Are extended warranties on cameras still available ?

Justin Smith

Justin Smith

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Unfortunately I need a new camera and for various reasons it has to be a compact. Bearing in mind the price of them these days (the cheapest Panasonic compact I can find, the TZ99, is nearly £500 ! ) and the fact they breakdown on me so often (or simply need cleaning out) I want an extended warranty. However I seem to be having difficulty finding a seller who also offers said extended warranties. This surprises me somewhat as it always used to be the case that that retailers tried even harder to flog you the extended warranty than the item you have actually bought !
 
With olympus / OM cameras they have a 2 year warranty and then if you register online they give you an extra 6 months on top. They then sell an additional 2.5 years to provide 5 years total for £80 - £180 (I got some warranty for £80 in their sale).

Could be worth considering?
 
I always buy any new kit from Panamoz because they give a three year warranty at no extra charge. Obviously, they're cheaper too - bonus.

Of course, according to many on here, you'll have to become a criminal to do so . . . :coat:
 
Sky said:
I always buy any new kit from Panamoz because they give a three year warranty at no extra charge. Obviously, they're cheaper too - bonus.

Of course, according to many on here, you'll have to become a criminal to do so . . . :coat:
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It will be where I purchase my next FF system from once I have decided between Sony and Canon ...
 
I just go with camera insurance.
 
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realspeed said:
I just go with camera insurance. I am with "eversure camera insurance" who were excellent when I had to make a claim
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But doesn't that only cover loss or accidents rather than repair caused by age or wear and tear ?
 
Brentor said:
Does this cover all types of faults?
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best contact them. it all depends how the fault happened . You may have dropped the camera ;) causing the fault for example. What I would say is don't take out an insurance policy and claim straight away, that to anyone with a brain looks suspicious. I have been insuring my camera gear with them for many many years
 
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Sky said:
I always buy any new kit from Panamoz because they give a three year warranty at no extra charge. Obviously, they're cheaper too - bonus.

Of course, according to many on here, you'll have to become a criminal to do so . . . :coat:
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Yep, definitely a benefit of buying from the likes of Panamoz and Cotswolds (y)
Adamcski said:
It will be where I purchase my next FF system from once I have decided between Sony and Canon ...
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Mirrorless of DSLR?
 
I am sure I state the obvious but perhaps it needs saying?

Insurance is there to protect you from the repair cost of issues due to accidental damage to your property, theft, fire and other risks beyond the owners control.

An extension of warranty is a different form of insurance against the cost repairs due to the failure to function (within the terms of the warranty) because of a fault not caused by misuse or abuse of the product.
 
Adamcski said:
Mirrorless
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Canon have a better option of telephotos imo, but when I was looking into systems Sony was noticeably cheaper for the lenses I wanted.
 
Sky said:
I always buy any new kit from Panamoz because they give a three year warranty at no extra charge. Obviously, they're cheaper too - bonus.

Of course, according to many on here, you'll have to become a criminal to do so . . . :coat:
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I liked the sound of this and looked on their website but they only appear to sell high end cameras and certainly not Panasonic compacts ! Am I doing something wrong ?
 
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ancient_mariner said:
https://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic...etooth-3-lcd-tiltable-touch-screen/p113705768 £469

https://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic...iewfinder-3-lcd-touch-screen-black/p112418512 £399

https://www.johnlewis.com/canon-pow...tooth-3-inch-tiltable-screen-black/p113489720 £430

2 years warranty that can be enhanced.
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I am tempted by that, but am a bit concerned by this :

Add 2 years accidental damage cover?
Protect your item from accidental damage for 2 years, in addition to your product’s standard guarantee.

Does that just mean you get the standard warranty of 2 years (which covers breakdown), and that additional premium will then also cover damage (for those same two years) ?
Is there longer cover one can buy ? We paid extra for that with our washing machine from John Lewis.
 
At a guess, John Lewis would be the best people to answer that question.
 
They have been helpful in the past, although my last JL purchase was 8 years ago.
 
Justin Smith said:
I may try and phone them later ! The problem is phoning most businesses these days is rather frustrating....
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I tried phoning John Lewis, to confirm what the "Protect+" warranty was for (and also how much it would cost to extend it after the first two years), and it was a frustrating experience as I had suspected it would be. The only phone numbers about warranties on the John Lewis website that I could find was actually Domestic & General John Lewis dept, so I phoned them. It took ages to get through and navigating those annoying speech recognition bots but eventually it was confirmed that the "Protect+" is just for accidental damage in conjunction with the JL two year warranty. The guy was helpful enough but could not tell me how much JL or D&G would charge to extend the warranty beyond 2 years and I could not find a JL phone number about warranties to use on their site..... I tried phoning the JL customer services line but gave up after being forced to listen to a load of irrelevant cobblers for what seemed like an hour (but was probably only a few minutes....) and then clicking through multiple menus, then being "encouraged to use their website to find out stuff instead (I'd never have thought of that.....), and that was before even being put in a queue.....
So I then phoned D&G, though even that wasn't straight forward as I was having difficulty finding their phone number on their website..... Anyway, eventually, D&G told me that to extend the warranty beyond the two year period would be about £10 a month !

This is all rather shocking because I bought my present Panasonic TZ70 for £214* in Dec 2021 (the present equiv, the TZ99, is £470 ! ) and the extended warranty through Amazon was £16. The latter was a ridiculously low price as normally it was about £50 (actually through D&G) when I used to buy cameras off Jessops, but even £50 now seems a very good deal !

* If I'd have known what was going to happen to prices I'd have bought a few of them ! ! !
 
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Found photoguard.co.uk online but they don't really do just camera breakdown / damage policies, though it is available as an extra.

Tried GoCompare trying to get a quote for a TZ99 but they only listed a TZ90 for some reason, the cheapest quote for that was £49 a year and it appeared to have an excess of £75 !
 
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Was getting tempted by Cotswold cameras until I read the small print for their warranty :

Terms of Cotswold Cameras 3 year camera and lens warranty
This warranty program is valid for the original purchaser only. It covers all manufacturer's defects. Here are details on what our warranty does not cover: - Physical or non-physical damages, which includes accidents, use of supplies or parts not meeting the product's specifications, misuse of software application, neglect, fire, water, lightning, other acts of nature, or unauthorised product modification, removal, installation and set-up services by any third party, or failure to follow instructions supplied with the product. - Focusing issue for 3rd party lenses - 3rd party lenses (Tamron, Sigma, and Tokina, etc) often require calibration to work correctly with your camera. We do not consider this to be a manufacturer's defect. - Firmware/software issues - We cannot guarantee the firmware version of our products and whether they can be updated. - Wear and tear - We do not consider the following to be manufacturer's defects if they are discovered after 14 days of delivery: sensor dust, viewfinder dust, sensor hot pixel, small dead pixel on the LCD/LED screen, failure of wearable parts through repeated usage, such as connecting/charging ports and battery covers. ii. We have the right to decide whether we will repair, replace, refund, regarding the defective product. iii. The warranty period starts from the day of delivery, as shown on the courier's tracking system. Any defect occurring after the expiration of the warranty period is not accepted. Any issue being reported after the 14 day returns period will be treated as a warranty claim and dealt with accordingly. Your right to a refund expires after this 14 day period.

TBH I am of the view that a warranty that does not cover accidental damage is not really worth that much.
Take my TZ70 with its non working display, it looks like it has been "shattered" but it hasn't as the screen cover (over it) isn't even scratched. But that could just be claimed as drop damage, (it has not, as far as I know, been dropped).
 
No warranty will cover user damage.

Manufacturers would leave themselves wide open to abuse claims.

Pretty sure you've never had a warranty that covers this either.
 
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Does your house insurance cover theft, accidental damage etc?
 
GreenNinja67 said:
No warranty will cover user damage.

Manufacturers would leave themselves wide open to abuse claims.

Pretty sure you've never had a warranty that covers this either.
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The extended warranties I used to take out from Jessops did, though I think they were like the John Lewis one : a breakdown in the first year was covered by the manufacturers one year warranty but in the second two years it was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty. Any "accidental damage" throughout the 3 year period was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty.
That's what I want, no worries, and no arguments over what is a "breakdown" and what is "damage" or "wear and tear".
TBH if I cannot sort this warranty situation I may just try and get a secondhand camera off CEX, though Panasonic compacts seem in short supply on there !
 
Brentor said:
Does your house insurance cover theft, accidental damage etc?
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I believe it does but, ironically, it is doubtful I would claim anyway. I have always taken the view with insurance that it is there for catastrophes only, party because if you claim they could just put the premiums up ! But with a camera a £150 repair is, relatively speaking, a "catastrophe".
 
Justin Smith said:
The extended warranties I used to take out from Jessops did, though I think they were like the John Lewis one : a breakdown in the first year was covered by the manufacturers one year warranty but in the second two years it was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty. Any "accidental damage" throughout the 3 year period was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty.
That's what I want, no worries, and no arguments over what is a "breakdown" and what is "damage" or "wear and tear".
TBH if I cannot sort this warranty situation I may just try and get a secondhand camera off CEX, though Panasonic compacts seem in short supply on there !
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Probably why Jessops failed.
 
Justin Smith said:
I believe it does but, ironically, it is doubtful I would claim anyway. I have always taken the view with insurance that it is there for catastrophes only, party because if you claim they could just put the premiums up ! But with a camera a £150 repair is, relatively speaking, a "catastrophe".
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Personally I never take out extended warranties. I prefer to self insure, but that is just me and my view on risks. I hope you find a suitable policy.
 
Is covering your back a negative attitude?

Someone somewhere is held to have said that "insurance is no substitute for a charmed life", & I subscribe to that.

One day you're going to die. It might even hurt. In that equation, what's a camera?

Let's face the music, & dance as best we can.
 
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I like music but don't dance. Unless I'm VERY drunk, in which case it's more a staggering inability to fall over!
 
Justin Smith said:
The extended warranties I used to take out from Jessops did, though I think they were like the John Lewis one : a breakdown in the first year was covered by the manufacturers one year warranty but in the second two years it was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty. Any "accidental damage" throughout the 3 year period was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty.
That's what I want, no worries, and no arguments over what is a "breakdown" and what is "damage" or "wear and tear".
TBH if I cannot sort this warranty situation I may just try and get a secondhand camera off CEX, though Panasonic compacts seem in short supply on there !
GreenNinja67 said:
Probably why Jessops failed.
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I expect it'd be D&G who would be making any loss actually but if they weren't making any money on the extended warranties why did they always push them then ?

We used to discuss this at work, why are businesses selling extended warranties when, going by my own experience, they must be losing shed loads on them ? We concluded it was because either :
1 - Most people don't use their cameras very much and they don't fail
or
2 - They forget they have an extended warranty
or
3 - They think they'd rather have a new "updated" camera and not bother going to all the trouble of having their existing one repaired, This was particularly the case when cameras were much cheaper than they are now. As I mentioned above my TZ70 cost £214 in Dec 2021, now the Panasonic equiv model (the TZ99) is on sale at John Lewis for £470 (though Cotswold Cameras advertise it at £380).

* particularly the Amazon one ( at only £16 ! ) they had to write the camera off and pay me out for a new one after about two years !

These prices may be of interest, Premier Electronics (Bolsover) who have repaired my cameras (when out of warranty ! ), these are all for a TZ70 and excl the cost of carriage each way :
CCD clean - £48
Lens clean - £100 to £120
New lens - £148
 
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Justin Smith said:
Was getting tempted by Cotswold cameras until I read the small print for their warranty :

Terms of Cotswold Cameras 3 year camera and lens warranty
This warranty program is valid for the original purchaser only. It covers all manufacturer's defects. Here are details on what our warranty does not cover: - Physical or non-physical damages, which includes accidents, use of supplies or parts not meeting the product's specifications, misuse of software application, neglect, fire, water, lightning, other acts of nature, or unauthorised product modification, removal, installation and set-up services by any third party, or failure to follow instructions supplied with the product. - Focusing issue for 3rd party lenses - 3rd party lenses (Tamron, Sigma, and Tokina, etc) often require calibration to work correctly with your camera. We do not consider this to be a manufacturer's defect. - Firmware/software issues - We cannot guarantee the firmware version of our products and whether they can be updated. - Wear and tear - We do not consider the following to be manufacturer's defects if they are discovered after 14 days of delivery: sensor dust, viewfinder dust, sensor hot pixel, small dead pixel on the LCD/LED screen, failure of wearable parts through repeated usage, such as connecting/charging ports and battery covers. ii. We have the right to decide whether we will repair, replace, refund, regarding the defective product. iii. The warranty period starts from the day of delivery, as shown on the courier's tracking system. Any defect occurring after the expiration of the warranty period is not accepted. Any issue being reported after the 14 day returns period will be treated as a warranty claim and dealt with accordingly. Your right to a refund expires after this 14 day period.

TBH I am of the view that a warranty that does not cover accidental damage is not really worth that much.
Take my TZ70 with its non working display, it looks like it has been "shattered" but it hasn't as the screen cover (over it) isn't even scratched. But that could just be claimed as drop damage, (it has not, as far as I know, been dropped).
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Why would you expect any manufacturers warranty to cover accidental damage?

Why do you think a manufacturer should pay for YOUR clumsyness?
 
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ecoleman said:
Why would you expect any manufacturers warranty to cover accidental damage?

Why do you think a manufacturer should pay for YOUR clumsyness?
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I answered that at the top of my post :

The extended warranties I used to take out from Jessops did, though I think they were like the John Lewis one : a breakdown in the first year was covered by the manufacturers one year warranty but in the second two years it was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty. Any "accidental damage" throughout the 3 year period was covered by the extended (D&G) warranty.
That's what I want, no worries, and no arguments over what is a "breakdown" and what is "damage" or "wear and tear".

Having said that when does a manufacturing or design fault become a user damage fault ?
For example dust in the lens, you could argue that if the camera was designed well it wouldn't get dust in the lens or indeed on the sensor. I know the TZ-18 was far more prone to that than the other Panasonic TZ cameras I have had (a TZ-5, TZ-18, TZ-60 and two TZ-70s) as the soddin' thing suffered from that problem far more than any of the others.
The same argument could apply to drop damage, obviously if the camera were dropped from 6ft onto hard concrete no camera should be reasonably expected to survive that, but what about 2 foot onto carpet (lens retracted) ? If it failed after the latter incident is that a design fault ?
 
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In my opinion (without reading every point above) it doesn’t make sense to offer insurance on products which typically are not designed to be repaired, the cost of repairing them is economically unfeasible especially combined with a higher rate of failure.
 
Justin Smith said:
This is all rather shocking because I bought my present Panasonic TZ70 for £214 in Dec 2021 (the present equiv, the TZ99, is £470 ! )
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Did a bit of research on this.
My TZ-60 cost me £250 in 2015 (plus Jessops extra cover warranty at £55 for three years).
The present equivalent the TZ-99 cost £470.
Using the Bank Of England inflation calculator £250 in 2015 is now worth £344 (i.e. the TX-99 is still 26% more expensive, allowing for inflation).
I thought technology was supposed to get cheaper !
The full list (all the basic Panasonic compact with the big zoom) indicates that cameras were tending to get cheaper, but then got much more expensive after 2021 :

TZ-5 = £200 = 2008
TZ-18 = £169 = 2012
TZ-60 = £249 = 2015
TZ-70 = £199 = 2018
TZ-70 (#2) = £214 = 2021
TZ-99 = £470 = 2025
 
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