Has anyone had any luck with a home warranty company covering heating system claims? The warranty we got with our home purchase was terrible, denied everything we attempted to claim. However I'm still worried about having a major breakdown and I'm still looking for options...

 

Say away from the home warranty co., You would be better off without them.

 

Our local gas company has a program that covers heating and cooling appliances and can ever cover other items such as fridges, washer/dryers, and stoves. I have always heard good things about them and they are always reliable. I would see if anything like that is available from your local utilities.

 

Many warranty companies will hire the cheapest contractor they can find and try and deny most everything.
I knew some folks that used them. One contractor was installing used parts. Another took 6 trips to diagnose anything. Another guy showed up with no tools.

 

Unfortunately most of the home warranty packages simply introduce an additional layer of profit for the middleman. I have reviewed opportunities where I would be the service company in my area for this type of program and they DO NOT make it attractive. Basically they want me to fix any problems at an extremely low pay rate. They even stated that after the first repair I was then responsible for ANY additional service calls for that machine regardless whether they were related to the original call or not. They were beyond ridiculous and it was clear that they wanted to keep all fees paid in for their profits.

AsTolyn said, we also have a local HVAC oil company that used to offer a yearly service contract fo approved systems where they would fix anything at no additional charge. I don't know if they still offer it, but check your fuel supplier ti see if they have a program.

Being I'm in Maine we don't worry too much about anything failing within the first few years regardless of what the warranty says, everything is covered for a minimum of 4 years under an implied warranty. But not all states will back that up. Not sure about MA.

My vote would be to look for local service and review the service history of all appliances you are concerned about. In most cases the failure rates are very low.

Bud

 

I might suggest that you start a breakdown fund, religiously putting away $50 or $100 a month or what ever is comfortable for your budget for such problems. Most people should yet most don't! And DON'T touch it for anything else, you will be glad you did.

 

I was a service man and we sold warranty's, Company wanted us to sell as they are the profit idem for them. T always told my customers to put money in bank and in a couple of years you can replace or repair any break downs.

 

As a Real Estate Broker, I used to give a Home Warranty to "some" of my Buyers as a Closing Gift; but they often got so frustrated with the service that they took it out on me . . . . so I switched to giving them subscriptions to the local newspaper(s).

Then they'd blame me for the bad news that was printed.

 

The local utility program I mentioned has their own fleet of service trucks and people.

 

We bought a house in CA back in 05 and the realtor gave us a house and spa warranty which I promptly said big fricking deal.

Over the two years we lived there they put in a $2400 water heater, a $400 gas range regulator, and a $300 spa pump, no deductible, no issues, nothing.

I do not buy warranty polices but have to admit that one did us good!

 

Thanks all for the replies. I decided to go with a company called Open Home Warranty. For $249/YR and the freedom to choose your own contractor I figured I'd give it a shot and worst case I'll just cancel if it doesn't work out. I'll update if I have to actually file a claim to see how they handle it.