Home warranty refused to repair AT

[Ting Lai]

My friends and I owned a small multi (12 units) in Tucson, AZ and have had the home warranty that came with the purchase since last year (Nov). One of the units recently had AC issues and the home warranty company sent one of their network companies to assess. They commented:

"the compressor breakdown was a result of secondary damages due to the poor maintenance conditions of the evaporator coil and therefore will not be covered by the company service plan" and they quoted a ~$2700 out of pocket repairs, or even a brand new AC. 

The main coverage definitely included the AC but it was shocking to receive this notice. Is this legal / reasonable? Does anyone have such experience with home warranty company?

PS: in my previous posts I also had suboptimal experience with this home warranty company and am finding alternative companies / solutions once the contract is over. I appreciate the advice from many experienced folks here and would highly appreciate your thoughts around: 1) whether you have encountered similar experience and how did you overcome this 2) what are other suggestions / action oriented solutions? 

Look forward to your feedback!

[Jason Crittenden]

@Ting Lai Which home warranty company?

Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. In my experience, this is par for the course with home warranty companies.

Did you have a realtor help you on this deal? Sounds like you didn’t get to pick the home warranty company and it was a free through in on the deal?

In that case, fight with them but understand, it’s something you got for free, so you’re not out money in that sense (on the garbage warranty)

In the future, IF you plan to get home warranties, us your realtor to order one.

We (I’m one of the top agents in Arizona) have access to home warranty reps for each company. We order what are called “real estate” plans, whereas if you call the company directly, you’re ordering the “consumer” plan.

That’s code for, you have to call Karen at 800-We-Don’t-give-a-rip to fight about coverage.

If you had an agent, and they ordered through their connections, often times if (when) you get denied, they can call their rep and lean on them to make it right and magically, the company reconsiders and approves your repair.

They don’t want to lose a top agents referrals so they take care of their clients.

Is this right? Absolutely not. But it is what it is. Relationships matter.

Hire a great agent, that has great connections, and they can move mountains for you in the future.

Good luck!