Warranties
Fortis ® are a leading manufacturer of stab vests and ballistic vests to local authorities, the NHS, government departments and blue-chip companies. We work at the cutting edge of technology, and our body armour is the lightest, most flexible and therefore most comfortable in the industry, whilst still meeting all Home Office & CE Mark standards.
Lifetime international repair service
Fortis Body Armour is fully guaranteed.
If damage occurs to the armour panels (not covers) during an on-duty confrontation with sharp instruments, we will repair them free of charge. Simply enclose the original police reports stating that your Fortis Body Armour protected you, explaining how the damage occurred. (Customers are responsible for all shipping costs). If any components are damaged due to neglect, misuse or abuse, the above guarantees are null and void.
The Warranty Period
Stab & Spike Resistant Vests
The Warranty Period on our Fortis® KR1/SP1 stab and spike protective vests is 5 years, after which period of time it should be replaced.
Multi-Purpose (Ballistic, Stab & Spike Resistant Vests)
Armour that is multi-purpose (that is, handgun, knife and spike resistant HG1/KR1/SP1 or higher) carries an initial 5-year warranty.
We have a duty of care and a responsibility to the users of our products – as do our material suppliers – as do you - and we know that over a period of time the efficiency and performance of any material will tail off. That decay will be gradual, not seismic, but there WILL be a fall-off in performance. We build in to our calculation’s massive safety margins and, to cover everyone in the chain, from the raw material supplier right the way through to the end user, we, (as do all reputable body armour manufacturers) stipulate a ‘best before’ date.
How long is the Fortis vest warranty & when should armour be replaced?
Fortis provides an initial warranty for all soft armour panels against all defects of design, materials and/or workmanship other than caused by fair wear and tear for a period of five (5) years from the date of delivery. The carriers are warranted for 12 months and should be replaced as needed. The warranty is null and void if improper care, misuse or neglect occurs. See Warranty information for exact details.
Each unit of body armour is made up of two parts: the protective panels and the carrier. The protective panels can be broken down into two types:
1. KR1/SP1 panels. These panels are Knife & Spike (resistant to knife, stab, spike, hypodermic, slash & blunt trauma), where ‘KR’ denotes knife resistant and ‘SP’ denotes spike resistant. Knife/Spike protective panels are identified by a red triangle on the armour panel and are warranted for five years; a replacement is recommended at the end of that period.
2. HG1/KR1/SP1 or HG2/KR2/SP2 panels. These panels are Multi-Purpose (resistant to ballistic, knife, stab, spike, hypodermic, shrapnel, blunt trauma and slash), where ‘HG’ stands for handgun round resistant, ‘KR’ stand for knife resistant and ‘SP’ stands for spike resistant.
Multi-purpose protective panels are identified by a green square on the armour panel. These panels are initially warranted for five years.
The carriers are warranted for 12 months and should be replaced as needed. The warranty is null and void if improper care, misuse or neglect occurs. See Warranty information for exact details.
The protective panels don’t just ‘stop working’ at the end of warranty period, but there may be a tail off of performance which may mean that the protective panel fails to achieve the level of protection against the particular threat level.
As a responsible employer, you have a duty of care to your employees to ensure that any protective equipment supplied to them (and this includes body armour) continues to meet the warranty requirements laid down by the equipment manufacturer.
