The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act requires that every warranty on consumer products that cost more than $10 include a title which "clearly and conspicuously" indicates whether the warranty is "full" or "limited." (The Act calls these titles "designations.") The title provides consumers, at a glance, with a key to some of the important terms and conditions of a warranty.
The title "full warranty" is a shorthand message to consumers that the coverage meets certain standards for comprehensive warranty coverage set by Congress. By the same token, the title "limited warranty" alerts consumers that the coverage does not meet at least one of the standards which Congress set.
How to Determine Whether Your Warranty is"Full" or "Limited"
Determining whether your warranty is a "full" or "limited" warranty
is not difficult. Basically, if each of the following five statements is true about
your warrant's terms and conditions, your warranty is a full one:
- You will provide warranty service to anyone who owns your product during the warranty period.
- You will provide warranty service free of any charge, including such costs as returning the product or removing or reinstalling the product when necessary.
- You will provide, at the consumer's choice, either a replacement or a full refund if you are unable, after a reasonable number of tries, to repair your product.
- You will provide warranty service without requiring that consumer return a warranty registration card.
- You will not limit the duration of implied warranties.
If any of these statements I not true, then your warranty is limited.
If the statements are true about the coverage on only some parts of your product, or if the statements are true about the coverage during only one part of the warranty period, then your warranty is a multiple warranty which part full and part limited. Special considerations apply to multiple warranties which are part full and part limited. These are discussed later in this manual.
How to Make the Title Useful to Your Customers
Remember that the purpose of the warranty title is to provide consumers with a quick
way to evaluate warranty coverage. Make the title prominent and easy to understand by
including only essential information and by setting it off from the text.
Include Only Essential Information. What is essential varies according to whether the warranty is full, limited, or part full and part limited. In any case, avoid unnecessary words that clutter up the title and make it difficult for customers to take in the essential information quickly.
Titling a Full Warranty. The title for a full warranty should include only:
- the words "full" and "warranty"
- a phrase that describes the period of coverage; and
- a phrase that indicates what parts or problems the coverage includes.
If your full warranty does not cover all of the parts of your product or all types of defects, the title should inform consumers of that fact. Otherwise, the title may mislead consumers about the extent of the coverage. For example, if a company offers a full warranty on all parts of its water heater for a year, then the following title lets consumers know quickly what the warranty covers:
Full One-Year Warranty on the X-L Water Heater
However, if the full warranty covers only the glass tank liner, but not the heating element, this title does not let consumers know that the warranty contains significant restrictions. A better title for that warranty would indicate the restriction in coverage. For example:
Full One-Year Warranty on the Glass Liner of the X-L Water Heater
Keep the description of the parts or problems that the warranty covers as short and simple as possible. If you cannot state description briefly, use a summary phrase like "on certain parts only" and include a detailed statement of the limitations in the body of the warranty.
Titling a Limited Warranty. The title for a limited warranty should include only the phrase "limited warranty." You should not include the duration of coverage in the title of a limited warranty. This can mislead consumers in to assuming that the word "limited" refers only to a limitation on the period of coverage. It is better to use just the phrase "limited warranty" and let consumers read about both the period of coverage and all restrictions on the coverage in the text.
Titling a Multiple Warranty. In some multiple warranties, the coverage on some parts is full while the coverage on other parts is limited, or there is full coverage during one period and not during another. In such cases you can either title the entire warranty "limited," or you can use both titles in your warrant -- "full" for the full portion of the warranty and "limited" for the limited portion.
In titling the full portion of a multiple warranty that also contains a limited portion, use the guidelines for titling a full warranty as indicated above.
The title for the limited portion of a multiple warranty that is part full and part limited needs more than just the phrase "limited warranty." The title should make it easy for customers to understand the differences in coverage between the full and the limited portions of the warranty.
To do this, the title of the limited portion of such a warranty should indicate:
- how the time period of the limited portion is related to the time period of the full portion; and
- which parts or problems are within the coverage of the limited portion.
Titling a Pro Rata Warranty. If your warranty is a pro rata warranty, you can simply title it "limited warranty." However, if your pro rata warranty includes an initial period of full coverage, you may want to title the full portion "full" and the remaining portion "limited."
Make the Title Prominent. To be useful and to comply with the law, the title should be prominent. There are a number of ways to do this. Place the title at the head of your document. Include blank (white) space around the title to make it stand out. You should use a typesize for the title which larger than the typesize for the text. You should also use the same typesize, typeface, color, and layout for all the words in the title to assure that each word carries the same visual weight.
When your warranty needs more than one title, all of the titles can appear at the head of the warranty document. or each title can appear directly about the portion of the warranty to which it refers.
