A friend of mine has one of these warranties and has had several small plumbing repairs done. She called the company, they sent out a repairman she paid $60.00 per service call as agreed and the job was done. It worked out just fine. Now her 18 year old central air unit went out Sunday night. They did send a repairman out first thing Monday morning and of course she paid her $60.00 fee. They said she needed a new unit and they would turn it into the warranty company. They were not allowed to discuss the details of what was wrong. She had to go to a hotel as we were having a heat wave. (over 100 degrees) The warranty company then told her they had 48 hours to decide how to proceed. Meanwhile she reads her warranty contract for the first time and discovers that they will only cover up to $1000.00 for a central air unit. Certainly not enough to cover the full cost, so now she wonders will they give her the $1000.00 and let her hire whoever she wants or will she be stuck using their serviceman who may be overpriced. She asks, but they say they can't discuss it. The 48 hours passes and they say they have sent the information to the head office who has 5 days to decide. Meanwhile the hotel bill is getting rather large.. Finally they call and say they will not cover anything because the contract states they don't cover damage due to rust and corrosion. Now we have a tropical storm in the gulf, it's pouring rain, may rain for two days so she can't get another serviceman to come out until the rain stops. The hotel bill continues to grow. Why did they not tell her on day one that they weren't going to cover the repair? She could have called someone to replace the unit the next day instead of spending her limited funds on a hotel for a week.

I got to looking around the web and have found numerous complaints about home warranty companies. Some have a clause that says appliance must be properly maintained to be covered, they use this as an out to avoid paying. Some have the rust and corrosion clause, some have pre-existing condition clauses.

What old air conditioner is not going to have rust? How many service calls might you have to pay for trying to patch up an old appliance that most people would just replace? These companies are in business to make money, they are not going to jump at the chance to buy you brand new appliances and you certainly aren't going to get your choice of appliances if they do make a replacement.

If the seller of the house you want to buy offers you a warranty, that's great, take it, just don't expect too much of it. Even minor repairs can be expensive and it may be great to have a warranty for these things, especially if the home seller bought the warranty. Don't expect you are going to get a new central air system or brand new appliances out of the deal. When you get your contract, READ IT.

I think it is a great idea for sellers to offer these policies to their buyers, prices start at about $300.00 and vary depending on the house. Don't lead your buyer to believe that they are going to get all your old appliances replaced under these warranties, it's not gonna happen!

Below are some links to give you more info on home warranty companies and links to complaints about specific companies. No doubt you can find complaints about all home warranty companies. Their brochures are misleading, they should be up front about what they do and don't cover. It's a big shock when you don't find out you aren't covered until an expensive problem arises. The companies could save themselves a lot of grief if they didn't lead people to expect so much. Of course they probably wouldn't be able to sell so many policies that way.

A Home Warranty is no Guarantee

Is a Home Warranty Worth the Cost?

Old Republic Home Protection Complaints

Total Protect Warranty Complaints

American Home Shield Complaints

Scam.com

Complaints.com

Complaints about various home warranty companies. Reading these stories should also give you an idea of things that can go wrong after you buy your house. It will help you to know what areas to look at more closely before you buy a house.

Home Warranty Contracts Online

Several of the home warranty companies have their contracts posted online so you can look them over and see what exclusions there might be. If you decide to purchase a home warranty be sure to have them send you their most up to date contract for review before you sign up.

Fidelity National Home Warranty

HSA

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