The warranty policy provided by Novatec EU located in Slovakia complies with European Union directive and that is 2 years coverage from the date of purchase. For further details about Novatec warranty policy in general you can read the pdf file in Documents section. Some other countries might have adopted this directive just partially so be cautious when purchasing from other official Novatec distributors in EU and double check this matter with them prior to purchasing the goods. This way you can avoid some unwanted complications. You need to understand one important fact about Novatec EU branch. Their office and warehouse is here to support sales and after sale service in countries without official Novatec distributor. So in case of warranty claim issues, please contact the distributor first, then Novatec EU if such distributor is not available.   

In general, there are several possibilities that can occur, like this:

1. You are an end-user (consumer) and you’ve bought let’s say a Novatec hub directly from Novatec EU warehouse (either through their e-shop or by placing your order by email). So if hub axle gets broken for instance within 2 years’ time, you can make an official claim with Novatec EU and most likely you’ll receive a new one as replacement for the broken axle. Of course, you’ll have to fill in a claim form, send some photos of broken axle, explain how it happened and on top of that you’ll provide some proof of purchase, like invoice or goods receipt. In most cases, you’ll be asked to return the damaged hub/part to Novatec EU for closer inspection. They will evaluate your claim and inform you about their standpoint. If your claim was legitimate, you’ll receive replacement hub/part within few days.
2. You are an end-user and you’ve bought for instance a hub from a bike shop supplied by Novatec EU or any other official Novatec distributor. If something bad happens with your hub (broken axle for instance like example above) you should contact the initial place of purchase and make a claim with them. The seller is supposed to help you out with your issue as this is given by consumer law in each country. Once the seller successfully deals with your claim he can make a claim with his supplier, then this supplier with his supplier (if any) until it gets to the Novatec factory. Even EU branch makes a claim with factory in case the claims gets to them. As you can see, it’s like a chain, selling the goods from manufacturer through distributors up to retailer and to consumer in the end, but claim process goes from the other end: from consumer to manufacturer. It’s important to understand the claim process so you won’t contact Novatec EU or the factory to deal with your claim, but you’ll contact the place where you bought the faulty product from (retailer/seller) and start the claim process from there.

If you’re an OEM producer (bike maker, wheel builder) or distributor and got the faulty product from factory you need to contact either the factory directly (make a claim with them) or ask EU office for support. It is very likely that Novatec EU will be able to help with your issue as they have many spare parts in their stock. They don’t have a service man to fix your issue but they can supply you with spares.