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Please vote your opinion. I realize there are many variables in this question such as the age of the home/appliances etc.. and what the warranty covers. What is are your thoughts?
I would never buy into one in hopes that someday it would pay off on a repair.
Simply create your own savings account for home repairs and fix things as they need repaired. This is the way to save a lot of grief dealing with claim agents who deny any / all claims.
Check rip off report or google home warranty scams ... This industry has a worse rep than used car salesman and gym memberships.
Warranty companies are a huge scam. They will milk you with service calls (you pay for each visit) and will not do any major repairs. As a seller I would offer this home warranty crap ($500) because it sounds good, but as a buyer I don't care and would rather take $500 discount.
Home Warranties are a matter of personal preference. You have to ask yourself what type of homeowner are you?
If you are someone that can fix most minor items yourself and have enough knowledge to hire contractors that won't rip you off, you probably don't need one. BUT, if you are the kind of person that has to call someone every time the garbage disposal gets clogged or when the faucet starts to drip (don't laugh, I know people that call a handyman to change a light bulb), A HW may be good for you.
There are definate downsides to warranty companies. The people they send over for repairs are very hit and miss. Many would not be in business except for the volume the warranty company gives to them because many are unreliable and are not skilled. You may have to insist the company send someone else when it becomes evident the first company they sent over are hacks. I had one plumber no call no show. I had a furnace repair man come out four times to get the fan controls working only to discover the next summer they disabled the thermostat control of the fan and that if you want the fan to run on during the summer you have to go to the furnace and put the sensor on bypass and switch it back in the winter.
Second they have been sued over their unscrupulous tactics. Many pay a bonus to the repairmen to find a way to deny claims. I had one deny a sump pump claim under the grounds it was not installed correctly (BS). I had another try to deny a refrigerator claim telling use we were negligent for not taking the whole thing apart and cleaning the dust out of the insides.
We got on and while it did end up paying for itself, the headache wasn't worth it. They used incompetent people and had to repair the same thing 100 times, tried to get out of paying for things, etc. I wont get one next time it comes up. Just having a home repair savings account
Sellers often try to use 'home warranties' to offset buyer concerns about aging HVAC systems and appliances. If the $400 ploy works, it's good for the seller, but, from what I've understood, not so good for the buyer if service is actually required.
There is a LOT of fine print on home warranties. For example, an agent I work with has had a home warranty on their home for the last six years, and had recommended the firm to their clients for years. One day, there was a problem with the water heater -- some sort of relay fried the heater's electroncs, and caused the water heater to fail, causing water damage. The home warranty didn't cover the damage to the water heater -- because the problem wasn't the water heater, it was an electronic connection TO the water heater that caused the problem. To say that the agent wasn't happy would be putting it mildly, considering the thousands of dollars for replacing the heater and the flooring. They still discuss home warranties with their clients -- but not nearly as enthusiastically, and with a big warning to read the fine print.
Warranty companies write the contracts so they structure them to limit their liability. Many use incompetent service providers who do not complete adequate repairs. They also try to exclude as many things as possible. You are much better to find good local repair services by talking to neighbors, friends, and co-workers.
I think the home warranty thing is a real issue. Our contracts here in Idaho didn't have the home warranty addressed in the contract until a few years ago, then after it being on our contract for a few short years it was removed because of the problems it created. Now the controversy is should agents advise clients to buy one even though those words aren't there? I'm not entirely clear what issues came up with it being address in the purchase contract, but I"m against it being there because I don't think our contracts should be selling or pushing a product. I've never pushed them, but left it up to the client.
I did have clients get an air conditioner replaced once and they were happy, but another client found it didn't cover what he thought it would. I've never bought one myself and the only advice I would give is to read the policy carefully before buying as you should any insurance policy.
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