American Home Shield Home Warranty Contracts archived

Does anyone have any experience with American Home Shield or other home warranty companies? How is that they can insure your AC/Heating for $500/year? If a new replacement system is $10K, how in the world do they make money? What's to keep someone from joining for a month and then terminating the policy after the work's done? This questions probably goes hand in hand with PSE&G's "Worry Free" program. Both of which sound "too good to be true."

you don't join for a month, you join for a year, number one. you pay the full year in advance. i had it the first year i was in my house here...my garbage disposal went on the fritz and it was replaced as covered by the warranty.

We had them for a year- the AHS coverage came with the purchase of the home. You pay upfront for the year (ours was 850 for everything). Then each visit you have a 95 dollar copayment. One of our ac units went and they replaced it- it was. 3k unit so thr warranty paid for itself. But, it's like an HMO- the contactors they use aren't always the best and normal wear and tear is not covered. We did not renew this year, because I did not like using their people instead of using someone reccomended.

Ay Dios Mio!!!! DO NOT BUY THAT WARRANTY!!! Unless your entire house is about to fall down, seriously. We've been in our house for 2 and a half years, have had a few things go wrong, and attempted to have AHS fix them. Example: refrigerator ice maker didn't work, due to the fact that there was a certain valve that was missing. Not covered by AHS. We had a plumbing problem in the master bath, a pipe issue behind a wall, caused a leak in the floor, etc. Not covered by AHS.
The point I'm trying to make is that, unless your boiler, air conditioning etc. are on their way out, don't buy it. In fact, we recently received notice that those who have purchased the AHS warranty are involved in a class action lawsuit against the company for failure to fulfill it's contractual obligations. There is so much small print in the contract, and so many technicalities involved, that it's rarely worth the phone calls. It is a horrible, horrible racket, and they are a terrible company.

Sorry, I'm still a little sensitive...

Oh, and what Ms. Confidential says is true. They will only send people out that they are contracted with to do the work, and they are not the most reputable people. The few times we had people come out, it was a waste of the $95, and the opinions we usually got from their contractors were not correct, as we were told by other, recommended plumbers.

We have a policy and haven't had any issues. We have had 1 leak fixed, garbage disposal replaced, new kitchen faucet, and entire furnace replaced. It is true that you need to use their contractors but they are fully licensed. We were very pleased with the plumbers they have used and even used them for other work we had completed. The furnace was a little different. I think we knew more then they did. But it was replaced without any issues. If they replace something, they typically replace it with an equivalent or basic option so they will not replace your GE range with a Viking but you will get similar quality. They do allow you to upgrade for the difference. We did that with the furnace and qualified for the tax credit for energy efficiency which was almost the difference in price.

I guess it truly depends on your experiences and what you know might go wrong. We purchased the policy because we knew one heat/ac system was 20+ years old. And it did fail about 10 months later. We also have a very old washing machine and refrigerator what we know will be going soon as well.

Be aware that the AHS warantee has a limit - ( I believe of $1500) that they will pay to replace a boiler. The cost to replace a forced air furnace is not limited - but water or steam boilers have a limit

Also had the AHS warranty for a year, as part of a home purchase. The fine print excluded most of the issues we had and the one that was not (a dishwasher), I sent the guy away since he clearly knew less than I did. IMHO, the warranty is useless and borders on scam. Google it -- there are tons of negative stories out there.

For major items, such as A/C, heating, washer/dryer, et al, consider the PSE&G WorryFree coverage. That's what we switched to and have had good results on several occasions.

Good luck,

Blueheeler

we had the ahs warranty for a couple of years. like several others here, i don't recommend it. if i had it to do over, i'd do the pse&g program.

My girlfriend in Paramus uses them and she said she never had a problem. They own a few properties within NJ and CT so I guess it's easier to have them all signed up with AHS. I know they've done work at her home and she's been satisfied.

We also had it as part of our home purchase and they didn't cover ANYTHING it was a scam.

Posted By: chilloutWe also had it as part of our home purchase and they didn't cover ANYTHING it was a scam.

Was this insurance offered by the seller's real estate firm? Wouldn't such a policy on old housing stock be a comfort?

A relative in AL purchased a policy and was able to get a new AC, furnace, and electrical system. They paid $500 for the policy and $65 for the initial visit. I'm no actuary, but in order to defray the cost of a $10K HVAC system, the company would need to have at least 20 other policy holders who don't make a claim for the year. Something's amiss.

Count us among the disenchanted. We had it, tried to get coverage three times, and were denied three times. Rip-off. But I'm curious to know why it's SO bad for some people, and SO good for others??? What the heck?

We've had it for 8 years picking it up from the previous owner. What you pay per year depends on what you insure. Overall it has worked well for us. This month our hot water heater started leaking which had been working fine for us since 2002, although the previous owner had it installed back in 1983. The next morning a contractor with AHS came out and and replaced it with a brand new model of the same brand. Our only charge were for the permit and getting old fixtures brought up to code.

They would go bust if all their patrons (or even a few) ran up such charges every year. Therefore, like all insurers, they are counting on healthy appliances to pay for sick ones.

We have AHS on our home - mainly b/c we're first time homebuyers, found it comforting, and our real estate agent gifted part of the cost to us at closing. She's with Coldwell Banker, and they seem to push a policy with this group - obviously there must be a financial benefit or kickback to the referencing REAgent.

As with all insurance, they wouldn't sell it if it didn't make them money.

How does it make them money?
- the fine print excludes a lot, incl improper installation, which many many things fall under
- you don't find out if you will be covered until you pay your "co-pay" at the time of service
- there are limits to how much they'll pay for almost anything, as w/ all insurance
- i believe the contractors they use "pay" for the benefit of being on their list
- everything else everyone's said

we'll probably break even on our policy this year - but we won't renew because of the way the program is structured. it makes you feel like you're gambling. i'd rather just pay as i go and have an open honest exchange. it feels skeevy, and we're not skeevy.

we've gotten the most benefit so far from paying for service with Oil City, who made several trips for different issues this season that would've cost us WAAY more than the 100 they charged for coverage. but they're making their money on the oil not the coverage. we will renew that, even though we learned a lot from the guys and hopefully can handle some small things ourselves now.

Hate them, hate them, hate them. They left us without heat for 2 months while they tried to get someone to replace the dead furnace. Read the fine print: they cover the furnace but they do not cover any related ductwork. We got the furnace but had to spend $2 grand for the custom ductwork to connect the thing. We had it the first year solely because I knew the furnace wasn't going to start in the fall and it didn't. For the aggravation and 2 months with no heat (and I work from home), I'd have rather paid the full freight and gotten the job done quickly and competently.

Oh, I forgot to mention the first contractor dropped off an oil furnace first, when we had gas. Then he disappeared and we had to find another contractor. 6 months later the oil furnace was still sitting in our basement.

7 years later, can you tell the anger is still there?

AHS works if you have easy-fix, by-the-book probs. If you have high-end or complicated appliances, in my experience, it can be a nightmare. They are supposed to replace broken machines that cannot be fixed with comparable machines, but they would never replace a Bosch or Miele or SubZero with the same brand (they came with the house.) I have been dealing w/dishwasher repairs for months now and have spent countless hours on the phone and coordinating with repairmen. Some probs were easily fixed like my freezer (though not the ice-maker) and they fixed my washer. HOWEVER, I just hung up with them after letting them know I would not renew my contract. I'm going to spend that money on a new dishwasher. And I will hire repair people that can actually fix the appliances I have. Grrrrrrrrr. So much wasted time.

You will not get competent contractors that's for sure. Only bottom feeders who can't find work on thier own merits.

Always better to self-insure by socking away money into an emergency fund.

I recently had a water heater problem (bad leak) on a Friday. Called AHS and after a pleasant discussion was able to get them to agree to an emergency replacement. A plumber from Springfield was sent out that day and concurred that it was an emergency and a new water heater was installed Saturday morning. Competent and they delivered. The plumber was licensed and was extremely efficient. I would use him again: Goldstein Plumbing.