Home Heating Protection Plans worth it? (2013, insurance, how much)

[FirstHomeSearch]

Hello all,

We are first time home buyers and we are not sure about the following: the sellers have a home heating protection plan through NSTAR, which they would like us to take on and pay the pro-rated amount. The plan is valid until Nov 2013.

Here is the link with plan coverage details.

The house currently has central AC and heat and we are wondering if anyone has signed up for a plan like this and if this plan is worth it in general? Finally, we are also looking for some rough estimates on how much it would cost to repair the same parts that this plan would cover in an event the failure in the heating system is caused by that part?

Thanks!

[raveabouttoast]

People who have needed the service will say it's worth it and people who haven't will say it wasn't.

I'd say it depends on two main factors. 1 - how old the heating system is. 2 - how comfortable you are doing your own repairs.

My first house had a heating and cooling system that was about 20 years old when I bought it. I never signed up for the plan and never needed it (I lived there for about 10 years). But I cleaned up the furnace & burners yearly and did simple maintenance on the A/C system (cleaned the coils, lubricated the fan, etc).

It's like any other form of insurance. How much risk are you comfortable with?

EDIT: does the plan include an inspection and tune-up? If so, it may be worth it since you don't really know the history of the system. That should give you a good idea of the condition of the system and then in November you can decide whether or not you want to renew the service.

[bUU]

For us, the determining factor was the risk, but rather the extraordinary delay we experienced when we didn't have such a plan and had a problem. If the repair companies have a light week, then no problem. Otherwise, the folks who prepaid (and whom the company is hoping will prepay again next year and the year after and the year after that) are promised and given priority service, and so the "walk-ins" wait and wait and wait.

[nzone]

How much is the plan cost? I suspect it may not even be more than $400. Why is this seller nickel and dime you?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by nzone

How much is the plan cost? I suspect it may not even be more than $400. Why is this seller nickel and dime you?

NStar offers two plans. One is $199/year and the other is $319/year. If you sign up for auto-renewal they reduce the price by 10%. The more expensive plan will cover your heating system and your hot water heater. The less expensiveplan only covers your heating system. The more expensive plan also includes an annual service visit.

The guy I bought my house from last year had one of these plans and he raved about it. He said the service guys come quickly and the annual maintenance was very thorough. If you have an older heating system in your home that looks like it might be unreliable (or may become so) one of these plans could save you a lot of money.

As for you paying a pro-rated amount to transfer the plan . . . well I think the guy you're buying from is being unbelievably cheap. Typically speaking, any warranties or service plans that are active when you buy the house should be transferred to you as the new owner. This is the first time I've ever heard of a buyer being asked to pay anything for them. Besides, the year is half over already. I would tell him to "go pound sand" to quote a colloquialism a friend of mine likes to use.

[FirstHomeSearch]

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies. Our heating and cooling system is about 14yrs old. We understand from our home inspector tht it has another 7yrs before it starts acting funny.

We also tried calling NSTAR directly and understand there was a Emergency call in Nov 2011, and No heat calls several times in 2011 and 2012. A hot water inducer motor was also ordered by the folks living in the house right now. Anyone knows how much this costs and where does one purchase this from?

We were never thinking about buying the plan it in the first place but since the sellers want us to pay for the service for the rest of the year, we starting digging up some info and found out about prior problems. They are definitely being cheap about asking us to pay for a service plan we did not even know about. Agreed on tht comment MikePRU.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by FirstHomeSearch

Thanks for your replies. Our heating and cooling system is about 14yrs old. We understand from our home inspector tht it has another 7yrs before it starts acting funny.

Nothing makes me more crazy at a home inspection than when the inspector says something like this. He has no idea when your heating system is going to go or when it will start needing repairs. Even a brand new system could break at any moment, but the odds of something happening increase over time of course. I have friends that just replaced their 10 year old boiler because it stopped working. Meanwhile, my 30 year old boiler has been going strong. It's a crap shoot as they say.

Originally Posted by FirstHomeSearch

We also tried calling NSTAR directly and understand there was a Emergency call in Nov 2011, and No heat calls several times in 2011 and 2012. A hot water inducer motor was also ordered by the folks living in the house right now. Anyone knows how much this costs and where does one purchase this from?

Sounds like you should pay for the protection plan as well.