Where to keep warranties, manuals and the receipt

Keep each warranty with its receipt and the manual, filed by the thing they cover, and keep a digital copy somewhere other than the house. Write down the model and serial number and the day the warranty ends. Lost one? Search the maker’s site with the model number. If the terms aren’t there, ask the maker. The receipt exists only where you kept it.

Keep the warranty with its receipt

The FTC’s advice is two lines: “Save a copy of the warranty” and “Save your product receipt with the warranty.” The receipt is the half people lose, and it’s the half a claim needs: “The receipt proves the date you bought the product and that you’re the original product owner” (FTC, Warranties).

A warranty runs from a day it names, often the day you bought the thing or the day it was installed. The receipt or the installer’s invoice is how you show that day.

What to keep for each thing

What to keep	Why
The warranty	It says what’s covered, for how long, and who it covers.
The receipt, or the installer’s invoice	It proves the day you bought it and that you’re the original owner.
The manual	The care schedule, the filter or part sizes, and often the warranty itself are in it.
The model and serial number	A claim, a part order and a recall search all start from them. They’re on a label on the thing.
Proof you registered, if the warranty asks for it	Some limited warranties require it before they pay.
The day the warranty ends	After it, a repair is usually yours to pay.

Do you have to register?

Sometimes. The FTC says a warranty won’t necessarily cover all situations, “and sometimes you’ll have to return a product registration card first to qualify for warranty service” (FTC, Warranties). The rule depends on the kind of warranty. Under federal law, “Requiring customers to return a registration card is an unreasonable duty that is not allowed in a full warranty,” but a limited warranty can ask for it (FTC, Businessperson’s Guide to Federal Warranty Law).

So read the warranty’s first lines for “full” or “limited”, and if it asks you to register, do it and keep the confirmation with the warranty.

To check a thing for recalls, search its brand and model at CPSC Recalls.

Lost the manual or the warranty?

Search the maker’s site with the model number. If the terms aren’t there, ask the maker. The federal rule covers the time before you buy: written warranties on consumer products costing more than $15 must “be available to consumers before they buy,” and a maker may meet it when it chooses to “post the warranty terms for the specific product on an internet website in a clear and conspicuous manner” (FTC, Businessperson’s Guide to Federal Warranty Law).

The receipt is different. If the store has your purchase on file, ask it for a copy. If not, a card statement shows the day and the amount, but not always the model.

Paper, digital or both

Both, and not both in the same house. A copy kept online or with someone you trust survives a fire or a flood at home. How to make a home binder covers where federal guides say to keep the second copy, and what else belongs with these papers.

Before you file a manual away, write the day the thing was installed on its cover. When you sell, the manuals and warranties go to the buyer.

How Homaic does it

In Homaic, each thing keeps its brand, model and serial number, and the day its warranty ends under Warranty until. Your things have an Under warranty view. Save the maker’s manual on a thing and its record shows what the manual says about registering and care, each with the page it’s on. Until you enter the day the warranty ends, it also shows the manual’s warranty term. When Homaic has searched CPSC’s recalls for that brand and model and found none, the record says so, with the day it checked. Forward a receipt or a warranty email to your home’s own address. Nothing reaches the record until you file it. File the warranty with its end date and Homaic adds a to-do for 45 days before it ends.