Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Top 100 Warranty Providers of Mid-2020: As we detailed in last week's newsletter, sales are falling faster than warranty expenses, so the average claims and accrual rates are rising. But that's just the average. Some companies are actually seeing sales increases, and for others so are their warranty costs. This week, we rank those changes, and spotlight the ten biggest percentage increases and decreases.
October 8, 2020
US Auto Warranty Expenses: During the Great Recession, vehicle sales fell faster than accruals but slower than claims, so claims rates slowly rose while accrual rates slowly fell. During this pandemic, however, claims rates jumped quickly, while accrual rates are holding steady. But sales are plunging just like they did 12 years ago.
September 24, 2020
Seventeenth Annual Product Warranty Report: For a variety of reasons, claims and accruals continue to grow in the vehicle sector and shrink in the electronics sector. But sales have grown faster, so the overall share of manufacturing revenue going towards warranty expenses remains below 1.5%. Warranty reserves, meanwhile, came close to setting a new high water mark late in 2019, after years of declines.
April 16, 2020
Sixteenth Annual Product Warranty Report: Warranty costs are rising but sales are rising faster, meaning that the percentage of revenue consumed by warranty expenses remains at the low end of a decade-long decline. But can expense rates go even lower, or are we at the bottom now? A look at the totals and averages in 2018.
March 21, 2019
Mize Launches Warranty Connect: The second time around, you know how to avoid the pitfalls, the roadblocks, the bottlenecks and the obstacles. And you can take advantage of the latest technology such as cloud computing and smartphones to make it smaller, better, faster, and less costly.
October 8, 2015
Most Improved Warranty Metrics, Part 2: Warranty expense rates have been on a downward trend for most of the past decade. And most of the manufacturers are reducing their claims and accrual rates year after year. Some, however, continue to cut costs faster than their peers.
October 25, 2012
Ninth Annual Warranty Report,
Totals & Averages: Warranty expenses rose in 2011, as the recovery continued to take hold. But sales grew a bit faster, and the percentage of revenue used to pay for warranty work fell to record low levels.
March 22, 2012
Design for Warranty: Products can be designed so that not only can they be fixed faster, but also so they can be fixed by customers themselves. Given that labor is the major component of warranty claims, product designs that plan for customer self-repairs can cut costs.
March 11, 2010
Medical Equipment Warranties: While claims are increasing, sales are rising a little faster in the medical and scientific equipment industries. And at least eight companies have cut their warranty expenses by big percentages over the past five years.
October 2, 2008
New Home & Appliance Warranties: At the midpoint of 2007, sales are falling faster than claims can be reduced, driving claims rate percentages upwards for many companies in the building trades. But unlike in the automotive or computer industries, claims in this sector were always rather evenly distributed among new home builders and their suppliers.
September 25, 2007
New Home Warranties: While sales are declining, warranty accruals are declining even faster. Is it because of warranty cost cutting? Could it be better quality construction? Or are they simply putting less aside and hoping that nobody notices? Also, a letter to the editor about compliance with state laws on service contracts.
August 8, 2007
Product Warranty Claims, 2003-2006: Signs are emerging that suggest a peak in warranty spending by American manufacturers. Is it better management? Shorter warranties? Or could it be nothing more than sales rising faster than costs? With four years of data to examine, there's evidence for each scenario.
April 11, 2007
Warranty by Industry Sector: While claims grew by 4.9% to $25.1 billion in 2004, warranty's slice of revenue actually shrank a bit as sales grew faster. In some industry sectors, both dollars and percentages actually fell, but computer and automotive OEMs still process the vast majority of all warranty claims.
May 10, 2005
Top 50 Warranty Providers: Manufacturers spent more than $25 billion last year on warranty claims, but sales rose a bit faster, so claims as a percentage of revenue fell slightly. Most of the top 50, however, saw their claims rates fall more.
May 3, 2005