Home Inspection Warranty

[Trent Tarter]

I am thinking about becoming a member of the American Home Warranty Company. This will allow me to include a 90 day limited warranty with all home inspections at no cost to the client. These are very limited warranty's, however I think that it is a good way to separate myself from some of my competition and to offer something that most home inspectors in my area do not offer. Has anyone had any experience with this company or offered a limited warranty from a similar company.

[Nick Ostrowski]

I considered this Trent but like you said, it can be a very limited warranty which often means very little is covered. Some of these programs seems to disclaim so much from the umbrella of coverage that it makes you wonder what they do actually cover. I decided that since I couldn't really find enough value in it for myself as a homeowner, I couldn't see myself giving it to my clients either.

[Jerry Peck]

As both of you have implied, most of those home warranties are worth the paper they are written on ... but not much more. :D

Trent,

I think if you use that to "separate myself from some of my competition", that will only work if you imply that warranty is actually quite useful, and, when your clients find out it is pretty much worthless, that "separate myself from some of my competition" could backfire in a negative way.

Nothing like giving out free candy ... until the free candy makes someone sick ... then, look out!

[Jon Randolph]

I had a company marketing to me about this a year ago. Yes, it will set you apart from other inspectors, but will it be negative or positive?

1st. - The waranty timer starts on the day of the inspection. If they do not close for 30 days, they have lost a large portion of the waranty.

2nd. - The 90 day waranty was to home sellers (at least with the company that I talked to) if they had you do a pre-listing inspection, and much less, like 45 days, to buyers if they had you do the purchase inspection.

3rd. - You had to provide them with a report of every inspection that you performed and gave a waranty on.

4th. - Pre-existing conditions are not covered. Even if you missed it during the inspection. This opens you up to a lot of liability. Yes, if the water heater worked when you inspected it and quit during the waranty they would (supposedly) replace it. But good luck with that.

5th. - We all know that the waranty companies are in this to make money. It is impossible to get them to pay anything. There are always loop holes or clauses that excludes them from paying. If a client uses you instead of a competitor because of the waranty, this will not look good on you when they are refused.

6th - We can not predict the usable life remaining in any item within the home, unless it is in need of repair/replacement now in which case the usable life is over. What are the odds that the item will need repair/replacement within that short period of ownership?

[Trent Tarter]

What I am looking for is inspectors that have real life experience with the American Home Warranty Company or a similar company. Not just speculation.

[Jerry Peck]

Not just speculation.

Grasshopper ... If used properly ... "speculation" often times opens thought processes which allow one to consider things outside what they were seeking ... but only if one choses to do so.

:cool:

[Andy Cox]

I use the American Home Warranty for all my inspections. I have actually had one claim for my client, which I helped them file.
AHW covers for 90 days after the inspection or 90 days from closing, whichever is longer.
In my case, the client didn't move in immediately after close, but did some work on the house. The previous owners had not had the A/C unit serviced in a long time, and the condensate started leaking around day 85 after close. The sellers had piled belongings and stored stuff so that I could not access the air handler. Thankfully, I documented this in my report.
The condensate leaked out, and did some damage to the wall.
AHWA does not pay for the water damage-just like most homeowners insurances - but they did pay the claim to have the A/C unit cleaned and serviced, to the tune of a couple hundred bucks.
I think it's a great service, and I recommend it to anyone.

[Matt Shapiro]

I have been using them for about 2 years and they have provided great customer service. I also include them "at no cost" which involved me rolling it into my prices. I find that my clients and their realtors like the fact that I have this extra service and I haven't found it to be a negative. In the 2 years they have paid 2 claims. One was an electric water heater that stopped working between the time after the inspection and the clients move indate (about a month later). It was repaired and American Home Warranty reimbursed them. The second was a leaking dishwasher(it was strange that clients dishwasher was the same model as mine and we both got the same leak within 3 days of each other) about 60 days into the 90 warranty in which the client stated his other home warranty refused to pay for the repairs. AHW did reimbursed for the repair and the client called to thank me for offering the warranty.
I like the fact that AHW sends you an email with the clients claim, ask you some questions pertaining to the claim and then email you later with the end result.
So basically, I like it for my business model but it may not be for everybody.

[Andy Cox]

I forgot about that - AHW called me on the claim from my clients. Fortunately, they had called me first, so I already knew, and had gone over to assess it. So, when AHW called, I gave them the answers they needed and told me to tell my client they would be getting a check. It was nice being the one to tell them the warranty company was sending them a check.:)

[Mark Mustola]

A friend of mine had nothing by bad Experiences with AHW. The company wouls always first try to get out of a claim. Thaen the customer would call my friend to complain. After a while It give my friend a bad name with many unhappy customers. He stoped offering the warrenties because they were more touble then they were worth.

[Andy Cox]

I've only had one claim in two years with them. On that one, I had no problems, and my client had nothing but good things to say about the whole process.
They didn't pay on the resultant water damage, but did pay very quickly on the A/C repairs and service calls. And the AHW claims person was very professional to me.
It's like a lot of services and products - it's not for everyone. I'd recommend trying it, and if you have a claim, keep close tabs with your client and get their feedback on the claims process. If it's bad, dump it.

[Rick Bunzel]

I have used AHW for about 4 years now. Over the four years I think my customers filed about 6 claims. AHW handled them and I got positive feedback from the clients. There were two other customers who claims were bogus or for appliances older than 10 years. I have the clients sign a copy of the warranty so they know the terms.

Overall for the price and the positive approach to potential problems, I am always surprise that more inspectors don't use this service. From a marketing point of view, I am one of the only inspectors in my area doing this so it sets me apart. It also helps manage issues that could be a liability problem without my company paying hard cash out of my pocket. I like to think of it as a way to manage risk. The cost of coverage is modest so it is worth considering,

//Rick

[Randy King]

I am have used AHW for since last year and have had only positive feedback. My customers enjoy knowing that if something happens most of it is covered but beyond that the customers always enjoy the fact that I care about my customers and there well being. I think it is extremely important to have a comp. advantage over other HI's in your area and I know this as well as marketing and so much more is what sets me apart and it has helped my business thus far. Also, AHW gives you tons of free marketing materials continually all you have to do is ask!