Choice Home Warenty
Complaint 31240 Details

We purchased the "Total Plan" home warranty for our new home on 7/26/11. We closed on our home 8/25/11 after a thorough home inspection was completed in which many potential problems were identified and repaired before the sale was complete. The air conditioning unit was inspected and was working properly at the time. No concerns were identified by the home inspector. The unit was also working well when we moved in our new home on 8/31/2011. On 9/10/11 (6 weeks after the warranty was purchased) the unit stopped cooling our home. We immediatly notified Choice Home Warranty thinking "this is why we purchased a complete home warranty (just in case something like this happens)". On 9/12/11 a service tech was sent to our home and found the compressor on the 12 yr old unit had failed. After filing the claim with the warranty company and no response. On 9/13/11 I called Choice Home Warranty and was transferred several times. After a long period of holding, I was told that my claim would not be paid. They said it was determined that the loss must have been due to a pre-existing condition since my policy had only been in effect for few of weeks. I ask to speak to a supervisor. I was told that the warranty company had a department that analyzes the possible cause of each loss and it was determined that a compressor on an airconditioning unit does not fail in such a short period of time. I explained the home inspection and the fact that the unit had been operating perfectly until the day of the claim. I was told there was no coverage under my policy and to refer to my contact under the 'Limits of Liability' section. I asked if there was anyone else i could speak to to appeal the decision and was told that my only recourse was to provide the 12 years of maintenance records for the unit to prove it had been serviced according to the manufactureres recommended guidelines for service and the decision could then be re-considered. I, of course, just purchased the home a month earlier and could not provide these records. Even more troubling, after speaking to the local air conditioning repair company that was sent to my home by Choice Home Warranty, I was told that they did work for several home warranty companies had only been contracting with Choice Home Warranty for a short period of time. I was the 7th claim that they had filed with Choice and the 7th denial to provide coverage under this warranty plan. The cost of the new compressor for our a/c unit was $1600.00 which we paid and now have a cool home again. We want other consumers to know of our story and beware of this home warranty scam. We had another home warranty company for 10+ years on our prior home and had several claims during that time with absolutely no complaints. Do not make Choice Home Warranty your "choice" when selecting a home repair warranty.