Termite Extended Warranty Protection

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

I had termites in my home over 9 years ago and treated the problem and haven't seen the little buggers.

We currently have an extended warranty plan through Ehrlich for $600.00 for 3 years. Under the extended warranty, it says that treatment service will be provided at no additonal costs for labor or treatment materials should evidence of infestation occur during the term of this warranty. They also send a technician out to our house once a year to check for evidence of termites.

My question is this: Is this extended warranty plan something that we have to pay for the rest of our lives (or as long as we live in this house) or is this a total rip-off.

I figured that my budget buddies could find the answer to this out for me...either a real estate agent or an exterminator or someone that has experience with this type of warranty. I often read that these extended warranties are a rip-off and just don't want to make the wrong decision. I have to decide by the end of July, 2012. Thanks in advance.

 

[jaminmd]

IMO, they are all rip off's. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from dealing with Terminix 10 years ago. I wouldn't pay it because you have no guarantee they will follow through. It's probably cheaper to just retreat if necessary in the future.

 

[auralia]

We pay ours but it is through a family run business that has been going for over 40 years. They have fixed a few things in the house and come out once a year and they treat for bugs quarterly as well for 30$ per month, also if we have any bug problems between sprayings they come out at no charge and take care of it.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

Bump!

 

[stampinshauna]

I think there are a variety of factors to consider in order to decide if it is worth doing...

How much would it cost to have your home treated again if you did get termites?

What kind of termites do you have in PA? How big of a deal is having a home treated? I live in Utah and our termites are subterranean and they come from the ground. A treatment is generally around $1000 right now and it isn't that big of a deal (they don't have to tent homes or anything like that), so I wouldn't pay $500/3yrs to extend the warranty. The company I used to run the office for charged 10% of the original treatment cost each year to extend the warranty. Do you want to chance having to pay to retreat? You could try to just set that money aside for retreatment and "self-insure" it.

How long are you planning to live in your home? If you are planning to sell it in the next few years, you may want to keep the warranty active for a selling point.

What kind of treatment was used? Go to the chemical manufacturer's website and read about how good the chemical is and how long it has been tested. Around here they use a chemical called Termidor and it has been on the market for about 12 years and was tested 5 years before that and so far has had a great success rate.

Find out from the company what their retreatment rate is. They should be able to tell you if they often have to re-treat homes that they treated in the past several years.

Personally, unless I was selling my home soon or if termites were rampant in my area and very likely to come back, I would save the money and not extend it.