Wisemans Plc, a 25-year-old insurance and warranty company based in Ashford, Middlesex, has launched an extended warranty agreement aimed specifically at personal computer users essentially a single premium insurance policy. Restart extends a manufacturer’s warranty by two or four years, and is underwritten by the Department of Trade & Industry approved-London General Insurance Company, UK arm of the US AON Corp. Bull HN Information Systems is also involved in the new venture, and is to provide on-site or return-to-base repair services from 13 centres throughout the UK. Wisemans says that Bull can cover approximately 85% of equipment currently being sold, but the company would be happy to appoint other support organisations so long as they can meet technical and contractual requirements. Apart from the fact that insurance policies are exempt from Value Added Tax, unlike manufacturers’ maintenance agreements, Wisemans claims that the cost benefits to the user will be considerable. It cites the example of a UKP2,000 80286-based personal computer that would cost between UKP400 and UKP640 to maintain for two years following the one year warranty. Wisemans says that the cost of Restart over the same period would be UKP200. The company will only provide extended warranty where it is certain that it can support the machine, and if the situation did arise that components were no longer available, it would replace the machine or components to the value of its original cost. The UK has been divided up into 10 areas, and Wisemans has appointed some 40 dealers so far, but it is actively seeking to increase this number. Dealers will be awarded a minimum commission of 10% on the value of the premium, and this increases according to volume sales and processor type. A credit facility, which will enable users to stagger payments over a one year period at approximately 6% to 8% interest is also to be introduced in the next four weeks.
