Leather Guarantee - Terms and Conditions

We hope you never need to read the information on this page! If you do, it’s because you’re experiencing a problem with one of our beautiful Lakeland Leather jackets, handbags, luggage or leather accessories. We are very sorry you’re having problems and hope you’ll bear with us whilst we try and sort things out.

Let us reassure you, we take great care and pride in the design and craftsmanship of our wonderful leather goods. We make sure to use only the best leather materials processed to the highest international manufacturing standards. So whilst you are having a problem with your purchase, this is a rare occurrence: less than 0.1% of everything we make needs any form of aftercare.

This section explains the terms of our Leather Guarantee which covers all our own-brand Lakeland Leather items over their reasonable lifetime, at no additional cost.

A sustainable approach

Our preference is always to repair products as it keeps them in use and away from landfill. If we are able to repair the item, we will not charge any labour or cost of parts.

Please consider the following points when you’re deciding to make a guarantee claim:

• All products will eventually show signs of use, and as such our guarantee does not cover normal wear and tear changes to the appearance of the product. For example, if a press stud breaks on an item that’s heavily used or many years old, it’s usually down to wear and tear rather than a fault. If we can repair issues related to wear and tear then we will, albeit there will be a charge for this, but a replacement will not be offered as it’s probably time to retire your old product for a new one.
• It does not cover change in the colour/shade of leather caused by prolonged exposure to sunlight. All fabrics fade in sunlight, its natural wear and tear.
• Adhesives will naturally dry and break down over time because of age. They’ll deteriorate quicker on items which are likely to get wet or damp through usage. The deterioration of adhesives on items over 5 years old would be considered normal wear and tear and excluded from the guarantee. On slippers and footwear, which have a much harder life, expect adhesives and stitching to deteriorate much quicker; often 12 months.
• The guarantee doesn’t cover accidental damage whether it’s caused by you or someone else. This includes rips, cuts, scuffs, tears, abrasions, and other damage which may puncture the leather. It also excludes spills, splashes, make-up, perfume, deodorant and other odours and stains.
• Straps and linings on bags can break if the item is overloaded. We’ve all done it: stuffed too much in the bag than it was designed to carry. Such damage isn’t covered by the guarantee but should you wish, we will try and repair the item for a charge.
• Your guarantee is valid as original owner of the product. The guarantee is not valid on resale, or transfer of ownership of the product. Nor is it valid on Seconds we sometimes sell-off cheaply through our stores.
• Leather is a natural product and needs the same care and attention as your own skin. So damage caused by neglect or poor aftercare isn’t covered by the guarantee. For example, putting your leather jacket in a washing machine in an attempt to clean it will cause damage not covered by the guarantee.
• Leather as it wears can become fibrous, especially on its edges or key areas of wear (such as cuffs and elbows). The guarantee does not cover such fraying of the leather or associated stitching. In general, wear which is not impeding the use of the product is not covered by the guarantee.
• Developing a patina is a characteristic of leather, not a defect.

Please see the section below on things not to do which will invalidate your Leather Guarantee.

The above list is necessarily long to help avoid unfair claims. Our intention is always to try and help genuine customers with fair and valid claims. When we receive your claim, our product services team will conduct an inspection of the item and if your product is found to have developed a defect, and is within its guarantee period, it will be repaired without charging for parts or labour.

Invalidating your guarantee is a bad thing, so best not to do it

Like all guarantees, the section on exclusions always seems longer than the section on what’s protected! Unfortunately, experience tells us not everyone will care for their leather goods as well as they should. Hopefully, that’s not you!

• As good as our products are, they’re not designed for heavy commercial usage. Nor are they designed for misuse. For example, please don’t wear your luxurious leather fashion gloves for gardening or your beautiful sheepskin slippers for taking the bins out or nipping to the shops!
• Our products are made for normal usage in the manner for which they were designed. So if you misuse the item the Leather Guarantee is invalidated.
• Only original, unaltered and unmodified Lakeland Leather items and workmanship are covered. Resist the urge to self-tailor or repair your item as this will invalidate your guarantee. Likewise, sewing on badges or applying stickers may damage the leather and will invalidate your Guarantee.
• We’ve mentioned it before, but for clarification: your Leather Guarantee does not cover damage caused by accident, improper care, negligence, normal wear and tear, or the natural breakdown of colours and materials over extended time and use. We are very reasonable people and will try our best to repair damage not covered under the Leather Guarantee, but such repairs will be charged to you at our time and materials cost (and we feel that’s fair and reasonable).
• This Leather Guarantee is offered by Lakeland Leather, which reserves the right to withdraw or reasonably amend the terms without notice. Your statutory rights are not affected by this Leather Guarantee.

Look after your leather and our quality guarantee will work for you

Leather is a natural product and needs a little bit of love and attention to ensure it will last for many years. This Leather Guarantee remains valid if you have looked after and cared for the product properly. The use of Lakeland Leather Care & Cleaning products is highly recommended. We’re passionate about leather and want you to enjoy our products for many years to come. As part of our guarantee terms and conditions, as long as you’ve given us your consent, we will contact you from time to time with a friendly reminder to look after your leather. This may be a reminder to reapply protection cream/sprays, or perhaps a suggestion it’s time to apply some leather Revive & Renew cream. You may of course opt-out of these emails whenever you wish – but for the sake of your leather, we hope you don’t!

Example issues covered under our guarantee include manufacturer’s defects with: zippers, buttons, seams, linings, snaps and clasps as well as inherent leather defects.

Leather product reasonable expected lifetime

The information is for guidance purposes only because we will assess each individual item and the applicability of the Leather Guarantee based on different factors such as age, condition and usage.

We expect leather which has been pre-treated with our protection care products and leather which has been cared for during its lifetime, for example by application of our leather care Revive & Renew cream, to last much longer than untreated products.

Below we give some examples of the expected lifetime of products. Our guaranteed product lifespans aren’t set in stone, because we know it depends on many factors, like how often you use it and whether the leather has been properly protected and cared for with our leather care and cleaning treatments. The examples are averages based on our experience of over 65 years making leather goods. We know of sheepskin coats we made in the 60’s still being used today (and we love this as it makes us feel proud of our products). But we’re aware some customers have a more carefree attitude to how they use their leather goods. So an average is the best way to an indication of expected lifetime:

• Suede and Nubuck leathers are less hard-wearing than Aniline and Nappa leathers and have a shorter reasonable average lifetime to those shown above.
• Our Guarantee considers if the item is still usable. For example, if some of the stitching has come undone on your purse after many years constant use, but the item itself still functions normally, then we will consider this normal wear and tear.

How to make a claim

Lakeland Leather products are sold across the world but no matter where you bought your product, help is at hand. In the first instance, please contact the store or website that you bought the product from as they’re best placed to assist you. The guarantee is only applicable for the original owner and further ID or other checks may be requested to confirm your identity as the original purchaser (to whom the guarantee pertains). Registering your guarantee makes life a lot easier and you can do that here.

Should you lose your original purchase information please notify the store from which you purchased the item.

Without exception, if you failed to register your Guarantee within 28 days of purchase, we’ll need the till receipt or original order confirmation email or proof of purchase to accompany any claims or requests made under this Guarantee.

Make a claim in store

Our Lakeland Leather store teams are leather experts and can help you determine if your product is faulty and needs a repair or replacement. You can use our Store Locator to find one of our stores. For tricky leather issues, they’ll contact our Ambleside-based product services team for advice and may need to send the product to them for inspection. This service is provided free of charge if you have registered your guarantee or can provide proof of purchase. If you can’t, don’t worry as we’ll still try and help you but our services may be chargeable (our store teams will advise as required).

Make a claim online

To find out more about whether a repair or replacement is possible, fill in our enquiry form which will go straight to our product services team who will assess your claim using the information you provide.

Repair process

Our policy is to repair rather than replace a faulty item – it’s part of our sustainability program and recognises saving serviceable products from landfill is one small step we can all make to help save the planet!

Some types of repair take much longer than others. For example, if a leather jacket panel is ripped and needs replacing we’ll need to remove the jacket lining, unstitch the ripped panel and manufacture a new replacement panel (ensuring we get a good colour shade match). We then need to reassemble everything. We will advise you an approximate repair time and keep you informed of progress.

Sometimes items are uneconomical to repair. Or the environmental cost of a repair outweighs the benefits of making the repair (we are humble environmental reformers and think carefully about these things!). In such cases, we’ll advise you of the situation and offer a replacement product or a discount note to spend on a new product of your choosing.

Replacement process

If we can’t repair an item under guarantee we will replace the item. In most cases we’ll replace like for like but sometimes this isn’t possible. For example, the jacket style or colour may no longer be in production. In this situation we will offer a suitable alternative style. If there are no equivalent suitable styles we’ll give you a credit note to spend on a new style of your choosing. When determining the value of any credit note we may make an adjustment for wear & tear (see below).

Wear and Tear allowance (avoiding betterment)

All products wear out over time and leather is no different. If replacing an old product which has no direct replacement, we’ll offer you a credit to spend on a new product having first adjusted for wear & tear. This keeps things fair and recognises you have potentially enjoyed many years of usage from the product. If we were to give you 100% of the original purchase price as credit it would leave you in a better position than is justifiable (insurers call this ‘betterment’). We calculate the wear & tear allowance as follows:

• Length of ownership divided by reasonable average expected lifetime
• For example, if you owned a leather jacket 4 years and the reasonable average life is 12 years then the deduction for Wear & Tear is 33% (4/12ths). If you originally paid £300 for the jacket, we’d give you £200 credit towards a replacement style.
• The Wear & Tear percentage may be adjusted depending on how well used the item is relative to its age.