Home Warranty of America [HWA]
Reviews and Complaints

um lets see dumb ### where do i begin, you own the house, you own the water heater, ill speak for that company, and the entire 7 billion people on earth, (it is your problem) they gave you a price to replace the water heater, and you said you would rather do a half ### job and repair it, the plumbing in your house dosnt care about a bad economy, or that your straped for money. Your house, Your decissions. not the plumber, not the roofer, not god. YOU, OR THE OWNER OF THE HOME ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING AND MAINTAINING YOUR PROPERTY. If you can't afford to do that, then sell it to some 1 that can. stop blaming every 1 who comes to your home to give you a price for replacing, or repairing, your out dated, (probley needed replaced 10 years ago) ###.

Home Warranty America SUCKS! I had a free one-year warranty included with the purchase of my first home and that was all I needed to find out how terrible and worthless they really are.

I think many home inspections are done either from their office or in a car out front of the house. As an HVAC contractor, not associated with any home warranty companies I might add, I'm repeatedly told by new homeowners that the AC passed the home inspection when I know it's absolute BS. Isn't it amazing how many AC systems breakdown the first day/week you move in. Why anyone, homeowner or contractor, would deal with home warranties is beyond me. I live in Texas & respond to my customers within 1 hour. I have a loyal base & many referrals. I've spoken to contractors who work with those companies. They say, they don't get squat & have to flag houses for code violations & other astronomically inflated miscellanous maintenance fees. I don't understand why people don't save their $50/month charges & call a real HVAC tech? 90% of my calls are handled for under $200. plus I'm there within an hour. I carry thousands of dollars in parts & outside of a compressor or inner/outer coil, I have your part about 95% of the time & repair it in 1 hour. I'm sorry you're not my customer because if so you wouldn't be posting here, you'd be sitting home cooling off telling your friends about me.

Did you ever get your issues resolved? I’m going through the same thing.

I have been a customer of HWA since purchasing my home in 2015. I would also add that each year I have renewed my contract to the Premium upgrade plan with the expectation that I would receive premium service from my home warranty company. That is not the case and I am extremely frustrated with the poor customer service that I have received and am at the point where I feel that I need to seek legal remedies in order to resolve the issues that I am having in getting this company to honor the contract that I have with them.

On October 31st, I opened a claim (Claim #3226351) for a problem with my hot water heater which was making loud knocking noises. The initial service vendor who was assigned the claim, dispatched and received the $75 trade fee (Pipe Doctor 247) diagnosed the issue as sediment in the tank and indicated on the work order that it was a non-mechanical issue. After several attempts to contact this vendor for an update on the claim and never receiving a return phone call I followed up with HWA and was told that the authorization for repair or replacement was denied because it was a non-mechanical issue. I referred the customer service person to the Premium Upgrade clause of my contract which clearly states that “problems due to sediment” are covered and at that time, I was told that a new claim would be opened (Claim #SRO0025392), and a second vendor would be dispatched for a recall since the first vendor did not adequately diagnose this issue and the claim had been closed.

The second vendor (Plumbtegrity, LLC) came out on November 13th and provided the same diagnosis, sediment in the tank, but said that given the age of the 9 year old tank, a flush and drain was not an option and that the unit needed to be replaced. He indicated that he would submit his findings and an authorization request to HWA recommending the hot water heater be replaced. Several days later after not receiving a follow-up call or status report, I reached out to the vendor and was told by his wife, Susan that the claim was denied because it was a non-mechanical issue. This began a vicious cycle of phone conversations with countless number of HWA representatives who continued to say that the claims are denied due to a non-mechanical issue and that it must be escalated to authorization, but there is no one in authorizations that I, as a customer can speak with and no one from HWA has ever contacted me to discuss the denial of the claims despite my asking to be transferred or that I be contacted by authorizations.

At one point, I was told that the claim for a replacement water had been approved by HWA, but at the same time Plumbtegrity was being told the complete opposite that the claim was denied and they stopped communicating with me and again, the claim was closed out.

I have always had to initiate contact with HWA and have spent a great deal of time on the phone going back and forth with the customer service.

Most recently on November 25th, a third claim was opened (Claim #SRO0041473), and a third vendor (Valiant Plumbing) was dispatched to again re-diagnose the problem.

The technician, Jason came out on last Thursday, December 5th, once again gave the same diagnosis as the previous vendor that the hot water heater needed to be replaced given its age and the amount of sediment. While there he indicated that he would be submitting the authorization request immediately and I watched him sit in his vehicle for approximately 20 minutes after he completed the service call entering the information.

This morning (December 9th) I called HWA to get a status update and was first given the “non-mechanical issues” excuse once again by the agent and when I again referred him to the premium upgrade clause regarding sediment was then told that due to a problem with the system, the vendor was unable to submit an authorization request and that he (the vendor) needed to resubmit the request. This is totally unacceptable and I should not have to continue to receive the spend countless hours, wasting time trying to obtain services from a company that I am paying a monthly fee.

Throughout this process, I have been researching other customer experiences with HWA and I am completely flabbergasted at the level of dissatisfaction among most of the persons who provide reviews and feedback regarding the company.

UACCEPTABLE! This has been the worst experience I have ever had. I have been without my refrigerator for 30 days but according to HWA it has only been 17 business days. They've been told my situation concerning me caring for disabled adults in my home but they don't care. I have explained to them the importance of refrigerating medication and I get the run around or they hang up on me. This is unacceptable! They've (HWA) been told by the vendor they recommended that the parts needed are not available anymore. According to our contract they are to replace the refrigerator since it can't be repaired. How long does it take to make a decision? They've been paid for their service but are unwilling to provide me the service I need as stated in their contract. I am looking into legal action because this type of business can't be tolerated. The service they say they will provide is a SCAM.

Mrs. Murray

total agreed. they are just stealing your money.

I use to work for them as a plumbing contractor. The more calls I got denied the more work they would send me. Its their rule. Lowest ticket cost gets all the work. I quit now they want even talk to me. HWA sucks. Johnie Davis

This is the worsed warranty company I dealt with. They do not care; all they care about is how to screw you out of money. Here are my two encounters with the devil:

1. I had a leak in the house and they could not find a contractor to come out. I paid for someone to fix the issue myself. Can you imagine the operator on the other side telling you I have to wait until they find a contractor? Meanwhile, your house is being transformed into a nice pool in one of the bedrooms. When I called again to see if they would pay for the fix, they denied the payment.
2. My oil furnace quit, they sent someone from Arundel Heating in Maryland, they thought it was an issue with the small engine that fires the furnace; they ordered the part. I told them that there is smell of oil in the furnace area; but did nothing about it and said it was the norm. My oil company came to fill the tank, the guy that is doing the filling smelled the oil. He immediatley check the area and told me that he thinks that 99% that the heat exchange unit is busted. I told the guy from the Arundel heating when he came to change the small engine about the heat exchange unit and that it may be cracked, i was afraid of the soot all over the house. He then performed a compression test and find out indeed that I have a cracked heat exchange unit. He called HWA and informed them. Well, they did not believe him, they sent Silverado Heat and cooling after I stayed without heat for 6 days. Silverado could not come anytime soon and HWA does not pay for weekend emergency work. When Rick came, he confirmed the same. Well, HWA told me that they will only pay $195 dollars to fix it since the unit was 19 years old but still under warranty. They only pay for the labor in the room where the unit resides, other labor charges, i must pay? Well, Rick told them he needs 6 hours @ 65 per hour? They tried to scam me by paying me only $195 as a payoff since i told them that I will rather change the unit. After several days of calls back and forth, we settle on $390 only. I just installed an oil furnace and heatpump combination for $6600. I am not sure where the BBB but that is something I intend to file against HWA. I would not recommend this company to my worse enemy. I have all the documentation to support the above claims.
Youssef Antar

Hot water Slab Leak. Home Warranty of America (referred to as HWA) was contacted. They sent out a company who identified our problem as a slab leak (I believe it was Acme Plumbing) - they don't do that type of work. HWA then sent out another plumber Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. They tore the wallboard under the water heater, drilled a hole in the wallboard in the master bath and gave us an estimate of $11, 200 for a complete water reroute and would be back the next day to start the job. In the meantime we were advised by HWA that Benjamin Franklin was no longer a contractor for their company, they apologized for not removing Benjamin Franklin Plumbing from their system and advised that they could look for another company or that we could find our own plumber, have them give an estimate and call them back - we complied another plumber with a 5 star rating. An estimate was written #0556. When the bill was submitted HWA didn't think it was detailed enough and asked for a re-written estimate, we complied and That bill was for $600 which was supposed to be reimbursed to us. HWA wanted to know what needed to be done in a phone conversation after the diagnosis, it was stated that we needed a hot water reroute and they said that was fine, have the job done and send the billing in for reimbursement, this was confirmed by two separate employees of HWA- never mentioning that a water reroute was not covered in their contract - verbal authorization was given to us because it wasn't a complete water reroute. The work was performed by our plumber who HWA authorized. The billing was written and paid and we were told there was not a problem for reimbursement just email the invoices, we complied and verified they received the invoices and we were told they would have a check sent out in 3-4 weeks. In between time HWA contacted our plumber and inquired regarding the repairs. They wanted to know Repair costs ($1200) minus access ($150), Drywall repair ($425) minus texture ($50) and the cost of materials ($223.44) which was a total of $1648.44 in customer reimbursements. Our plumber advised after speaking with HWA that my cost out of pocket should be approximately $200. HWA never contacted us even though they said they called and emailed. We contacted HWA [protected] wondering where our reimbursement was and at this time we were told we would have a check $750, not the $1648.44 (repair) plus $600 (diagnosis) expected from their verbal authorization by HWA representatives. I would like to have this company investigated for Insurance Fraud and receive the reimbursements that were verbally approved per HWA representatives to both myself and my plumber.

I've had the OrangePlus contract with them for about 6 months. My A/C went out recently, and they sent a technician out to my house to inspect the unit. When the technician told the company that the entire unit needed to be replaced, the company claimed it was a pre-existing condition. When I sent them documents as well as my home inspection report showing that the unit was in fact in working condition as of several weeks ago, the manager of the authorization department, Irene, proceeded to tell me that they would not cover my repair/replacement because my inspection report was not a valid one and get this...because it did not have PAGE NUMBERS. This is despite the fact that it was written by a licensed home inspector in my state. Since they couldn't find any other reason to deny my claim because my maintenance documentation was impeccable, they came up with some bogus reason like not having page numbers on my home inspection report. Absolutely absurd. I'm pursuing legal action against the company right now. But if you are thinking about buying a home insurance contract with this company, stay away. There is a reason why this company is so poorly ranked on this website (and others).

I think many home inspections are done either from their office or in a car out front of the house. As an HVAC contractor, not associated with any home warranty companies I might add, I'm repeatedly told by new homeowners that the AC passed the home inspection when I know it's absolute BS. Isn't it amazing how many AC systems breakdown the first day/week you move in. Why anyone, homeowner or contractor, would deal with home warranties is beyond me. I live in Texas & respond to my customers within 1 hour. I have a loyal base & many referrals. I've spoken to contractors who work with those companies. They say, they don't get squat & have to flag houses for code violations & other astronomically inflated miscellanous maintenance fees. I don't understand why people don't save their $50/month charges & call a real HVAC tech? 90% of my calls are handled for under $200. plus I'm there within an hour. I carry thousands of dollars in parts & outside of a compressor or inner/outer coil, I have your part about 95% of the time & repair it in 1 hour. I'm sorry you're not my customer because if so you wouldn't be posting here, you'd be sitting home cooling off telling your friends about me.

There were several attempts to have these problems fixed and was left out in the cold. well really it was the hot because i just bought my first home and they said that they talked to my girlfreind and said that she said it never worked but the first claim was made in may well guess i didn't need a A/C during that other 90degree weather. Then they said my septic system would be covered and sent someone they called out and talked to them and then said that it was an existing problem and not covered. WOW imagine that well heres $500 dollars thanks a lot.

HWA sucks

I paid $500 to join and eventually paid an extra $200 for the pleasure of being without a garbage disposal for over a month DURING THANKSGIVING which means I could not use my KITCHEN sink either! And instead of doing the work for you (the CUSTOMER) they expect you to pick your own contractors and submit the receipt. No thanks. Never again.

I have sat on hold for the past two days for over 1 hour each time when the person that answers phone says give me just a couple of minutes. I have an outstanding claim that we were supposed to be getting a certified letter with the check for the payout between jan. 8 to 10th. Nothing has come yet. I have been on hold too long and what this now

Claim has been waiting for management approval for over a week with no movement.

No escalation policy in place. Can't talk to a supervisor. Management is unreachable by any customer service rep. Only number listed is their main number, no home office number. Very, very, very frustrating to deal with.

Kathy Osgood

I guess I'm the lucky one because HWA actually covered my garbage disposal, but when it came to replacing a water heater, they just wouldn't budge. At first, I thought things were going to be ok because my first calls to them resulted in their contacting the the contractor and getting him to lump two service inspections into one call, thus saving me money. After the contractor came and went, I didn't hear from him for a few days, so I called him. He told me that HWA hadn't approved the water heater yet. So I called HWA, gave them my information, and they explained that it was still under review and would need two business days. After that, I called them again and was told that the inspection report they had on file said that the water heater was in immediate need of repair or replacement. When I challenged that statement, they insisted I send them a copy of the inspection report. I sent the report and was told by the person on the phone that she was going to authorize the repairs, and I could expect a call from the contractor in 72 business hours. After the time expired, I contacted HWA again and asked to speak to the person I'd spoken to, and I was told that person didn't really have the ability to authorize repairs without having the authorization reviewed, which it was, and was denied again. After I'd explained that I'd been through this process, and my warranty contract stipulates that I'm entitled to an upgrade anyway, the new representative said I sent them a copy of a re-inspection required by my lender which didn't mention my water heater, so because there was no mention of a water heater present on the property, they couldn't cover the water heater. (Remember when they initially said my water heater didn't pass inspection?) So I sent them the original, expecting that authorization would be forthcoming. After missing two weeks with my kids, I called the plumber and asked him to go ahead and replace my water heater, and would he please quote me the price for a tankless upgrade. It cost me $3600. My realtor got these people to say that they would go ahead and at least pay for half of the upgrade, and then I didn't hear from them at all. At this point, I think it's all said and done, but my realtor kept pushing, asked me if I'd been compensated, and when I told him no, he started calling them up and e-mailing. Now I'm at the point of wanting to take legal action. I don't just want that bill paid off. I want damages. I want emotional turmoil, suffering, and whatever else I can come up with. At this point, it would just make more sense if the company doing the inspection also provided the warranty.

I've had a gas leak in my home for 4 weeks now. HWA can't seem to send the right people out to fix it. I've had 5 different service providers come out and no one can identify the leak or fix it. Now, my gas is completely shut off (no hot water, no heater, no stove). They are the worst home warranty company I've every dealt with. They fix nothing and just have you run around in circles until you collapse.

Home Warranty of America has declined each and every claim that I have made.

1. My heater wasn't working and they declined the claim stating that the issue was with my damper system and they don't cover damper systems per our contract. The engineer told me that was not the case and the issue was the motherboard. He tried to call them and get them to cover it and they refused. I had to pay for a new motherboard out of pocket. - $485

2. My water heater isn't working. It takes a long time to heat up and then cuts in and out. They sent a service tech over who said that it just needed to be de-scaled. My dad owns a pump and de-scaled it for me, twice, and it still doesn't work. HWA wants "Proof" and won't send a tech out. I don't know how to give them "proof" and they won't tell me exactly what they qualify as "proof". Meanwhile, my hot water heater still doesn't work.

3. There was water pooling in my air duct. I called to file a claim and they said they wouldn't cover it. I called an HVAC company who came out and said the issue was that the AC coil was freezing up causing this water and that it should have been covered by HWA... but of course, they didn't cover it, and I paid out of pocket, again. - $208 My entire claim history. As you can see, they have refused to cover a single item.

Here is my entire claim history with them. Please note, that my claim on my hot water heater has been open since December and it is now March. That's 3 months without a working hot water heater. Also, note that they have never covered a single claim. These people are the WORST!

CURRENT CLAIMS
Claim ID Claim Date Claim Item Status Follow Up
1439021 12/08/2015 Water Heater Claim Submitted contact

CLAIM HISTORY
Claim ID Claim Date Claim Item HWA Cost
1538138 03/13/2016 Ductwork $.00
1412003 11/15/2015 Heating $.00
1254400 06/29/2015 Air Conditioning $.00

On Wednesday, I get a frantic call from my client. The Ac had gone out on the recently purchased home. They followed the HOME WARRANTY OF AMERICA policy instructions and called Home Warranty of America. Twenty Four hours later, a technician from the preferred vendor arrived. His demeanor was less than professional and proceeded to tell my senior clients that Home Warranty of America never replaces anything. They will only repair air conditioners. .. also, the part will take 7 to 10 days to arrive so find someplace to stay. He continued, ”Too bad if you don’t like it.”
I called your customer service line and after holding for 15 minutes was advised the claim was denied due to cause of loss – power surge - was not covered. I asked for an escalation and was directed to Kirtsen who only worked 9 to 5 CST. Thursday 8/1/13 at 9am CST, I called again. This time I was connected to Amy in (Sales or realtor relations?)
Amy had a very pleasant attitude and empathized with our situation and advised that a new tech from a different company would come out for a second opinion sometime between 2 and 5pm.
I met my clients at the home and learned they had slept on the floor of their sold home last night. They are seniors, he has diabetes. They are on fixed incomes.
We sat in the hot house and waited. At 5:30pm, John from All Florida Appliance arrived. The first thing he noted was how the previous tech left both inside and outside ac components in pieces. John recognized that this was a covered loss and proceeded to get authorization from an “authorizer” . I tried to call Amy, but by then she had gone for the day.
I was on my way home when I got a second frantic call from my client. HWA advised they would only pay for the outside compressor or about $1000. The inside component was operational according to the representative 1500 miles away. It was in pieces from the first techs workmanship.
When informed of the current state of the inside unit, we were informed that Florida requires the inside air handler be replaced and because Florida requires it be replaced even when it does not to be replaced, Home Warranty of America won’t replace them due to Exclusion VII B. – which says when a state requires we maintain compatibility between components, we don’t have to pay for it. ….UNLESS you thought to buy this tiny endorsement for $25.00 because it was not enough that you bought the Diamond plan with all the boxes checked on the website indicating that the consumer had purchased the most complete home warranty plan in existence.
I called Amy back, She again apologized but there was nothing further she could do as she was now getting in the way.
So 4 days later. It is now 4pm on a Friday. The HOME WARRANTY of AMERICA that cost $450.00 has confirmed they will pay $1000 for the outside compressor, but we are required to pay the selected vendor an additional $2500 to replace the inside unit as excluded by the policy.
As Real Estate professionals, we are constantly working to maintain credibility and integrity with our clients. They trust us for advise and counsel. In three short days, Home Warranty of America ruined a client relationship developed and nurtured for over a year.

Stay away from this company at all cost. Key word is cost that ends up being what you pay for no service and a pile of lies.
Temp was 105 and none of their service people do emergency work (also a Sunday)so they put it in as "Buy out procedure" where I locate and pay to have the service done. I was standing along side the A/C tech when he called for approval to do they work and it was approved.
Next day I called HWA and they had no record of any phone call from the service tech and said procedures where not followed and they would not pay. They also said they would not have agreed to the cost for emergency work nor OEM parts.
Got a call from their local approved A/C service company today saying they would be out this afternoon to look at the problem with the A/C. That is three days later at 100 degree temps.
Odd that the first call to them took less then a minute to be answered and when I call now from the same number the call does not get answered. Hmmmmmmmmmm

I have had the same horrible Service!
I also had cust serv tell me I am the manager when I ask for one.
My problem was I thought it was $100 no matter how many things were wrong (per realtor who convinced me to get the HWA) so I called with 2 problems (dish washer & electrical) So she then tells me it is $100 each. I said well I don't think the dish washer is worth $100 cause they are $250 new but I need to talk to my husband. She then says let me make the trade call and if you deicde not to dont make the apt. They have to set up the apt. I said ok. WELL then I am on vacation when i call and 2days a guy shows up at my house, no apt. I hadnt talked to my husband yet because I had just thought about it and decided I want a new dish washer. SO this guy shows up at 9am. My husband gets off work at 3am, so he wakes him and tells him I called and requested a dish washer be fixed. So him not knowing what is going on says ok. Then the guy from SEARS gets done. My husband calls and says he fixed the dishwasher. I said who? He tells me what happened. SO this guys just shows up and I am now responcible for the $100. Neither SEARS or HWA will make it right. I even told sears just give me a sears gift card & i'll buy my new dish washer their. They don't care. NO body cares or has cust service anymore. ALSO if a realtor tries pushing HWA on you RUn from them to because apparently they don't know the industry. BUT thats not even the end. I get home from vacation and as usual sink full of dishes. So i load dishwasher and it isn't even fixed! Neither company cares about this either. THEY are winners for sure!

Home Warranty of America does not pay valid claims

I have a warranty through HWA, and one month ago my LG washing machine malfunctioned. I called HWA, and the first repairman they tried to send out "didn't work on front loaders." The second repairman, after numerous visits and parts replacements, gave up and said he didn't know what the problem was. HWA then called in an "expert" for a "second opinion." This person, too, could not fix the LG washer. I am now stuck in an endless discussion with HWA who refuses to pay to replace my washer ... yet they cannot find someone to repair it. I have had numerous conversations with supervisor Michelle Clexson, who I initially found pleasant but she has become increasingly difficult and unreasonable. DO NOT BUY A HOME WARRANTY THROUGH HWA ... they refuse to pay valid claims.