Question on Home Warranty Companies

Question on Home Warranty Companies

************************************************ for SF, Bay Area, California home

Are there are such companies that cover :

- home alarm systems and / or

- garden sprinkler systems ?

Please let me know.

Thanks, Kim

Reply to
kimshapiro100
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"Home warranties" are usually state-wide guarantees by builders or governments that cover only fixtures. Home alarms or garden sprinklers are not fixtures. Any "warranty" for them might be either the vendors' guarantee or a matter for your ordinary insurance agent.

Reply to
Don Phillipson

Yes, some companies will, but they are no better than the companies that do not. Home warranties are about the worst possible investment you can make. Do some searching on this group and find the stories of no payments, junk equipment, poor quality labor and so forth.

Get a quote on the cost of the warranty. Then put that money into a savings account set aside for typical home repairs. You'll come out thousands of dollars ahead over time and have better quality work. The warranty company is in business to make a profit. They take you money and give back as little as possible, keeping some for themselves. You can do the same thing cheaper.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I am sure you can add these items to a policy. But why? Most home warranties are a complete joke. Your alarm and sprinkler will help with insurance.

Reply to
Phisherman

There are a variety of home warranties. What you are referring to above are generally "new home" warranties that cover certain defects for some number of years. Some states require them on new construction. Typically major items like the foundation are covered for a longer period, maybe 10 years, while other items like flooring, etc are covered for a shorter period, if at all.

The other type of home warranty is a policy anyone can buy. Sometimes sellers provide one as an incentive. They typically include HVAC, plumbing, roofing, appliances, etc. They could include alarms and sprinkler systems, but I have not heard of anyone in this group that had such coverage. I'd think alarms would be one thing they would probably avoid, because they present some unique issues and are not typically handled by companies that do appliance repair, etc, that these warranty companies engage with.

I agree with Ed. Generally, these policies are a bad deal. If you look at what you are paying, you'd be better off setting that money aside and self insuring. An alarm system is a good example. None of the components in the typical system are very expensive. It's not like medical insurance, where you could suddenly have a $100K expense. And if you google here a bit, you will find lots of people that were not happy when they had to use the insurace. Not satisfied in terms of what was actually covered once you read the fine print, the response time, quality of repairs, etc.

Reply to
trader4

Sure you can get that covered. However it is not a warranty, it is an insurance polity and have you noticed all those nice fancy buildings insurance companies own? That's because they hire people to figure out how much they are going to need to pay out on your home then they like double that and that is what you pay.

You certainly don't want to cover what you can afford to replace yourself or do without. Put the money into the bank and you can be your own insurance company and avoid all the taxes, overhead CEO bonuses etc.

Reply to
sligoNoSPAMjoe

I agree. We were just offered one on an investment house. (it was the first one we bought worthy of a warranty ). I read through that information and politely declined. After reading ALL the paragraphs, it was apparent that there wasn't really all that much coverage there.

s
Reply to
Steve Barker

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