Will my homeowners warranty cover my central heating and air unit?

Question

My unit went out and they sent someone to look at it and he said it was shot I'm suppose to pay 55.00 detudiable for what ever breaks but cause of the new laws in upgrading for energy efficent I heard they don't cover every thing a freind said they wanted her to pay 3000 but she ended up having a 2nd opinion and the home owners warranty only paid like 300 and she only paid the 55 does any one no please help answer this

Answer 1

If your unit is newer, it may still be under warrantee from the manufacturer. Check that first.

The fine print in most Home Warrantee policies exclude lots of things like appliances that are old or manufactured before a certain date. The realtors get some kind of selling bonus for cramming as many of these policies down the throats of buyers and sellers from these companies.

Then, if you do have a problem, the company contracts out the work to a local provider that you don't get to pick. If you are in a fairly populated areas, they are trucking in from a few towns away and are basically there to remedy your problem using the cheapest parts and replacements as possible, AND to find a handful of other things that must be fixed in order to "comply with code or union rules" but are not covered by the policy.

So you typically pay a deductable of $55, don't get to pick your provider, cannot opt to remedy the problem yourself and get reimbursed for parts, and get soaked for a few hundred dollars of not-covered extras. (If not, a few thousand dollars in the case of HVAC replacement.)

In our first home (in Michigan) the policy's fine print excluded virtually everything in the house. It was built in 1970. Both seller and our realtors recommended the policy.

In our new home in Illinois, a policy we didn't want was shoved down our throats by the seller's realtor. From HOA. Our hot water tank failed on a Wednesday. I checked the fine print and it was covered! Yeah! Called HOA, and the troubles really began. By the time I kicked their scam artists out of my house, it was Friday afternoon. They were trying to sell me new plumbing for all of the neighborning pipes that had green residue on them saying they were leaking. (That green residue is from the original plumber who didn't fully clean up the flux, and is NOT a problem.)

Don't bother with Home Warrantees in the future. They are a BIG SCAM.

Answer 2

You need to look at the specifics of the warranty. We explicitly looked for one that did cover the HVAC. Some require an extra fee to cover them.

Home warranties are like HMOs, they will do the absolute minimum they can get away with. With your AC, even if it is on its last legs, they will do whatever they can to keep it running rather than pay for a new one. But, if it is beyond repair, it is nice to know you wont be paying 4000+ to get it fixed.

Answer 3

The item should come with its own warranty, but it may be covered under the homeowners warranty if is was installed by the builder or his agent.

Answer 4

it should, read your contract or call the sales rep you got it from. you always need to pay the deductible, mine is 40.

Answer 5

yes, if they are listed for warrantee cover