Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Warranty Claims & Reserves, Part 1: Using three metrics: claims, reserves, and sales, we can calculate which industries and even which individual companies are over or under the averages for both their spending on claims and the capacity of their reserve funds. And by charting the results, we can see which companies, industries or manufacturing sectors have the most consistent warranty expenses.
February 6, 2020
Warranty Claims & Accrual Rates: Among the seven largest warranty-providing industries, only a few have a consistent history of reducing warranty expense rates. Instead, most have seen their claims and accrual rates both rise and fall over the past 15 years, and a few have even seen sustained increases in their warranty costs.
March 29, 2018
Global Construction Equipment Warranties: Half the companies report warranty expense rates that range from 1.0% to 2.3%. The other half are either above or below that range, mainly because most of their revenue and therefore most of their warranty costs come from other industries. And though there's been a few anomalies over the past 13 years, most of these manufacturers report steady and consistent warranty expenses.
July 14, 2016
Extended Warranty Image Problems, Part 1: Service contract professionals, their customers, and the media can't seem to agree on what to call these warranty extensions. And the terms the experts prefer to use are far from the most popular. Even the regulators aren't very consistent with their language and terminology.
September 19, 2013
Homebuilders' Warranty Accruals: Rather than looking at warranty costs as a percentage of sales, would it be valid to calculate warranty costs per home? Using such a metric makes some homebuilders look very precise and consistent, while others look like they're just guessing how much to accrue per home.
April 23, 2009
Five-Year Warranty Trends, Part Two: While several of the biggest warranty spenders have compiled remarkably consistent results since 2003 in terms of the percentage of revenue they spend on warranty work, others have managed to reduce their costs considerably over time. And then there are the handful that saw costs rise by remarkably high amounts.
April 2, 2008
Warranty Reserves: Over time, both companies and industries make consistent choices regarding how much revenue to put aside to fund future warranty claims, reflecting the outlook of their forecasters.
May 9, 2006
Warranty Claims by Industry: Over the past ten quarters, warranty claims patterns have remained remarkably consistent in numerous industries. Those closest to consumers in the supply chain seem to experience the highest claims rates.
September 7, 2005
Warranty Claims & Accruals: Ten quarters of data for the top ten U.S.-based warranty providers show just how variable and seasonal claims rates can be for some companies and how consistent they've been for others.
August 23, 2005