Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Anyone have experience with these? What is the typical lag time for getting a repair done? I have a well so I'm looking for a plan that includes coverage for that. TIA
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What's The Best Home Warranty? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Fear The Turtle
- Start date
Ron Swanson
Footballguy
I would consider saving the money you would spend on a home warranty and use that money to pay for repairs as needed. That way you get to choose your contractor and you have complete control of how repairs are completed and when items are replaced rather than repaired. Combine this with a good DIY mentality (many, many home repairs are documented very well on YouTube so that even novices can handle many of them) and you will be well ahead of a home warranty financially and you'll have better quality work and gain some knowledge along the way.
MTskibum
Footballguy
Warranty companies are not in the business of losing money.
It makes more financial sense to pay for the repairs.
https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2018/07/05/pros-cons-investing-american-home-shield/
The Home Warranty Market Is Highly Profitable for many reasons. As such, American Home Shield (AHS) is a viable investment proposition. The way the home warranty market works, like all other insurance companies is through a carefully structured series of plans, premiums and approvals that are guaranteed to benefit the company’s growth prospects. In 2017, the US consumer service contract market indicated that 5.7% of $44.7 billion was paid to home warranty companies. This number is growing all the time. It now outstrips appliances and furniture.
It makes more financial sense to pay for the repairs.
https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2018/07/05/pros-cons-investing-american-home-shield/
The Home Warranty Market Is Highly Profitable for many reasons. As such, American Home Shield (AHS) is a viable investment proposition. The way the home warranty market works, like all other insurance companies is through a carefully structured series of plans, premiums and approvals that are guaranteed to benefit the company’s growth prospects. In 2017, the US consumer service contract market indicated that 5.7% of $44.7 billion was paid to home warranty companies. This number is growing all the time. It now outstrips appliances and furniture.
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ChiefD
Footballguy
None of them.
As a guy who works in the HVAC industry, they are the worst. We won't do business with any of them anymore. They take forever to pay, they fight every charge, and pretty much piss off every customer we have that has ever dealt with them. At this point I tell my customers to pay for their repairs and then THEY can fight with the home warranty company.
I've had numerous calls from my customers calling back requesting documentation trying to fight for their rightful repair reimbursements.
Stay away.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Thanks Ron. I 100% hear what you're saying and you make great sense. However, I just laid out $2700 to replace my well pump, a repair I'm definitely not equipped to handle, and I'd had it done about five years ago as well. Plus, my home is about 65 years old and its owner is edging ever closer to that age as well so... Really, though, for peace of mind on my well problem I'd consider the expense of the warranty worth it.
Of course, I started the thread because I want to know about some of the things you mentioned, like response time, choice of vendor, deductibles, etc. Anyone?
belljr
Footballguy
Biggest scam out there imo.
Number 2 is the big one
Some potential drawbacks:
Home warranty companies impose dollar limits per repair or per year. This can vary greatly, and generally, the sky is not the limit.
Claims can be denied by the home warranty company if an item has not been properly maintained, and this can be a sore point since a record of proper maintenance may be difficult to provide, especially for homeowners who just assumed occupancy of a home. Be forewarned that some home warranty firms use “improper maintenance” as an excuse to dispute justifiable claims.
Home warranty companies determine whether to fix or replace a system, and you may or may not agree with the decision.
If an appliance needs to be replaced, the homeowner in some cases may not have a say about the make or model of the replacement.
Under certain circumstances, such as a power surge, an appliance likely will not be covered.
Number 2 is the big one
Some potential drawbacks:
Home warranty companies impose dollar limits per repair or per year. This can vary greatly, and generally, the sky is not the limit.
Claims can be denied by the home warranty company if an item has not been properly maintained, and this can be a sore point since a record of proper maintenance may be difficult to provide, especially for homeowners who just assumed occupancy of a home. Be forewarned that some home warranty firms use “improper maintenance” as an excuse to dispute justifiable claims.
Home warranty companies determine whether to fix or replace a system, and you may or may not agree with the decision.
If an appliance needs to be replaced, the homeowner in some cases may not have a say about the make or model of the replacement.
Under certain circumstances, such as a power surge, an appliance likely will not be covered.
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ChiefD
Footballguy
I will say, if you are really planning on doing this, call these guys:
Complete Protection
I have worked with the owners of this company. They are good people and their take on the home warranty biz is 100% customer satisfaction. They know all of the negative connotations of that industry and try to go over the top to not be like that. This take is from knowing them years ago, but at their core they are good people.
If I had to buy one of these for some reason, this is the ONLY one I would call.
Their reviews are solid as well from what I can tell.
I had forgotten about them in my first response.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
I moved from Chicago to Dallas areas 5 1/2 years ago. Home Warranty of America is mine, and I have renewed it yearly. One benefit is that I don't have to fight with contractors or worry about their honesty. If they're ripping someone off, it's the warranty company.
They've been pretty good up until this year. I've saved more than I've spent for at least 3 of the 5 years, and still got value in the other 2 just because of the security of the above. I will probably keep renewing until I have to replace HVAC.
That said, this year their service has fallen off pretty significantly. This year we had to replace a dishwasher and a washing machine. We made the mistake of calling them in simultaneously and that set off a ####storm of misunderstanding and confusion. We've been without a decent washing machine since July and still fighting because the replacement they propose is not in stock. Their replacement buy-out offer is a couple hundred less than what I would be able to get it for retail, so we're fighting with them. There is no escalation available but they have asked us to give them suggestions to bring back to their pricing department in the meantime, so they are still engaging with us.
The dishwasher was also out of stock when we needed it replaced, because of 4th of July sales iirc. It took awhile before it came back in stock.
It's been very worth it for us. We've had the dishwasher replaced twice, oven control panel once, microwave replaced once, washer and dryer repaired numerous times (brand new when we moved in), refrigerator repaired numerous times (brand new when we moved in), pool sweep pump replaced, and several repairs of the HVAC.
They've been pretty good up until this year. I've saved more than I've spent for at least 3 of the 5 years, and still got value in the other 2 just because of the security of the above. I will probably keep renewing until I have to replace HVAC.
That said, this year their service has fallen off pretty significantly. This year we had to replace a dishwasher and a washing machine. We made the mistake of calling them in simultaneously and that set off a ####storm of misunderstanding and confusion. We've been without a decent washing machine since July and still fighting because the replacement they propose is not in stock. Their replacement buy-out offer is a couple hundred less than what I would be able to get it for retail, so we're fighting with them. There is no escalation available but they have asked us to give them suggestions to bring back to their pricing department in the meantime, so they are still engaging with us.
The dishwasher was also out of stock when we needed it replaced, because of 4th of July sales iirc. It took awhile before it came back in stock.
It's been very worth it for us. We've had the dishwasher replaced twice, oven control panel once, microwave replaced once, washer and dryer repaired numerous times (brand new when we moved in), refrigerator repaired numerous times (brand new when we moved in), pool sweep pump replaced, and several repairs of the HVAC.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
We've got their enhanced plan that includes pool equipment and haul away service for appliances. Deductibles (service visit charges) are something like $100, and annual premiums are around $1k. Home is about 25 years old. If it weren't for the HVAC being original and the move to a brand new area, I probably wouldn't have kept it.
wilked
Footballguy
Scam and sucker move - don't do it
Better to spend for regular maintenance on the key things. Have an A/C? Get it looked at every year. Furnace or boiler? Same.
Getting a Home Warranty just means you pay twice - first to the warranty company and second to a tradesman after the warranty company wriggles out of any responsibility
Better to spend for regular maintenance on the key things. Have an A/C? Get it looked at every year. Furnace or boiler? Same.
Getting a Home Warranty just means you pay twice - first to the warranty company and second to a tradesman after the warranty company wriggles out of any responsibility
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Mine was paid for by the seller when I bought the house. And since then, I've renewed because they haven't done that. If they had, I wouldn't have renewed.
ymmv
wilked
Footballguy
What typically happensMine was paid for by the seller when I bought the house. And since then, I've renewed because they haven't done that. If they had, I wouldn't have renewed.
Washing machine dies. OK, call the warranty company. They say, no problem - when did you buy it? You say I'm not sure, maybe 7 years ago? They say no problem, 10 year expected life, 3 years remain, probably cost $700, 3/10*700 = $210. Use on of our technicians and we will rebate $210.
Well, $210 gets the technician in the door before he tells you just to buy a new one. You've just been had. And meanwhile the warranty has a separate agreement with the technician company and pays them $100.
Ron Swanson
Footballguy
I get it. I'd be shocked if the economics ever worked out in your favor but if you can find a good one, perhaps the one ChiefD suggested, then I get that the peace of mind has value. And it would probably be beneficial to a marriage. Here's how it goes in my house:
Mrs. Swanson: Ron, darlin' (oh, #### I already know something's wrong) the XXXX isn't working.
Ron: Goddamit. What did you break this time? And what exactly is it not doing that you expect it to do?
Mrs. Swanson: Blah, blah, blah, don't get mad at me.
Ron: I'm tired of fixing #### all the time. Just call someone to fix it. Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Ron: *Hits the googles and winds up on Youtube. Heads to garage to get tools.*
7 hours later, 12 more trips to the garage, 3 trips to Home Depot, and yet another fishing trip postponed.
Ron: Nevermind, I figured it out, I just ordered the part and it'll be in next week.
Mrs. Swanson: You're an #######.
Ron: Duly noted.
culdeus
Footballguy
In Texas they usually compel the sellers to provide this so you don't go back and sue them if you didn't disclose your dishwasher leaks or something. So having 3 years of coverage and 17 years of not coverage I never saw a renewal quote that came close to a breakeven situation. The closest I came was on a pool repair and it took a hell of a fight to get them to pay out on that one.
The AC technician they sent out one time was so green and unprepared he legit quit his job in the middle of the service call because it was so hot in the attic and he couldn't take it.
I feel like more or less the vendors they pick are easily the lowest quality nobodies they can scrape up. The only time you get high quality vendors is if you have the option where if they can't schedule you in X hours, you can get your own person out. That may have been a unicorn though.
DallasDMac
Footballguy
You seem fairly poor at choosing quality appliances. Or you and your family are hella-rough on them. Seriously, that's a lot of busted stuff. Unless we're talking like a 20 year period.
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Not even close to my experience. Now mind you we did our research and had a choice of 3 companies. Our experience is call the company, they ask if the machine had been operational at the beginning of the policy period, and then they call in the contractor.
Contractor is paid his $100 and determines whether repair or replacement needed. He reports back with warranty company and they pay for either at new replacement value (no depreciation).
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
5 1/2 years. Combination of cheap ******* and rough family.
That said, fridge repair lifespan is typical. I had a condenser go twice and an ice maker once. Oven was a fluke but damn glad I had the warranty. Dishwasher is a ge profile. Not roughly used, just bad luck.
Washer and dryer are lower end and my family beats the crap out of them, I will grant you that.
wilked
Footballguy
So if I have appliances 12 years old and buy your plan, then have an appliance fail, with $100 copay I get a new appliance?
You might be right but it doesn’t sound likely to me
Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
TheFanatic
Footballguy
I have some horror stories with home warranty companies, but honestly, most years they pay for themselves. Choice Home Warranty is who we use now. AHS and HSA are the same company now. One was better than the other and that better one bought the other, but they have since adopted the bad practices. They aren't great, but I utilize them. I have a rental property and it saves me a lot of headaches over there. I have a rental management company that is on the policy and make the calls for me. Saves me a ton of time.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
The sellers included American Home Shield when we bought our place earlier this year. Two weeks in our air conditioning went out, so I filed a claim. Paid the $100 fee and got a quick response that a contractor had been assigned and would contact me to set an appointment, great! I didn't get a call so the next day I called - and was told it was 2 1/2 weeks before they could come out. Dude shows up, finds we basically have no refrigerant and what appears to be a leak in the coil. So he says he has to contact AHS to see if they will authorize a repair or a whole new system, says to give him a couple of days.
5 days go by so I call the office, "I'll call the technician and get back to you." No call back. Rinse/repeat every 2-3 days, same response, never a call back. We're now 12 days since the tech was here, so I call AHS and they say that nothing has been filed! I call the contractor 6 times before the office manager finally picks up (the voice mail is also full), and when I demand to speak to the owner she puts me on hold, then comes back and says the tech is the owner and is on his way back from a job and will call me. That was a couple of hours ago.
So I'm definitely not loving the home warranty thing. It seems pretty obvious they gave us a ####ty contractor because good ones won't work with them. And now I'm stuck and about to pay out of pocket to try and get this fixed.
@ChiefD, any other advice?
Have I mentioned the average temp in the 5 weeks since the AC went out has been about 93 degrees?
Prettay, prettay, prettay sure I won't be renewing.
ChiefD
Footballguy
I would call American Home Shield and tell them you are hiring your own contractor and will be sending them a bill. Tell them you want to file a claim on your own. If customer service resists, escalate it up the chain.
This is one of those times where you have permission to be an ##### and slash and burn along the way.
Phil Elliott
Footballguy
Also, you have to pay for repairs to bring up to current code. Could be expensive on any repairs on a 65 year home.
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gianmarco
Footballguy
What I would highly recommend is something we just started in our new home from a couple years ago. We have our insurance with State Farm and they offer a home equipment breakdown supplement coverage. It's been amazing.
It doesn't cost very much. It covers items like HVAC, water heaters, pool equipment. There is no limit to the claims you can file. It's a $500 deductible and will cover up to $20,000, IIRC, on each claim.
I've used it 4 times already and it's saved me over $2K.
Here's a thread about it
I don't know if other insurance companies have something similar, but might be worth checking.
It doesn't cost very much. It covers items like HVAC, water heaters, pool equipment. There is no limit to the claims you can file. It's a $500 deductible and will cover up to $20,000, IIRC, on each claim.
I've used it 4 times already and it's saved me over $2K.
Here's a thread about it
I don't know if other insurance companies have something similar, but might be worth checking.
