Track warranties and big purchases so claims are easy

The washing machine stops spinning eleven months after you bought it. You are fairly sure it is under warranty. Then the search begins: the invoice was an email from a festival sale, the warranty card is in a drawer somewhere, and the service centre wants a serial number from a sticker you cannot reach without moving the machine.

A warranty is only worth something if you can prove it. A few minutes of organising on the day you buy something saves hours — and sometimes thousands of rupees — when it breaks. Here is what to keep, where claims usually go wrong, and a simple system that works for an Indian household.

What to keep for every big purchase

For anything that costs more than you would happily pay to repair, keep four things together:

• The tax invoice — the single most important document. It shows the date of purchase, the seller, the price and usually the model. A plain payment receipt or card slip is often not enough.
• The model number — printed on the box, the invoice or a label on the product.
• The serial number — unique to your unit. Brands use it to confirm the product and its manufacturing date.
• The warranty card or terms — what is covered, for how long, and what is excluded. Many brands now put this online or inside the manual.

If you bought online, download the invoice from your order history the same week. Order histories get cleaned up, accounts get closed, and sellers disappear from marketplaces.

Photograph the serial plate on day one

Serial numbers live in awkward places: behind a refrigerator, under a washing machine lid, on the back of a television that will soon be wall-mounted, under the battery cover of a laptop. Take a clear photo of the rating plate or serial sticker on the day the product is installed, while it is still easy to reach.

Tip: photograph the plate, the box label and the installed product in one go. If the technician later asks for the model, serial or installation date, you have all three without moving anything.

Do the same for the outdoor unit of an air conditioner, which often has its own serial number and sometimes its own warranty on the compressor.

Typical warranty periods for household items

Warranty periods vary by brand, model and even by the sale you bought it in, so treat this table as a rough guide only. Your invoice and warranty card are what count.

Item	Typical product warranty	Common extra coverage
Mobile phone	Often 1 year; check your invoice	Accessories may differ
Laptop	Often 1 year; check your invoice	Battery may differ
Television	Often 1 year; check your invoice	Panel sometimes longer
Refrigerator	Often 1 year; check your invoice	Compressor often longer
Washing machine	Often 1–2 years; check your invoice	Motor sometimes longer
Air conditioner	Often 1 year; check your invoice	Compressor often longer
Water purifier	Often 1 year; check your invoice	Filters usually excluded
Mixer grinder	Often 1–2 years; check your invoice	Motor sometimes longer
Inverter battery	Varies widely; check your invoice	Pro-rata terms common

Notice the third column. Many appliances carry a longer warranty on one key part — a compressor or motor — than on the rest of the product. That is easy to forget, and it is exactly the part that is expensive to replace.

Where warranty claims go wrong

Most refused or delayed claims fall into a handful of patterns:

1. No invoice. Without proof of purchase, the brand may fall back on the manufacturing date from the serial number, which can be months earlier than the day you bought it.
2. Warranty counted from the invoice date, not installation. You bought the AC in February, it was installed in April, and you assumed the warranty started in April. Often it started on the invoice date. Check the terms.
3. Product not registered. Some brands ask you to register the product, or a technician to complete installation, to activate the warranty or an extended component warranty. Do it the week you buy.
4. Excluded parts or causes. Physical damage, voltage fluctuation, consumables like filters and remotes, and repairs by unauthorised technicians are common exclusions.
5. Name or address mismatch. If a relative bought it for you, keep a note of whose name is on the invoice.

Extended warranties and AMCs

At checkout, you will often be offered an extended warranty. Later, the brand may offer an annual maintenance contract (AMC). They are not the same thing:

• An extended warranty usually extends repair coverage beyond the standard period, sometimes from the brand and sometimes from a third party. Read who actually honours it.
• An AMC usually covers scheduled servicing, and sometimes repairs and parts, for a year at a time. Water purifiers and air conditioners are common candidates.

Whether either is worth it is your call. A few questions help you decide: How much would a typical repair cost? How long do you plan to keep the item? Does the plan cover parts, or only labour? Is it from the brand or a third party, and how easy is their claim process? If you buy one, store its certificate alongside the original invoice and note its own end date. An extended warranty you forgot you had is worth nothing.

A checklist before you make a claim

Before you call the service centre or raise a ticket online, gather:

• Tax invoice (PDF or a clear photo)
• Model and serial number, with the plate photo
• Warranty card or terms, and any extended warranty or AMC certificate
• Date of purchase and, if relevant, date of installation
• A short description of the fault and when it started; a video helps
• Registration confirmation, if the brand required one

When you raise the complaint, write down the ticket or complaint number, the date and the name of anyone you spoke to. If a technician visits, note what they did and keep any job sheet. Repeat visits for the same fault are much easier to escalate when you have a record.

Set reminders before warranties expire

The most useful reminder is not on the day the warranty ends but a few weeks before. Rahul and Meera, a couple in Pune, do a quick sweep every quarter: anything with a warranty ending in the next two months gets a once-over. Is the fridge making a new noise? Does the laptop battery drain oddly? If something is borderline, they raise it while it is still covered.

The same sweep is a good moment to decide on AMCs and extended plans — before the standard warranty runs out, when the options are usually still open.

How Rovezi helps

In Rovezi, when you record an itemised purchase, each line can become an item with its model, serial number and warranty-until date, with the receipt attached privately. Later, you can search your items or filter for warranties ending before a date you choose — say, the end of next quarter — so your sweep takes a couple of minutes instead of a hunt through drawers and inboxes.

Because the item is linked to the original transaction, you also have the price and purchase date in one place when the service centre asks. See all the features, or read our post on the real cost of owning a vehicle for keeping vehicle documents in order too. Rovezi is free during early access — create your account from the box below.

This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Warranty terms vary by brand and seller. Names and examples are fictitious.