I had a call from a company recently because my Sky TV 12 month warranty was due for renewal.

The call wasn’t from Sky but a 3rd party company offering ‘repair or replace’ cover for the Sky equipment.

I listened to the call and absorbed the information and by the end of the call I was happy to proceed with a policy on the basis that:

1/ I knew the company wasn’t Sky but a 3rd party warranty provider.

Take a look at most buildings & contents policies or car insurance policies with legal cover. The legal cover is generally provided by a 3rd party so this kind of thing is not uncommon.

I keep getting offers to extend my fridge warranty but it’s not Zanussi offering the cover it’s Domestic & General.

2/ The price seemed reasonable (£5.99 per month) based on the information provided about Sky call out charges and replacement equipment.

Call out over £60 and new box as much as £150 so if the box dies in the first 3 years the cover has paid for itself.

3/ The cover doesn’t start until August and I have a 28 day cooling of period when it does so I have plenty of time to find out about it!

I have since researched the web and I called the company directly for a bit of info.

Digital Services (UK) Ltd is the company and they have actually been in business for many years. The customer services representative I spoke to was very helpful and provided me with background on the company and was able to answer questions about the service knowledgeably and without having to ‘ask a supervisor’ or ‘put me on hold while they looked into it’

I searched the internet and on ‘thisismoney.co.uk’ there is quite a detrimental page about Digital Services UK Ltd.

http://boards.thisismoney.co.uk/tim/threadnonInd.jsp?forum=98&thread=83144

It claims they are a scam and only one company is authorised to maintain Sky equipment and using any other company to service the equipment would void the warranty.

So, what about when the warranty ends after 12 months?

It’s a free for all.

Any company can offer warranties for anything.

It’s only a scam when they don’t deliver on their promises or agreements.

I called Sky and they told me they only ‘endorse and recommend’ one company to cover their equipment and that cover was available directly through Sky. So from a business point of view of course that’s the only one they’re going to endorse and recommend! They probably make some money in the process! Business is business.

Sky offer ’SkyProtect’ which is provided by Domestic & General who are a 3rd party warranty provider. In fact, they are the company who keep writing to me about my fridge cover.

I don’t feel as though I’ve been duped or misled and perhaps it could have been more clearly stated that they weren’t Sky when they called, because that seems to confuse people, but beyond that I’m quite happy to give them a go.

The Sky equipment warranty market is a growing one and a competitive one and I’m quite happy to talk to a provider who can protect the equipment after the Sky warranty expires. As far as I know there’s a hard drive in the box and those things don’t last forever!

If you are faced with the dilemma of whether or not you need to have this kind of cover or if you are unsure about the company selling it to you, give them a call on their customer services number. If the service is good and you are happy you will receive a good service then you might think it’s worthwhile.

If you speak to a company and you don’t like the way you are treated or you are unhappy with anything then you have to decide if you want to buy or keep what you have bought.

There should be a ‘cooling off period’ with any insurance contract in which you can cancel without paying for the cover (but the FSA does allow companies to charge an ‘admin’ fee for cancelling so check first).

I thought I’d write this article just to clear up any concerns people might have about 3rd party companies calling them to offer an extended warranty.

I’m not endorsing any company because I have yet to experience the benefits of the cover I have agreed to but one thing I do know is it costs £2.09 less per month than Skyprotect.