Retailers kept waiting for DTI decision on warranties sales

Electricals retailers face a 10-week cliffhanger as they wait for the Department of Trade and Industry's decision on how extended warranties are sold following a probe by the Competition Commission.

The inquiry aimed to establish whether retailers were acting against the public interest in the selling of extended warranties - insurance policies sold with electrical products.

If the Commission has decided this to be the case, the DTI may curb retailers' activities with obligations, such as extra point-of-sale information.

Last May, the Commission identified 23 retailers that sell extended warranties, including Dixons and Comet, as party to a complex monopoly.