Competition Commission proposes tough rules for extended warranties

Posted on 24 Jul 2003 at 10:37

The next time you buy an expensive piece of electronic kit, the experience of then being rushed into signing up to an equally expensive extended warranty may be a thing of the past.

In the Competition Commission's investigation into whether the consumer is adequately informed and served when sold an extended warranty, it has arrived at two possible remedies.

The first would mean goods were displayed with the cost of the warranty and duration along with the price of the product. If the consumer wasn't scared off by that then the salesperson would offer a leaflet explaining statutory rights, listing alternative warranty providers, expected lifetime and repair costs of the product, insurance information and cancellation rights.

The consumer would also have new rights to take up a quotation for a warranty at the offered price within 30-45 days and would also have rights to cancel it before the period is up and still get part of a refund.

The second proposal follows the same sort of lines but would mean retailers could not complete an extended warranty purchase at the point of sale on the same day.

Whether such measures would simply result in the consumer being confused with even more information at the point of purchase, rather than benefitting from, it remains to be seen.

Author: Matt Whipp

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