Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Assurant Inc. During the Pandemic: With a major share of the insurance underwriting for both retail appliance, electronics, and mobile protection plans as well as for auto dealer's vehicle service contracts and ancillary plans, the company is a bellwether for a large portion of the extended warranty industry, both in the U.S. and worldwide. And some peculiar things happened to both its revenue and profit rates last year during the pandemic and the lockdowns that resulted.
June 17, 2021
WCM Conference Schedule:  Attendees have some tough choices to make between six different parallel conference tracks. Several continue to repeat the dual themes of warranty fraud detection and the Internet of Things, while many showcase the latest innovations that new technology has to offer to warranty professionals.
March 7, 2019
WCM Opening Keynotes & Closing Panel: For the 15th time, warranty industry professionals are heading to the annual WCM Conference, convening this year in Orlando, Florida. Over the course of three days, industry thought leaders are scheduled to delve deep into topics such as warranty fraud and the Internet of Things.
February 28, 2019
Update on the A-Team of Extended Warranties: In a new burst of merger and acquisition activity, two of the top players in the extended warranty and service contract industry are moving things around. Assurant is buying The Warranty Group, AmTrust is taking itself private, and it's selling half of Warrantech to private equity investors.
January 25, 2018
U.S. Automakers' Warranty Expenses: Because there were so many big recalls in 2014, the amount spent on warranty soared. Last year, things began to get back to normal, but expense rates are still at elevated levels. Nevertheless, unit sales totals smashed a 15-year-old record in 2015.
January 7, 2016
Using the Internet of Things for Warranty Business: Most businesses looks at warranty as an overhead item. Managers are always under pressure to ensure warranty costs stay within limits. They are on the constant lookout for solutions which can help them manage their warranty costs better. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept with many possibilities and something that offers great solutions for reducing warranty costs. This article talks about what points a warranty business should consider before implementing the IoT.
October 29, 2015
Medical Equipment Warranty Report: While most of the companies in this industry have fairly low warranty expense rates, those that deal with either lasers or X-rays see much higher costs. And even those with low costs keep a very thin cushion, so when things go wrong they go very wrong.
April 30, 2015
Twelfth Annual Product Warranty Report: Warranty expenses are once again rising and so are the associated expense rates. Much of that has to do with the increased cost of passenger car recalls, and some of it is caused by the soaring sales of smartphones. But could it be that some of the most successful warranty cost-cutters have let things slip back a little recently?
March 19, 2015
Mining Equipment Warranties: Things haven't been the same for mining equipment warranty expense rates since the recession started, though they're now close to getting back to normal. The problem is that so many of them also make construction equipment, and that market was impacted severely by the downturn.
September 25, 2014
Manufacturing Excursions: When bad things happen to good companies, their warranty expenses soar. External observers can see the numbers, but can't always determine the cause. But sometimes, the numbers merely confirm what's already in the news.
August 1, 2013
Honda & Toyota Warranties: After a couple of bad years, warranty costs at Toyota are getting back to normal. Meanwhile, at Honda, things have never been better, as warranty costs continue to drop.
June 28, 2012
Fixtures, Furniture & Building
Material Warranty Report: Sales have fallen but warranty costs aren't falling as fast. Still, it's not as bad as things in the new home industry, because suppliers can fall back on existing home renovations.
May 26, 2011
Construction Equipment
Warranties: While sales fell in 2008, warranty claims continued to rise well into 2009. So some of the top construction equipment makers saw their claims rates reach all-time highs last year. In the first half of 2010, however, things seem to be getting back to normal.
October 21, 2010
Home Warranty Market Share: While American Home Shield continues to dominate, electrical and water utilities are shaking things up with the growth of their wire and pipe protection services. And despite a continuing multi-year dip in home sales, the home warranty industry set a record this year with $1.5 billion in premiums paid by consumers.
December 22, 2009
Early Warranty Data: While only a few dozen of the hundreds of warranty reporting manufacturers have filed their year end 2008 financial reports so far, very few of these early filings reflect the turmoil one would expect, given the gloom of recent headlines. Are these early filers the exceptions? Or are things really not as bad as they seem?
January 29, 2009
Warranty Claims vs. Accruals: Using a few key warranty metrics, it's becoming easier to tell when a given company is managing its claims and accruals responsibly. It's also becoming easier to tell when things run off the rails, even if a company makes no specific disclosures of a crisis.
November 8, 2006
Warranty Chain Management: After another successful conference, the warranty community has asked for an industry association in addition to the groups already operating. Warranty community builders said positive things. But now the hard work is just beginning.
March 7, 2006
Fixing Things: The best way to measure performance is not just by counting the number of failures or adding up the warranty costs. A better alternative is to measure how the product consumes energy to perform each of its functions, and how successfully it avoids failures caused by energy lost to friction, vibrations, or heat. In short, it's a restatement of the second law of thermodynamics.
May 31, 2005