Prorated Warranty

A typical structure is 10 years full coverage followed by 15 years prorated, often advertised as a '25-year warranty'. In the prorated phase you pay a percentage of the original purchase price that rises each year — commonly 5 to 10 percentage points annually.

The practical effect is that late-life claims are rarely worth filing. At year 18 of a 25-year policy you might owe 80% of the original price for a replacement, which is usually more than a comparable new mattress costs after a holiday discount.

Compare the full-coverage window, not the headline number. A straight 10-year non-prorated warranty is worth more than a 25-year policy with 10 years of full coverage, despite sounding shorter.

Every warranty of either type requires proof of proper support — usually slats no more than 3 inches apart or a centre-supported foundation — and voids on stains, so use a protector and keep the receipt.

Under a prorated warranty the manufacturer's liability shrinks each year while yours grows. A '25-year warranty, 10 years full' means that after year ten you may be paying 60% or more of the replacement cost — a discount on a new mattress rather than coverage of a failed one.

Compare warranties on the non-prorated span alone; everything after it is marketing length. A 10-year fully non-prorated warranty is meaningfully better than a 25-year warranty with 5 non-prorated years, even though the second number looks four times as impressive on the product page.