Home Warranty of America UPDATE Post 28

Sugarbug · Jun 11, 2012

Home Warranty of America

So we got a home warranty for the house when we bought because we knew it was older and things would go wrong. Just had a plumber come out after calling HWA. They said it would be a $75 deductible, which we were expecting.

Plumber comes out, fixes the toilet, but then HWA tells us it's not covered under the warranty because it hasn't been long enough that those parts should have warn out. So we got landed with $153 bill on something that is listed as COVERED.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!? We bought the house. The house is 30 years old!!! This company is pathetic and has a history of ripping people off. Steer clear.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/home_warranty.html

SGT_Kramer · Jun 11, 2012

Good to know. I've never put stock in any warranty anyhow but nice to hear my reasons are well founded.

jmeng · Jun 11, 2012

Didley said:
[h=6]Home Warranty of America

So we got a home warranty for the house when we bought it because we knew it was older and things would go wrong. Just had a plumber come out after calling HWA. They said it would be a $75 deductible, which we were expecting.

Plumber comes out, fixes the toilet, but then HWA tells us it's not covered under the warranty because it hasn't been long enough that those parts should have warn out.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!? We bought the house. The house is 30 years old!!! This company is pathetic and has a history of ripping people off. Steer clear.[/h]
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/home_warranty.html

I bought a warranty from them on my last house. Had some A/C problems at the 10 month mark (from when I bought the house) and it more than paid for itself.

sandman7925 · Jun 11, 2012

Warranties would not exist if they did not make a profit for the ones selling them. Granted there are is a risk by not having one, but the companies that sell them sit down and figure what the odds are of them losing money. And they set the price of the warranty based off of those figures. Ifits profitable for them it is not going to be for you.

Takuan · Jun 11, 2012

These companies are all borderline fraudulent. If it makes you feel any better, we got scammed once, too.

Emperor · Jun 11, 2012

There are both good things and bad things with ANY home warranties. Read the fine print!

When they save you money they are great! But when the deductible continues to rise on a yearly sliding scale, you have to re-evaluate.

George · Jun 11, 2012

I have American home shield and love them. It does cost $500/yr but I've had a hit water heater and 3 AC repairs! My parents have them.too and.its.saved them 3 AC units. It great if.you have an older home.

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charliepapa · Jun 11, 2012

challenge them to show you the part of the contract that excludes the work done in your claim.

jmeng · Jun 11, 2012

sandman7925 said:
Warranties would not exist if they did not make a profit for the ones selling them. Granted there are is a risk by not having one, but the companies that sell them sit down and figure what the odds are of them losing money. And they set the price of the warranty based off of those figures. Ifits profitable for them it is not going to be for you.

Big +1. To clarify, I've purchase home warrenties on my last two houses when I bought them to protect me from having any huge hidden costs. Have never kept them going after the first year. In general warrenties are a bad deal.

Sugarbug · Jun 11, 2012

Emperor said:
There are both good things and bad things with ANY home warranties. Read the fine print!

When they save you money they are great! But when the deductible continues to rise on a yearly sliding scale, you have to re-evaluate.

charliepapa said:
challenge them to show you the part of the contract that excludes the work done in your claim.

I have to check for myself when I get home, but I asked my wife to look over the contract we have and I looked online for any mention of there being a required time period before they begin honoring the warranty. So far we haven't found a thing that says that.

Emperor · Jun 11, 2012

Didley said:
I have to check for myself when I get home, but I asked my wife to look over the contract we have and I looked online for any mention of there being a required time period before they begin honoring the warranty. So far we haven't found a thing that says that.

You asked your wife to read it? :doh:

Need we say anymore? :mamoru:

gbundersea · Jun 11, 2012

Until now, I've never heard of Home Warranty of America, but what they did sounds really sleazy. Most of our clients who get a home warranty (usually by negotiating that the seller pay for it) go with American Home Shield or Old Republic. Old Republic seems to offer more coverage, and at a better price. Recently, one of our clients got a complete new central AC system for the cost of a deductible!

Btl_Rkt_Sci · Jun 11, 2012

I owned a 50 year old house before I built and we had the warranty with Old Republic ($470/yr paid by the seller). I have to say that they went above and beyond. I called them about a week after our A/C was acting up and I tried troubleshooting it, it turns out our warranty expired during that week. But the person handling the claim took my word for it and had the work covered. Even once the work began it took several techs/companies to solve the issue and there was a lot of miscommunication between the contractors, extending the outage. But OR was adamant about setting things straight when I called about this and even waived the fee. Never had issues with disputing other claims either.

Sugarbug · Jun 11, 2012

gbundersea said:
Until now, I've never heard of Home Warranty of America, but what they did sounds really sleazy. Most of our clients who get a home warranty (usually by negotiating that the seller pay for it) go with American Home Shield or Old Republic. Old Republic seems to offer more coverage, and at a better price. Recently, one of our clients got a complete new central AC system for the cost of a deductible!

Yeah, we had the seller pay for it. I just can't believe they would say "it hasn't been long enough for those parts to have gone bad" as though the house is brand new.

gbundersea · Jun 11, 2012

Didley said:
Yeah, we had the seller pay for it. I just can't believe they would say "it hasn't been long enough for those parts to have gone bad" as though the house is brand new.

That to me is just a BS excuse to avoid paying a claim. I will definitely keep my eyes open for these assclowns, and warn anyone who mentions their name as a possible warranty provider. Sorry to hear about your troubles!

SGT_Kramer · Jun 11, 2012

I can't believe there are companies out there stupid enough to offer warranty on a 30 year old house. More reasons this coutry is in trouble because of stupid stuff like that.

Btl_Rkt_Sci · Jun 11, 2012

SGT_Kramer said:
I can't believe there are companies out there stupid enough to offer warranty on a 30 year old house. More reasons this coutry is in trouble because of stupid stuff like that.

It's just like offering car insurance to a 16 year old. If claims begin to outweigh premiums you increase premiums. They obviously manage to stay in business. If you know math it isn't that hard to figure out.

And usually sellers offer the warranty because it sweetens the pot for the homebuyer and only takes a small portion of the profit they (hopefully) stand to make. I don't know many (edit: any) people who buy home warranties for their homes.

TomTerrific · Jun 11, 2012

George said:
I have American home shield and love them. It does cost $500/yr but I've had a hit water heater and 3 AC repairs! My parents have them.too and.its.saved them 3 AC units. It great if.you have an older home.

The 35yo town house I bought came with a prepaid contract w/American Home Shield. They have to approve of the work before they will pay for it. I was surprised it didn't cover my trash compactor and not as surprised it didn't cover my microwave oven.

It paid for itself with a/c repairs.
:eh:

flamatrix99 · Jun 11, 2012

We have had coverage from Old Republic and American Home Shield. Both more then paid for themselves. I won't go without one in the future.

Storm52 · Jun 11, 2012

What repairs were needed on the toilet? Flange, wax ring?

Home Warranty of America UPDATE Post 28

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