Home Warranty/Maintenance Plan

[Nelson Atwell]

My home warranty is expiring soon, and I am considering whether it is worth renewing. The seller paid for the initial year, so this will be my first time to renew. The house was built in 1984 and has the original heater and water heater. All systems are in perfect working order as of today. The company (HomeTrust) is offering a renewal at $474, which seems high to me.



Does anyone here have experience with making a claim with one of these companies? If so, do they really seem to be worth the money or is it just a waste?

 

[Todd Z]

What is covered.. Just the Heating system? OR all apliances as well?? A new HWH is about 400-500 installed.... The boiler may be more...

If those items are working correctly, I would drop the coverage...



They don't offer any of that in NY, The seller can fill out a huge 200 question form, or give you $500.00 bucks at closing to cover any B.S which there always is...

Todd Z

 

[Mike Franklin]

Yup, we bought a 50 year old house full well knowing that the furnance firebox was cracked. Seeing as how that was the only major appliance in the home that a normal do it yourselfer can't fix (oil fired radiant baseboard) the home owner gave us a "home warrenty" and a "allowance" in closing. So about a month later we called in the home warrently. AHS sent someone out out to inspect the furnance, we payed the 50 dollar deductible and they shelled out a 1500.00 dollar check to us which was the max that the home warrenty covered. It wasn't a PIA to deal with them but I think it was because we had a dead ringer for replacement. If you look on epinion websites, there are alot of ahs horror stories although we didn't have any problem with them. We opted to not renew the home warrenty.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

It covers all the major systems of the house, as well as the appliances, which I bought new within the past year. I am not concerned about the appliances at all, but I do have concerns about the heater and water heater. It may just be wiser to spend the money on replacing them before they become an issue, or perhaps, just put the $474 in savings for that rainy day.

 

[Michelle Widell]

I had a warranty on my house when I bought it (it was included as part of the "offer"), and have had to use it once. I paid a $75 deductible when I had to get my A/C fixed. I had absolutely no problems in getting it repaired - called them up, and they had a local company call me to setup a time to repair it. No issues at all - I was impressed.



I recently received a renewal form for the warranty, somewhere just under $400. I haven't decided yet whether to renew it or not. My house is 32 years old, and has the original furnance, a 5 year old A/C system, and the water heater is about 10 years old. It also has an uplift station for the sewage. Due to all these, it may be worth it for me to have the "insurance", just in case.



So.. can't tell yah whether you should renew it or not - I'm in the same quandry!! But, my experience in filing a claim has been favorable.

 

[Todd Z]

Well, IF the only 2 things that are old or may need replacing are those 2 items, I would put the $ toward them and replace those 2 week links.. BUT I would replace the HWH first..

If the burner is Gas, The older units last a very long time, Most over 30 plus years... The new ones have a 15-20 year life expectancy...

IF oil heat, Sell and move to a gas house !!.:lol::lol::lol: Sorry., had to..

I have oil heat with a super store and I replaced the oil gun and HWH, Worries over...

Todd Z

 

[Jenn D]

Nelson, we just purchased a house in August and the seller provided a home warranty. The first month we were there our water bill was well over $100 and we figured we had a leak so we called the warranty company to discuss how to make a claim. I am not sure if it's how your company works, but the way ours works is we call them, let them know the problem and then they call local repair places and set them up with our information. Then, the chosen company calls us to set up an appointment. All we pay for the inspection/repair is $40 and the rest is settled with the insurance co. and repair co. It truly is convenient and I think we will renew next year. Ours is only $360 though (in FL).

 

[Mike Franklin]

Hey Nelson, I really wouldn't worry about renewing the home warrenty. Look at it this way. If your strapped for the cash and your furnace goes, AHS will only cover a specific amount. On a big ticket item like a furnance it's usually a drop in the bucket. For instance, in our case AHS gave me 1450 towards a new furnance. But a new furnance is 5k installed. One cool thing that I didn't know was that the furnance companies almost always allow you to finance a new furnace and really reasonable interest rates. My buddy had to go that route but his interest rate is only 4.5% one a standard principal/interest loan on the amount of the furnance and installation. (We use petro, can't say enough good things about those guys!)

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Both systems are natural gas. It sounds like I may have a few more years on my water tank, and I'll just set aside money in savings for the furnace.

 

[Arthur Akard]

Like you we had a home warranty on the house when we bought it. We renewed it 2 additional years with nary a claim then in the 4th year we had 2 claims. The first was the pool filter ($1250) then within 3 months the electronic control board for the pool went out. The board was a cool $1,500 and that is when the problems started. Basically we got into a huge battle with the company. They claimed that a spider web shorted out the board (which was in an enclosed box) so therefore it was not their problem because of poor maintenance on our part. After talking with a lawyer, he said it would probably cost me more money to fight it than the cost to fix the board. He had the company would more than likely appeal if they lost the first time. I said screw it (as they had hoped) and finally fixed it myself ($970). Didn't bother to pay for any of the visits nor did I renew.

 

[Mark Grumpy]

Nelson,

you need to look at how much your warrenty company will give you toward reparing/replacing those two particular items. If it's only 35-40% like Yukaputz states then I would say tuck the money away and add a few bucks to it each month.



And if you can replace your shocks and install a radio/switch/lights wahtever, then you can replace your own water heater for half what a plumber will charge you - just remember to turn of the gas :blink:



Oh yeah - never used mine so can't describe any hassles associated with a claim, but I did decide not to renew based on potential reimbursement versus anticipated cost. No different than buying extended warranty on your ST. Good luck.



grump

 

[Gerald Pierce]

Depends on how much you normally maintain in savings.... do you have the money available (or credit line available) to pay for a repair to any system in the home. SIL got divorced, had not much money.... paid for the warranty/maintenance plan and they have replaced her furnace, AC, hot water heater, and clothes dryer, all in 2 years. Hers runs about the same price.



Obviously, they are in the business to make money, if you have mostly new appliances, the money would most likely be better served in your savings..... if most of your systems are getting up in age, maybe you will make out like my SIL and get alot of repair/replacement work done for minimal out of pocket.

 

[Gavin Allan]

I am an arbitrator for Home Warranty cases. From my point of view, the warranties are VERY GOOD.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Hey Nelson:



Call a reputable, licenced, qualified (etc.) service company (preferably one that does commercial work too) to inspect and service your furnace and water heater. They can do any required maintenance, check them out and verify proper operation, as well as give you an estimate on future repairs or replacement that might be needed.



I agree-- these things can last a long time or they can fail veyr soon.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

The Home Inspector only stated that the copper gas lines should be replaced for the water heater. I've had a plumber also look at it while he was here for a pre-purchase repair. He basically said it could die tomorrow or in ten years. I figure I'll take my chances and put the money in savings. My dad bought a new water heater five years ago and already had to replace it. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", seems to apply here.

 

[Gavin Allan]

I would have a service guy clean the burners, check/adjust the gas pressure, check the flue draw, etc. on the water heater. You should also periodically flush the tank and check the pressure relief valve.



The furnace should have its burners and heat exchanger cleaned and inspected, check the flue, check/adjust the gas pressure, check the air/fuel mixture, clean and lube the fan motor and inducer motor (if equiped), clean and inspect the blower(s), test the amp draw, test the safeties, check/asjust the temperature rise, etc.



If you have air conditioning, there are additional checks and maintenance required.



A thorough check/inspection/cleaning will allow the tech to give you more accurate and specific information about each of these appliances. It will also make sure that they are operating at maximum efficiency and safely, as well as as ensure longest possible life.

 

[Deleted deleted]

I never have been a proponent of extended warranties for anything. You're basically paying a insurance 'premium' on top of the cost of the item. Bank the money in case something does go wrong.



The only thing I've bought a extended warranty on was that '97 Explorer for my daughter. Thank goodness I did, as that car has has a plethora of electrical problems since I bought it. First the control arms went, now the rear wiper motor, brake light module and electric antenna are out.