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I pay £7.65 per month to insure my washing machine. It is a Zanussi and is now 9 years old. It broke down a lot in the first few years, so the insurance was worth having. Problem is you get to the point where you have paid so much out in insurance that you are reluctant to stop as it could go wrong any minute and they will replace it with a new one if it is unrepairable.

But it is old, noisy and smelly and doesn't wash well and I really, really want a new one. Friday morning it stopped working, but had washing in it. I managed to get the washing out and that just left a load of dirty water. So it has sat there for 4 days and today the insurance company sent someone to look at it. I was praying it would be terminal, but no, it is just the door lock. So he fitted a new one, it worked and he drained it. I said it was noisy and he said the bearings and brushes are old but still working at the moment. So I thought oh well at least I can get on with some washing, except he then discovered the lock he had fitted wasn't the right one, so he had to take it out and order another one, and they will ring when it is in stock. So I still don't have a washing machine.

He said insurance companies are reluctant to replace machines they would rather them keep being repaired and unfortunately Zanussi have very good stocks of parts. If it was replaced all I would get is the newest version of a comparable Zanussi model, which retails at £239.

Thing is I called in to my friendly electrical shop today and she had an LG that was on sale for £529 that she said I could have for £450. I have always wanted a lovely silent LG, but that is a lot of money.

What sort of washing machines do you have and do you think spending more buys better?

Nope, simpler the better
And I'd never, ever pay for the insurance

Mine's an Indesit washer/dryer - at Bb's flat there was no outside space - bought 11 years ago for not much more than £200, still fine - and has a 30-minute fast wash

I honestly think, like Di, that insurance is a waste of time. New washers can be bought pretty cheaply, usually, and the newer ones are more economical to run. My newish one also has a 30 minute daily wash cycle, brilliant! My old LG took forever to wash anything It was over technical, too complicated for its own good.......

I would bin your knackered one, buy a decent but cheapish one in a sale somewhere and forget insurance

So what do you wash on a daily 30 minute cycle?

I use a 30 degree quick wash that takes 38 mins for delicates. Most stuff I wash at 40 on a synthetics programme that takes about an hour.

My towels I wash on 60 intensive and that takes 2 hours

Bedding I wash on 50 and that takes about 90 mins

Anything not really dirty - all t-shirts, tops, jumpers in the winter, socks, all sorts.
If it's not a full load, 30 with liquid wash stuff - it all comes out fine

Almost everything else (and if it's a full load) no.7, which is a 40 degree and takes 75 minutes - including bedding.
Towels I do sometimes on that, sometimes on a hotter one that take a couple of hours.

The wife and I have been married now 34 years and we got when newly married a Hotpoint washer(W), a tumble drier(T), and a dishwasher (all at the same time and got a great discount

These first 3 lasted W, 12 years, T,14 years, dishwasher still going but odd man out so replaced with the drier, they all cost about £220-250.

The replacements also lasted a similar length of time the washers have gone first each time because they got the most use I guess they were about £250 each.

We are now on the third set of machines still all going strong after about 8-10 years. Hotpoint to have always given a free 5 year guarentee on all parts so all you pay is the call out fee.These three cost the same as the second three.

We hope to move this year to a bungalow, and have decided to leave these here for the kids to use and buy all new for ourselves.

I live in the hope that they will all last at least as long maybe longer with less use than these currently get, they might even outlast me.

So my recommendation is HOTPOINT all the way.

Manxie xx

Manxie good news on the move, I think it will be a lot more convenient for you in many ways (((x)))

Shell my old LG took hours to wash anything, I dread to think how much electric it used My new one is a Beko, it was really cheap in a sale, under £200 and it is fab!! The quick daily wash only takes 30 mins at 30 degrees, 40 odd at 40 degrees, and roughly an hour at 60! The only things I don't wash on that shorter cycle are towels and bedding, they go on a different programme that takes about 90 minutes......even Harry's mucky white socks will wash beautifully at 40 with a scoop of vanish white added

It is so liberating being able to pop in a wash when I get up, get that out an hour in under an later and then if needed I can do another wash before I go out late morning With the LG unless I got up at the crack of dawn to put the machine on sometimes my washing wouldn't be ready to peg put until lunchtime!

The fact it was so cheap means we don't feel we have to take out insurance, as we'd just bin it if it broke and M couldn't fix it The LG was so pricey we felt duty bound to insure it, which we did with D&G xxxx

I have a whirlpool, and I fix it myself. Thankyou you tube. Haven't bought a part yet. but, I think think pump is on the way out. Really should google that to see if there is any maintenance I can do on it before it does clap out. I have a 1hour daily load which everything gets done with, or a 30 min wash that u use when time is tight. It always seems to come out alright, so I really should use it more often.

I've been through the phase of wanting a top loader, but apart from the door lock on a front loader where the top loader wins as you can add to the wash, everything else the front loader wins on.

Front loaders are the norm here, we don't get those big top loaders you seem to get in NZ, and also in the States Probably as few houses have room for a laundry room, and even a small off-kitchen utility is a bit of a luxury

i have a beko brought about 7 years ago after my zannussi gave up the ghost

i never have insurance for any white goods it works out cheaper to buy new
only problem this model doesent do a quick wash
i mostly do a 1 hr 40 degree wash and an ocassional 60 degree one