Can I still complain about a product that broke after a year?
Yes — the seller is liable for material defects appearing within 2 years of delivery. Better still: any defect that shows up in the first year is presumed to have existed at delivery, and it is the seller who must prove otherwise (Civil Obligations Act, Art. 400(9), as amended by NN 126/21, in force 1 January 2022). Two beliefs collapse here: "no receipt, no claim" — gov.hr states plainly that the statute does not make the receipt a condition, any proof of purchase will do; and "once the guarantee expires you have nothing" — the 2-year statutory liability runs independently of any commercial guarantee. And a third, the stubbornest: the presumption is no longer 6 months, it is 1 year.
📋 The rules
- Liability window: 2 years from handover of the goods (Art. 404). For used goods the parties may contractually shorten it to 1 year. The rules apply to consumer contracts concluded from 1 January 2022 (NN 126/21) — earlier purchases fall under the old regime.
- Burden of proof: a defect appearing within 1 year of the transfer of risk is presumed to have existed at delivery unless the seller proves the contrary (Art. 400(9)) — extended from six months by NN 126/21. Business-to-business contracts keep 6 months (Art. 400(10)); for goods with digital elements supplied continuously, the seller carries the burden for 2 years (Art. 400(11)).
- Hierarchy of remedies (Art. 410): first you choose repair or replacement — free of charge, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, with the seller bearing the cost of collection, materials, removal and re-installation (Art. 410.a). Only if that fails, is refused, or the defect persists do you get a price reduction or termination with a refund. There is no termination for an insignificant defect, and it is the seller who must prove the defect is insignificant (Art. 410(7)–(8)).
- Deadlines and paperwork: notify the seller within 2 months of discovering the defect. A receipt is not a legal condition (gov.hr) — a card statement, a guarantee card or the trader's own records prove the purchase just as well. The trader must answer a written complaint within 15 days (ZZP Art. 10).
- Cost of an expert report: a defect appearing in year 1 — the trader advances the cost; between year 1 and year 2 — the consumer advances it; whoever loses on the expert's findings pays it finally (ZZP Art. 47(5) and 47(9)). A commercial guarantee is a voluntary extra that binds according to the guarantee statement and the advertising, must be given on a durable medium at the latest at handover, and can never cut your statutory rights (Art. 423–425).
🔓 Exceptions
- Defects you were specifically told about and expressly, separately accepted when contracting are not defects at all (Art. 401(4)) — think marked display models and goods openly sold as "seconds".
- Used goods with a validly agreed 1-year liability period: a defect surfacing after that year is out of time. But the clause must actually be agreed, not merely printed on the receipt — terms less favourable than the statute are void (ZZP Art. 45), except where the Civil Obligations Act itself permits the reduction.
- Ordinary wear and tear, damage you caused yourself, and defects arising solely because you failed to install supplied updates on goods with digital elements (Art. 401.a(3)) are not covered. After the first year the presumption flips: now you must show the defect is inherent, usually through an expert report you pre-fund.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
For the trader: refusing to accept complaints, missing the 15-day reply deadline, or refusing to advance the year-one expert costs are ZZP misdemeanours — NN 19/22 (Art. 138) sets HRK 10,000–100,000 for a legal person (≈ EUR 1,327–13,272 at the fixed rate of 7.53450; the statute still writes these in kuna), and media report NN 59/26 raised the range to EUR 1,500–50,000 (not verified in the NN text). Reporting a trader to the State Inspectorate is free. Your hidden cost: whoever loses the expert report ultimately pays for it — and after year one you also advance it, so demand one in writing only when you are confident the defect is inherent rather than wear.
📎 Official sources
- narodne-novine.nn.hr · front page of the official gazette — the 2021 Civil Obligations Act amendment (NN 126/21) is published here →
- gov.hr · front page of the central government portal — complaints about defective goods →
- zakon.hr · front page of the statute register — look up the Consumer Protection Act →
❓ Frequently asked
I lost the receipt. Is my claim dead?
No: gov.hr states expressly that no statute conditions a defect claim on producing the receipt, which merely makes proof easier. A card statement, a guarantee card or the trader's own sales records will do the same job.
The trader says he is only liable for six months without proof. Is he right?
He is not — that was the regime before 1 January 2022. Since the amendment NN 126/21 the presumption in the consumer's favour lasts a full year, and six months survives only for contracts between businesses.
Can I demand my money back instead of a repair?
Usually not: the law first gives you a choice between repair and replacement, and a price reduction or termination only follows if that fails, is refused, or the defect persists. For an insignificant defect, termination is not available at all.
My guarantee expired after a year. Do I still have rights?
You do: a commercial guarantee is a voluntary extra from the maker or seller, and its expiry does not shorten the two-year statutory liability for defects. After a replacement or a substantial repair, the guarantee period even starts again.
Who pays the expert if we disagree about the cause?
In the first year the trader advances the cost of the expert report, and between the first and second year you do. The final bill lands on whoever loses on the expert's findings, so it is worth asking for one only with a real case.
🔎 Common searches
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