As we hit the shops in search of a new TV or washer-drier this weekend, research from Barclaycard shows that over half of British shoppers will consider an extended warranty when buying appliances for the home – and spend nearly £4 million in the process. Over 70% of us will never make a claim on the policy.

Ian Barber, spokesperson for Barclaycard comments: “Shoppers should check the benefits on their credit card. Some, including Barclaycard, offer an extra year on top of the manufacturer’s warranty for free. It’s a cheap way of ensuring peace of mind when buying electrical goods.”

The research reveals that shoppers are most likely to purchase an extended warranty for peace of mind (38%). A quarter extend the manufacturer’s warranty because they are worried about repair costs, while one in ten respondents bought one on the advice of sales staff (11%).

Not surprisingly, consumers are more likely to extend the manufacturer’s warranty on high value appliances. The top five appliances that shoppers extend the warranty for are:

Washing machine / Tumble drier (58%)
TV (41%)
Fridge / Freezer (33%)
Video / Camcorder (28%)
Cleaning appliances, e.g. Vacuum cleaner / Iron (19%)

For further information: please call Ian Barber at the Barclaycard Press Office on 01604 251229.

* Amount based on a predicted 50,000 credit card transactions on white and silver goods during 18-21 April 2003, where the shopper would consider taking out an extended warranty, spending on average £77.52

Notes to editors:

Barclaycard is Europe’s leading issuer of credit cards with 12 million cards in circulation world-wide. In the UK, Barclaycard has 9.2 million customers. One in five UK credit cards is a Barclaycard. Barclaycard can be used to pay for goods and services in more than 22 million places in over 200 countries and to withdraw cash from over 600,000 ATMs and banks world-wide

Barclaycard was set up in 1966 and was the UK’s first credit card. The company now employs more than 4,200 people. Barclaycard was the first and is the UK’s leading card services provider on the Internet. More than 1.1 million customers are registered to Barclaycard’s online account services

ICM Research interviewed a random selection of 1001 adults aged 18+ by telephone. Interviews were conducted across the country and results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. The interviews took place between 11 and 13 April 2003