On 1st January 2002 a European Directive came into force which provided a blanket two year guarantee period for all �defective moveable consumer goods�. This made the seller liable to either repair or replace the goods, or refund the customer the full purchase price, or provide a price reduction to cover the deficiency (the buyer making the choice of remedy which best suits him).
The UK�s Sale of Goods Act provides no specific time limit within which claims must be made and claims under it are considered on an individual basis. However, it is generally accepted that the �remedy of damages� provision in the Act can apply for up to six years from the date of purchase. In other words, most consumer goods are expected to last for six years.
Because of the EU directive and the Sale of Goods Act, manufacturers� guarantees are largely irrelevant. Also irrelevant (and wastefully expensive) are �Extended Warranties� and similar insurance policies offered by retailers.
In all cases the retailer is liable to remedy any deficiencies and you have no need to register your purchase with the manufacturer. In fact, you don�t even have to have a receipt to seek redress, but it helps considerably as you need to be able to show where the purchase was made, and the receipt is the simplest way of doing this.