Since your home is most likely one of your biggest investments, unexpected repair or replacement costs can easily strain your budget if you do not have a warranty.  Additionally, finding an approved and insured contractor to solve your problem can be stressful and inconvenient, especially at that crucial moment when a system breaks down.  While a home warranty cannot prevent systems or appliances from breaking down, it can help make covered repairs or replacement easier and less costly.

While not everything is covered, coverage for many of the most frequently occurring breakdowns of home system components and appliances is actually included.  Applicants should review their contracts or sample contracts carefully, to confirm covered items, terms and conditions, limitations and exclusions.  In some cases “supplemental” home warranty coverage may also be necessary, for items such as swimming pools and their filter / pump systems, garage door openers, secondary appliances (i.e. a deep freezer that is not the primary appliance), etc.

Whenever you apply for a mortgage loan, most lenders require that you have proof of insurance on your home before they will allow the closing to take place.  Very often, what homeowners feel is covered by their home owners insurance policy, is not included in their policy.  A home warranty can be very useful in this respect.  Carefully reviewing your homeowners insurance policy and comparing it to a home warranty, and then adjusting each to be complimentary to the other, can give a homeowner REAL peace of mind knowing that they are in fact fully covered for any event that may come their way.

If you have a seller’s home warranty (a type of home warranty provided by the seller to help promote the sale of the property), once the sale closes, any problems that may occur in the home will be covered.  Any expensive repair the home may require, will be taken care of by the home warranty.  A homeowners insurance policy will not likely cover many kinds of problems which will occur from time to time, nor will it cover wear and tear on home systems.

Unless you’re carpenter or contractor by trade, a home warranty is a great investment.  In most cases you will recover your modest investment in the home warranty plan via replacement of home systems and appliances, which will all eventually fail and need to be repaired or replaced.  The best advice is to check around and compare home warranty coverage and rates.  Both quarterly and monthly payment plans for are available, and the internet is a great resource to begin your home warranty search.

Troubleshooter: Long hot summer

WTDV Raleigh Durahm

FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) — Recently it was 80 degrees inside Lisa Williams’ home, and she considers that a cool temperature.

She says she’s been without a working home air conditioner unit since spring. She tells Troubleshooter Diane Wilson, “I was awful. I was miserable.”

She has a home warranty through American Home Shield and she says a technician was sent out to look at the unit. She adds, “They started taking the unit out and then stopped as they said they didn’t have approval to do the work.”

So Lisa waited for American Home Shield to approve the work. But Lisa says AHS didn’t approve the work instead she says, “They said they would not pay for everything. They would have to send me a check. I would have to take the cash out option which left me with nothing, as the unit is halfway pulled out, and no air no heat, no nothing.”

Lisa used ceiling fans and window units to keep cool. She also says she heard nothing from American Home Shield. She adds, “I kept calling in and said if you’re going to send me cash how much? When are you going to send it and they never even called me back.” So Lisa turned to Troubleshooter Diane Wilson.

Troubleshooter Diane Wilson got in touch with AHS and Lisa got some cool news. She says, “AHS contacted me immediately and they said they would pay for everything.” Lisa is sitting cool now as she has a whole new working unit and she’s very happy with the response from AHS.

In a statement a rep for American Home Shield added this: American Home Shield is committed to providing quality customer service. Ms. Williams’ recent experience was not representative of the normal AHS customer experience and we sincerely regret the delays in service she experienced.

As a result, AHS covered 100% of the expense related to the replacement and installation of her new furnace and evaporative coil, including $1,200 toward items that would not normally have been covered under the terms of her warranty.

The company also reimbursed Ms. Williams for her trade service fee and AC window units, used to cool the home in the interim. Ms. Williams has confirmed that she is pleased with the outcome.

As part of the company’s business model, AHS contracts with local trade professionals to handle our customers’ service requests. AHS prides itself in providing reliable service from pre-screened, insured contractors…..(more)

You’re away on vacation, enjoying the peace and quiet. Unknown to you, the compressor motor on your refrigerator at home suddenly burns out. Within hours everything in your refrigerator begins spoiling. Everything in your freezer melts. The refrigerator starts leaking a gooey mess all over the floor. You come home two weeks later to a horrible stench that can only be described as…indescribable. At least you have insurance that will pay for a new refrigerator…or do you?

If an appliance breaks down – no matter how expensive that appliance is to replace – your homeowner’s policy will not pay for its replacement. For that you need Home Warranty Insurance.

You may wish to purchase a Home Warranty policy for your own peace of mind. For many people it is simply comforting to know that no matter what happens, from a heater going bad to an air conditioner breaking down, everything in the house is always covered and will be replaced at a very nominal cost if anything should go wrong.

There’s another reason many people buy a Home Warranty policy and that has to do with selling a home. A potential buyer of a home is often swayed when vacillating between two or more home choices and will purchase a home that has a Home Warranty policy on all of its major appliances. In this way the new homeowner feels more secure.

How does a Home Warranty policy work?
You decide which appliances and home systems you want covered and you pay a yearly fee, much as you would with any insurance policy. If an appliance or system that’s covered by the Home Protection Warranty should fail, there is a service charge to have a repair person come to your home and make a repair or replacement of the broken system. The service charge varies depending on choices you make when you purchase your policy, but a charge in the $50 to $60 range is common.

How is the best and least expensive way for you to buy a Home Warranty policy?
That’s simple. I’ve done a great deal of research and there’s only one way you should buy a policy and that’s online.

Online brokers have no overhead to speak of and so they don’t need to make a huge commission on each sale. This means you save approximately 30% instantly just by buying your policy online.

Also, the decisions you need to make when buying a Home Warranty policy are simple and straightforward; you don’t need a live agent sitting across from you and talking you into buying a lot more policy than you need or can afford. When you buy online YOU are in complete control for once.

Get online and discover for yourself just how much money you can save on your Home Warranty policy simply by purchasing it online.