Is a Home Warranty worth it???????

[kellermomof3]

We are about to purchase a home that is around 6 years old. Not sure if this is something we need to do, or just put the money in a savings account in case something happens.

So is it worth it????

And which company did you go with? I've been researching American Home Shield, I've read good and bad things about them.

Thanks!!!

 

[Diegosmom]

A few years ago we needed a new AC (central air) and I was talking with the repairman and said wow 6 months ago our home warranty expired and they sent me a renewal and now I wish I had renewed (american Shield too) he told me it would have been a waste of your money. He said they would replace an AC if you could prove that the AC was serviced every 6 months. I said we had just moved in and so I wont have records of the previous years. He said they will take one look at it and "prove" it wasnt serviced every 6 months and deny your claim. Not sure how they handle other things but apparently they make you jump thru hoops to get approved.

Did you do a home inspection?...If the house is only 6 years old I can't imagine anything breaking but you could make the seller purchase it for you.

 

[csharpwv]

We purchased a home warranty and got a fair amount of use out of it. Granted, our home was built in the 1940's -
However - the day after we closed we called to have the gas turned on, I met the guy there, and he red-tagged our in-home gas valve! The collar around the valve was busted and leaking gas! So we got our almost $300 payment back on that repair, and then the vent-hood above the range went out - and we got $275 back for that, then the hot water valve on our supply line for the wash went bad - that was $250 (the plumber replaced both the hot and the cold valves... and billed it to the insurance as one repair - didn't find out until afterward when we got the documentation from the insurance company) and then the bathroom vent fan went out - but I don't remember how much we got for that.

So when you add that type of stuff up - it really paid us well to get the home warranty!

For us, the house looked GREAT on the surface - then all of that stuff happened in the first 8 months!

I'm happy to report that the home's misbehavior of those 8 months has very much slowed down! The house appreciated the new kitchen we put in, and it is getting excited for a complete - down to the studs - renovation of the bathroom!

It's a beautiful home - hardwood floors - some great old character - wonderful floor plan - and most of all, it's a happy house - you can just tell

 

[kellermomof3]

While our house is around 6 years old (we rent the house now), we've noticed many a/c's going out in our neighborhood. Of course it could be the 100+ heat.....but another neighbor had the hot water heater go out.

Thanks for the great info!

 

[chris31997]

The people we bought our previous house from gave us the warrenty. It was useless. Everytime(for like 4 items) we called, they did not cover it. The only time they cover something was when the a/c went out and they only covered to repair it. It was a joke. We did give it the people we sold the house to only because they asked for it.


IMHO, total waste of money. Not sure who we were under.

 

[KCMiller]

Both times we purchased homes, the seller provided a home warrenty, and each time, we ended up using it - on the first home, the water heater blew out, and the second, the furnace died! That being said, if you're going to purchase one yourself, I'd have the home inspected by a professional engineering company first, to see if they anticipate any problems.

KC

 

[mickeygaga]

We have american home shield and it almost paid for itself after one claim. My 5 year old fridge's computer system went out and the part alone would have cost $300 plus labor. I paid $60 for the service call....I'm going to look into their AC requirements because I did not know you had to prove inspections.

 

[Gina]

I have Allied Home Warranty (only in TX) and they have repaired/replaced a number of things. My A/C went out last year, had to replace the condensing unit -- I didn't have to prove any sort of maintenance. That never came up at all. It cost me about $1000 out of pocket, and considering the unit would have cost me about $2500-3000 to replace, I was extremely happy to have the warranty.

I had AHS for years, but they always had THE worst customer service. Just horrible. The folks at Allied have been much more pleasant to deal with. They also cover a lot more than AHS did, for the same price (actually a little less.) Any warranty company is less than great to deal with, just like any insurance company, but I have been way happier with them than I ever was with AHS.

 

[GatorMama]

We were very glad to have ours when I bought our house in January. There was a problem with the heater and it'd have cost us an arm and a leg to fix it... but it was only $100- the deductible. Then another issue with out water heater two months ago. THAT issue might not have saved us money, but it was handled much more quickly since we did have the warranty.

 

[kellermomof3]

Great Advice! Thanks!

 

[auralia]

No! We had proof the ac was serviced, but when it died the company said that the recipt we had wasn't on the right kind of paper so they denied the claim we fought it and ultimately lost. To make it worse it went out 2 days after I had a baby and it had just turned hot so we had to get it fixed right away because of the baby so that cost an arm and a leg rush job and turned out the furnace had problems too so 4000$ later we were fixed and the warranty company told us to f off (had just bought the house one month before)

 

[maleficentmom]

after having issues with our heat pump we purchased AHS...think it is $450 per year and $60 per housecall(if they make multiple visits for an item or it breaks again within so may weeks,there is no additional fee)also,like if they replace something big,like a/c unit there may be a small disposal fee
.We have gotten a new unit and a new compressor for the other unit...they never asked questions about maintenance.Just had 30 feet of pipe replaced under the house.In our old house we got a new oven door glass and a new water heater and toilet.The only problem is that they have a limited amount of repairman they contract through,so if that person is busy,the wait might be longer than you would like or you might not like the people they send(although the ones they sent us always seemed honest...I thought thought some may have done better work than others..but i know to ask for them next time).You report to AHS and they contact repair place and the repair place calls you to set up time. They don't cover knobs,racks,ice makers,etc on appliances...but they do cover most mechanical things.We love it,I think we have saved a couple thousand

 

[Princesca]

The time I used mine, it did not pay for its annual cost. The one big problem we had they wouldn't cover because it was an older house and said it was down to settling, or something. I tried to argue it, but it was to no avail.

 

[nettekay]

WE have AHS and have it for years on 2 different houses. We have never had any problems with claims. We call someone shows up and the item gets fixed!! We had our AC replaced and saved over $5000. when our refrigerator broke we were given a choice of repair or the cost of the repair towards a new one. They have never asked for proof of service once in the last 13 plus years! I would NEVER buy a house without it!!!

 

[wubbogirl]

I have ahs only cuz we still own a property in raleigh even though we don't live there any more. we rent it out ourselves so its kinda hard to drive there and fix things ourselves if stuff breaks. I 'm looking for a new warranty company. Every time I call over there its over an hold time on the phone. Also there very few repair people that contract with that company and some of them are very shady. I was very lucky that they covered the compressor on 17 year old a/c unit and it only cost us $95 including the service few collant and compressor. If they didn't I would have been out of over $4k which I don't have right now.

 

[Molliday]

A lot of brokerages are requiring that the seller pay for one, or the agent has to. The theory is that it will lessen the chance of an E&O claim. It's extremely rare to see a contract here, where it's not automatically requested.

I recently sold my house and I purchased one for my buyer. We had a pool, so I paid for pool rider as well. I recently found out that no less than two months after they moved in, the pool pump went out. American Home Shield (their choice) replaced it to the tune of $700.00.