means here " What do you expect the extended warranty to cover that a) your legal rights and b) decent insurance will not cover?"
Basically if the camera develops a fault in 2 - 3 years it will be repaired.

UK consumer protection law is some of the strongest in the world. Extended warranties, or as they should really be called Breakdown Insurance is not really needed. If you have bought a product it has too meet certain requirements under UK law, most of which throw a reasonable requirement for the product to work for a length of time without defect. So if I buy a product for which a 3 year extended warranty is routinely provided, then I have a reasonable expectation that the product will last at least that long. After all that's what the insurance company thinks. Also that warranty is against the Retailer not the manufacturer, although many manufacturers also offer extra assistance that is not required by law. For your average domestic appliance putting the "cost" of the extended warranty in a savings account each month for 3 or 4 years will usually leave you with enough money to replace the appliance at the end of the period. or before hand if necessary. The only "advantage" the insurance has is that it simplifies any possible claim, but that is a big cost to do so.

On a side note I actually rent my major domestic appliances, my Washer drier costs me about the same as it would if I had purchased it on credit over 3 or 4 years, and I have an even better "free" warranty cover. When I recently moved for example, they offered to move it for me for free, and came and installed it in my new home. I picked the cheapest option for the rental so that my machine came out of the "pool" of refurbished machines that they keep rather than being brand new, but when I had a problem they were straight out to sort it the next day. Personally I think that the rental options are much neglected in this situation. A bit OT but seems to fit a little with the theme of the thread.

Alan

The basic principle is that extended warranties are offered because they make money, and they make money by charging more than the expected (long-run average) cost of repairs. You may win, you may lose, but on average, buyers will lose, or the warranty company goes out of business. That makes perfect sense if you are insuring against costs you can't bear, e.g., the cost of replacing your home if it is destroyed by fire, or the cost of supporting someone injured in a car accident. For smaller expenses, the average person does better self-insuring. That said, I have to admit that I have bought extended warranties a few times, essentially playing the market, when I thought that the insurer may have underestimated the expected costs of expensive repairs.

I don't know about this in the UK, but in the US, some credit cards double the manufacturer's warranty.

Trumper wrote in post #15465025
Basically if the camera develops a fault in 2 - 3 years it will be repaired.

If the camera develops a fault and it's due to user misuse or general 'wear and tear' will the warranty cover it? Or does it only cover faults inherent with the product?

If it's the former - post a link so we can check out the T&Cs and all sign up for it. If it's the latter then you get no more protection than that provided my the law, but you're paying for it.

The reason places like Dixon, Comet, Curries, etc (whichever of those are still trading) tried so hard to sell extended warranties is that they made huge profits from them.

The principle of insurance is only insure a loss you can't afford to take- like a house or public liability.

With an extended warranty one quarter to the shop, on quarter to the insurance company one quarter to the underwriter, leaving only 1/4 to the payout pot.(figures aren't too way out)

If the extended warranty is silly cheap then go for it. For instance 5years extra on my kitchen cooker cost £85 on a £1500 cooker-no brainer for this.
But £120 for 3years on a £300 printer is a joke that only the easily fooled pay for.

Remember everything breaks down one month after expiration of the warranty anyway. So it's all academic.

Here in Canada, camera retailers push extended warranties because half of the cost of them goes directly to their commission.

hollis_f wrote in post #15464910
Nope. This is an urban myth.

For a start, no manufacturer has a legal requirement to offer any sort of warranty at all! The law only applies to the contract between a customer and the retailer.

The urban myth arose because of an EU directive (not law) that consumers should have their purchases protected for at least 2 years against inherent faults with a product. But the law in the UK already gives the consumer such protection - but for 6 years, not two. More details here - LINK

OK, so its the retailer who carries the can under our law. The end result is still 2 years warranty and Canon have verbally admitted thats the real situation. I've yet to see 6 years anywhere!

Its certainly NOT an urban myth.

Richard I think that is a clever bit of "misinformation" on Canon's (and of course their retailers) to limit the "damage" the real information could cause. You see this in advertising and also retailers TOC's all the time, they add terms that restrict you legal rights then add the Your Statutory Rights are Not Affected. So the contact terms are effectivly null and void, but only if you actually know your rights to start with. I actually used the fact that insurance companies and retailers were routinly offering 3 years on computers to get a very nearly three year old computer fixed. This was back in the 90's as most of these rights were in the 1995 Sale of Goods and Services act and had just come into effect when I bought the computer.

The six years comes from traditional limits on when you can make court claims.

Alan