> [...]
>>>Sorry I can't answer your specific question, but IMO you should buy a
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Good grief! What kind of posterior orifices passed that law????
As far as I can tell there are no UK laws dealing specifically with what an
insurance policy is and what it covers only that in that in certain cases
you must have it. The home appliance insurance racket is one of the best
known scams in the country. Taking out legal insurance doesn't help either
as I discovered last year. Essentially, whatever you claim for is the one
thing not covered by the policy.
(kim)
John Turner - 26 Feb 2005 16:38 GMT
> As far as I can tell there are no UK laws dealing specifically with what an
> insurance policy is and what it covers only that in that in certain cases
> you must have it. The home appliance insurance racket is one of the best
> known scams in the country. Taking out legal insurance doesn't help either
> as I discovered last year. Essentially, whatever you claim for is the one
> thing not covered by the policy.
A friend who works for one of the large electrical retailers tells me his
employer earns far more money by selling extended warranties than they do
from selling the electrical goods. Commission paid by the insurers to the
stores can be as high as 80%.
Now that doesn't suggest good value for money to me.
John.
MartinS - 26 Feb 2005 18:25 GMT
>> As far as I can tell there are no UK laws dealing specifically with
>> what an insurance policy is and what it covers only that in that in
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Now that doesn't suggest good value for money to me.
I never buy extended warranties, no matter how hard the salesman tries
to persuade me. I have in the past, but never collected on one. I bought
one for a new car, with an offer from the dealer to refund my money if I
didn't claim on it. Six years later I got my money back! Even a factory
warranty can be worthless, if it costs you more to send a product for
repair than to buy a new one!

Signature
Martin S.
John Turner - 26 Feb 2005 19:00 GMT
> I never buy extended warranties, no matter how hard the salesman tries
> to persuade me. I
Me neither, I always tell them I'll buy another if it fails outside a
reasonable period, otherwise I expect them to mend up free of charge anyway.
John.
John Sullivan - 26 Feb 2005 19:28 GMT
>> I never buy extended warranties, no matter how hard the salesman tries
>> to persuade me. I
>
>Me neither, I always tell them I'll buy another if it fails outside a
>reasonable period, otherwise I expect them to mend up free of charge anyway.
I tell them that they shouldn't be selling faulty goods. If they are not
faulty you don't need the extended warranty, and if they break within a
reasonable period of purchase I expect them to fix it under the terms of
current legislation, or under the manufacturer's guarantee. If the thing
goes wrong after three years you might as well buy a new one because
what with technology moving on at the speed it does today anything you
buy in three or more years' time is bound to be better than the load of
junk you are buying today. That usually shuts them up. If they don't
shut up I walk out and they lose the sale.

Signature
John Sullivan
OO in the garden http://www.yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk/railway/railway.html
manatbandq@hotmail.com - 28 Feb 2005 15:01 GMT
> > [...]
> >>>Sorry I can't answer your specific question, but IMO you should buy a
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> >> Under UK law they can cancel the contract at any time and refund the
> >> premium if the machine develops a fault which they consider is too
> >> expensive for them to fix. In other words a service contract is not worth
> >> the paper it's written on.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> (kim)
Especially when the shop assistant (Comet in this case) lies about what
is/isn't covered. I turned down an extended warranty for an expensive
large screen LCD TV. The assistant was adamant that Comet's warranty
would cover me for failure of a single pixel where the manufacturer
will only replace the display if a cluster of pixels fail causing a
noticeable error in the picture. A month later I received a letter
offering me a second chance to buy a warranty. This time it came with
written terms and conditions which expressly stated that pixel failures
not covered by the manufacturer's warranty were *not* covered.
Caveat Emptor.
MBQ