Ramsey Industries should win for Innovative Product Design for fundamentally redesigning the warranty proposition around its industrial equipment portfolio, including Auto Crane, Ramsey Winch, and Eskridge. Its new program provides an 18-month standard warranty while allowing customers to unlock an additional 18 months simply by registering their product online, creating up to 36 months of coverage at no additional cost. The innovation goes beyond the coverage itself by connecting warranty activation to a unified digital registration experience, personalized customer dashboards, product resources, and real-time warranty information. By combining enhanced protection with digital engagement and making the warranty transferable once within specified conditions, Ramsey is using product design to strengthen customer value, simplify ownership, and reinforce confidence in its equipment.
SureBright should be recognized for reimagining product protection as a highly customizable, digitally embedded experience that can be offered across more than 60 product categories. Its innovative model combines extended warranty, accidental damage, shipping protection, and whole-system coverage, while AI- powered product qualification can instantly generate coverage and pricing for virtually unlimited SKUs. SureBright’s ability to integrate protection directly into e- commerce and retail journeys—with rapid onboarding, customized customer interfaces, and flexible coverage—makes the warranty feel like a natural part of the purchase rather than an afterthought. Its continued expansion of protection options, including its “buy it anywhere” model covering purchases from major retailers, demonstrates a particularly innovative approach to making warranties more accessible and relevant to modern consumers.
VinFast demonstrates strong warranty expertise by extending its industry-leading warranty protection into the pre-owned EV market through a dedicated Certified Pre-Owned Program, offering buyers the remaining balance of its 10- year/125,000-mile vehicle warranty and 10-year battery warranty. By pairing this substantial coverage with a rigorous 105-point inspection, battery performance evaluation, transparent vehicle history, digital inspection records, and 24/7 roadside assistance, VinFast creates a comprehensive protection and ownership experience for CPO customers. The program also uses warranty strategically to strengthen consumer confidence in pre-owned EVs, support residual values for existing owners, and differentiate VinFast as one of the few pure-play EV manufacturers offering dedicated certified pre-owned coverage in the U.S.
CARS Protection Plus demonstrates forward-thinking warranty expertise by integrating AI-powered Warranty Decision Intelligence directly into its claims administration workflow to make claims decisions faster, more consistent, transparent, and auditable. By bringing contract terms, coverage, vehicle and repair details, parts and labor information, and prior claim history together at the point of decision, the company is empowering adjusters with actionable intelligence while automating routine notifications and reducing manual work for repair facilities. The deployment—completed in under three months—shows CARS Protection Plus’s commitment to using advanced technology not simply to automate claims, but to improve decision quality, adjuster productivity, partner communication, and the overall customer claims experience.
Kerper Bowron demonstrates exceptional warranty industry expertise through the development of the patent-pending Kerper Bowron Method, a data-driven approach that replaces traditional aggregate earning curves with contract-level, month-by-month projections of expected claims, cancellations, and cash flows. By combining actuarial science, millions of data points, proprietary algorithms, and modern accounting standards, the methodology gives service contract providers, reinsurers, and financial institutions unprecedented visibility into risk, reserves, revenue recognition, and capital requirements. This innovation has the potential to fundamentally transform service contract accounting and risk management by replacing decades-old estimation practices with a more precise, transparent, automated, and actionable model that enables better pricing, product development, compliance, and capital deployment.
Triciti should be recognized for its patented automatic product-registration technology, which transforms the simple removal of a small label into a data- capture event with virtually no customer participation. By leveraging Wi-Fi, cellular, and satellite connectivity, the technology can capture product, owner, location, and installer information, potentially enabling OEMs to dramatically increase registration rates and gain the first-party data needed for recalls, service, marketing, accessories, and future product development. Triciti also addresses a longstanding challenge in the warranty ecosystem by creating a registration process that can work through installers, helping manufacturers establish relationships with customers who might otherwise remain invisible after purchase. By replacing a cumbersome, customer-dependent registration process with an almost effortless technology-enabled experience, Triciti is creating a new foundation for warranty administration and the broader OEM customer relationship.
American Home Shield merits recognition for customer service excellence through its scale, established service infrastructure, and continued focus on making the claims and repair process more convenient for homeowners. By combining digital tools, responsive claims support, and a nationwide network of service professionals, AHS is working to turn a potentially stressful home repair into a more predictable customer experience. Its unique strength is delivering that customer experience at tremendous national scale while continuing to evolve its service and digital capabilities, demonstrating how a large warranty provider can use innovation to make customer care more consistent and accessible.
Assurant should be recognized for customer service excellence for its ability to deliver warranty and protection solutions across complex, high-volume consumer ecosystems while maintaining a strong focus on customer needs. Its use of technology, data, and integrated service capabilities enables more personalized support, streamlined claims experiences, and greater value throughout the customer lifecycle. What sets Assurant apart is its ability to embed protection and customer support seamlessly into the products and services consumers already use, creating a more connected, convenient experience that extends well beyond traditional warranty interactions.
Cinch Home Services should be recognized for customer service excellence for its focus on simplifying the home warranty experience and helping homeowners navigate repairs with greater ease and confidence. Its emphasis on responsive claims support, streamlined service coordination, and a broad network of qualified service professionals demonstrates a commitment to delivering a more reliable experience when customers need help most. What makes Cinch’s approach unique is its focus on combining personalized customer support with a simpler, less frustrating claims and service experience—an approach that deserves recognition for putting the homeowner at the center of the warranty journey.
Claimlane should be recognized for operational excellence for creating a centralized platform that brings warranty claims, returns, repairs, registrations, supplier collaboration, and customer communications into a single workflow. Its automation and AI capabilities can collect complete claim information upfront, intelligently route cases, recommend or execute resolutions, and automate actions such as refunds, replacements, shipping, and customer updates. The platform also provides analytics that can identify recurring product failures and feed insights back to manufacturers and suppliers, turning warranty data into an operational improvement tool rather than simply a claims record. By eliminating fragmented processes and reducing the manual work required to manage complex warranty operations, Claimlane is helping organizations resolve cases faster while creating greater visibility and accountability across the entire post- purchase ecosystem.
Ford demonstrates a proactive, data-driven approach to warranty quality by transforming warranty and recall insights into a continuous manufacturing improvement process through daily engine teardowns at its manufacturing plants. By combining full engine disassembly, failure-mode testing, and AI-driven selection of production units for analysis, Ford is identifying potential defects and emerging failure patterns before they reach customers rather than relying primarily on warranty claims and recalls to reveal problems after the fact. Early results showing declines in warranty claims and recall rates demonstrate how Ford is using warranty intelligence not simply to manage costs and repairs, but to strengthen engineering, manufacturing quality, and customer reliability at the source.
WarrCloud should be recognized for operational performance and administrative excellence for fundamentally changing how automotive dealerships process warranty claims through AI-powered automation. Its platform extracts repair- order data from dealership management systems, validates claims, applies OEM- specific rules and allowances, and submits claims automatically—reducing manual processing, errors, and payment delays. The company reports that dealerships using WarrCloud have achieved a 60% reduction in warranty processing costs, a 15.1% increase in warranty billings, and significantly faster claim submission. By turning a traditionally labor-intensive administrative function into a scalable, automated operation, WarrCloud is delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, profitability, and service-department performance.
Mark Nagelvoort should be recognized as a Warranty Industry Champion for his leadership and sustained contribution to advancing the vehicle service contract and F&I industry through his work with PCMI. His leadership at PCMI has helped drive technology innovation and modernization across the service contract lifecycle, enabling providers, administrators, dealers, and other industry stakeholders to operate more efficiently and effectively. He has demonstrated a strong ability to anticipate industry needs and translate emerging technology into practical solutions that improve administration, connectivity, reporting, and the overall service contract experience.
Jeffrey Strickland should be recognized as a Warranty Industry Champion for his extensive leadership across the automotive, F&I, and vehicle protection industries and his role in advancing Assurant’s global automotive business. His work has helped shape innovative vehicle protection solutions and dealer strategies that serve millions of vehicle owners while responding to the evolving needs of dealers and consumers. With decades of experience spanning automotive retail, digital transformation, and service contracts, he brings a rare combination of industry knowledge, strategic vision, and operational leadership. His ability to influence the industry at scale while continually advancing the role of vehicle protection makes him a highly deserving Warranty Industry Champion.
Karl Wiley should be recognized as a Warranty Industry Champion for his leadership in transforming consumer protection plans into a seamless, technology-enabled part of the modern retail and ownership experience. As President and CEO of Allstate Protection Plans, he leads a business that protects millions of consumers across smartphones, electronics, appliances, furniture, and other products, giving him a broad and influential role in the evolution of the protection-plan industry. His leadership reflects a focus on innovation, customer experience, and making protection more accessible and relevant throughout the consumer lifecycle, rather than treating warranties as a transactional add-on. By helping advance the protection-plan model across a diverse range of consumer products and experiences, Wiley has made a significant contribution to the growth and modernization of the broader warranty industry.
Warranty Warranty Innovation Awards are peer-nominated industry awards to recognize and showcase innovation and excellence in the warranty and extended warranty/service contract industries.
© Warranty Innovation Awards. All Rights Reserved. Designed by SSN Web Solutions