Home Warranty?

[planner101]

I guess this could tie into home repair...


Is a home warranty worth it?


My main concerns.. getting a home with a pool.. and the AC. The pool because I'm clueless about pool repairs and frankly it scares me,lol

Also, have a daughter with severe medical issues and her health is directly effected by how hot she gets. If she gets too hot,as in if her body temp goes up to 98 degrees F(she normally runs lower body temp), it will directly effect her respiratory rate, her oxygen levels, increase seizures activity.etc.

So I need to always keep the house, more so her room, cool at all times.

Do you guys think a home warranty would be a good purchase? Ive been reading horror stories online, and I'm scared of wasting money on a bogus home warranty, but also scared if the AC breaks down and have to buy a brand new unit.


Background story to my fear:

This summer my dads AC broke... he paid a couple hundred bucks to fix it...
It breaks again... a different company told him that for 1-2K more he could get a brand new unit with new ductwork, everything new and installed.

Not too long after, AC breaks again... I think he has to pay to fix that also..(not sure).

He was without AC for a while too.
This kind of thing could potentially put my daughter in the hospital.

So does anyone have any solid advice on home warranties?(Besides horror stories):hide:

 

[Speedbump]

Even though I have never owned a policy, I used to work for a Home Warranty company. It seemed to me that everything that would break were the things that they didn't cover. The other thing is; to get something fixed you had to first have a repairman come out and assess the situation. Then submit a bid and wait for approval. If its your AC, it could be awhile before it gets fixed or replaced if they will pay. With an AC company, they would be there once, give you a bid then usually start very soon doing the repair/install.

To me, it's just like new Car Extended Warranties. They cover all the things that will never break. I always said; if Insurance is a necessity, why are all these Insurance Companies buildings so massive and expensive. Someone had to pay for them. In my opinion if we were all self insured, we would be much better off financially.

 

[planner101]

. In my opinion if we were all self insured, we would be much better off financially.

Im gonna look real stupid by asking this , but by self insured do you mean pretty much just putting money aside for repairs?

 

[Speedbump]

[quoteIm gonna look real stupid by asking this , but by self insured do you mean pretty much just putting money aside for repairs?][/quote]
I would like to think that we would put away a big chunk of money for such repairs, but I think we all know better. What I really meant was if we had to come up with the amount of money any insurance company has paid us throughout our lives. And we kept all the money we have given them all our lives; we would be financially much better off.

 

[nealtw]

Find out how much it would cost for the warrentee and then set that much aside every month or year or? Then try to get a copy of that warrentee and if the warrentee dosn't cover it don't pay for it out of this account.

 

[bud16415]

Given your daughters condition I would first have a backup window AC unit in the house and also a backup generator. I’m personally not a big fan of these warrantee deals, but that’s a different issue then being proactive with regards to family health and safety.

Chances are things like the pool as mentioned above all the messing around to get a claim made will just leave you frustrated. That being said everyone’s situation is different and some people do better with paying someone else in advance for the likely hood of a problem coming up. I like the term self-insured as in having a fund put away for things that come up.

 

[planner101]

Yeah, thanks for the opinions and advice...

im still wrestling only because the warranty somehow gives me peace of mind. But I know it could be a hassle to file claims only to be given a small reimbursement if at all.