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Buying a home is a big investment. When you decide to take the next step and purchase a home, you will be offered the opportunity to purchase a home warranty. The purpose of a home warranty is to give you the peace of mind that if any part of the home fails, it can be fixed affordably. But sometimes, that's not always the case.

Let's start with the basics. What is a home warranty? A home warranty is not to be confused with homeowners insurance. Homeowners insurance covers dangers like fires, hail, property crimes and certain types of water damage that could affect the overall structure of the home, or personal belongings. A home warranty only covers specific components of the home.

A home warranty is a contract between you and the home warranty company that provides discounted repair and replacement services on your home's furnace, air conditioner, plumbing and electrical system. Home warranty companies have agreements with service providers, so when something covered by your home warranty breaks down, the home warranty company will send one of its predetermined service providers to examine the problem. You have zero choice in the service provider the home warranty company chooses. See the problem?

Here's a simple example. Say your furnace breaks down in the middle of the night. You wake up the next morning and immediately call the home warranty company to have them send a service technician to fix your furnace. So what happens if the home warranty company sends an unqualified service technician to repair your furnace? Well, you're out of luck.

Another drawback to a home warranty is it will not cover items that have not been properly maintained. If you bought an older home, you inherited the 10 year old furnace, whether it has been properly maintained or not. So when the furnace breaks down and the service technician deems it improperly cared for and will not fix it, you take on the costly repair charges your home warranty won't cover. Also, home warranties have numerous exclusions, as well as dollar limits for each repair and each year. All of these things work against the home owner.

Home warranties limit the amount of freedom a home owner has over which company will repair their major appliances if something goes wrong. Don't put your trust in the wrong hands. Go with a company you know will get the job done right, no matter what the circumstance might be. We're focused on one thing, making our customers happy. We aren't going to charge you hidden fees or tell you we can't perform maintenance on your machine because it was improperly cared for. Our goal is to make sure your unit is fixed and you are back to living comfortably in your home. To schedule your next maintenance appointment, give us a call at 317-291-4909 or visit our website today!

Give Chapman Heating, Air Conditioning, and Plumbing, to answer all your HVAC needs!