Case in point is a home warranty lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs against CHW Group Inc. (CHW, Choice Home Warranty), an enterprise issuing extended warranty products to consumers for home appliance repairs. According to the Asbury Park Press (7/30/14), CHW was happy to collect premiums for policies, but was not so forthcoming when a claim related to a failure of an important home system was made.Air conditioners and refrigerators, for example. In a hot climate air conditioning is not only vital to an individual’s health, a home that is consistently hot can lead to the failure of appliances. As for a refrigerator or freezer, consumers are rightly skittish about filling an appliance with expensive food without the capacity to quickly fix or replace a failed unit in order to avoid spoilage, and any subsequent financial loss.
That’s why consumers turn to home warranty companies.
According to the Park Press report, CHW advertises “home warranties” that provide what is described as “comprehensive coverage” for important appliances and home systems, with a view to repair or replace if something goes wrong. According to the state’s case, CHW advertises “peace of mind” for consumers.
However, according to the state’s extended warranty lawsuit, CHW allegedly denied legitimate claims by employing the use of deceptive practices.
The home warranty lawsuit notes that when consumers submitted a claim for a repair or for a loss, CHW allegedly denied claims due to the defendant’s assertion that consumers had not properly and adequately cared for their appliances. In other cases, consumers were offered cash buyouts that were well below the value that consumers invested in replacing a defective appliance covered by the extended warranty.
The bad faith insurance report notes that The Better Business Bureau (BBB) passed 902 complaints - some of which had already been resolved, according to the defendant - to the division. As of this writing, the BBB listing for Choice Home Warranty of Edison, New Jersey, showed, in actual fact, 965 complaints within the last three years, with 399 complaints in the last 12 months. CHW did not carry accreditation with the BBB, and on a scale of A through F, CHW presented with an “F’” rating.
READ MORE HOME WARRANTY INSURANCE LEGAL NEWS
CHW denies the insurance claim denied allegations.
Consumers will often purchase an extended warranty for their home once the initial warranty issued by a contractor for a new home expires. Similarly, consumers will also purchase extended coverage for important appliances and systems such as furnaces, air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers. When a warranty company reneges on its obligation, home warranty lawsuits usually follow.
READER COMMENTS
Mandi
on
1-6-2020 I called Choice Home Warranty and I spoke with Elizabeth employee # (would not provide # or last name) she proceeded to argue with me for over an hour stating “they did not have a decision” at that time as well as advised me that they tell all their technicians that come out not to tell the customer whether or not the claim is approved or denied and they should stay quiet and let the customer receive an approval or denial letter. I explained to her that I had NEVER received a letter from them about approval or denial. She then changed and said it would be an email. She stated I should receive a decision within a couple hours (I did not receive an email until the next morning which was a denial letter). I asked to speak with a manager and after a 10 minute hold, she came back on the line and stated there was not a manager there and that I would need to call back tomorrow (1/7/2020) and ask customer service to connect me to the Determination department. I insisted she take note of everything I said so I didn’t have to continue to repeat the entire story time after time, she assured me she did. I agreed to call back the next morning.
1-7-2020 I called Choice Home Warranty and spoke with Melissa employee # (would not provide # or last name) and asked her to transfer me to the Determination Department. She asked what the issue was, and I replied that there should be notes on the account. She then refused to transfer me to the Determination Department because a decision had already been issued so I would need to visit their website and submit an appeal. I demanded to speak with a manager. After 20 minutes of her telling me what the manager was going to tell me I again demanded to be connected by phone with a manager who could speak for themselves. I was put on another 10-minute hold that was finally answered by Fredida (manager) employee # 18521256. After going back and forth with her for over an hour, Fredida submitted an appeal to the case management department and stated I would receive the contact information within 4 hours. I instead received an email stating I should receive the contact information for a Case Manager within 24 hours. After another few hours I received the information to our assigned case manager, Paula Monsalve, who requested I contact her right away. I called the number and entered the extension and was sent straight to voicemail. I left a voicemail that included the case number, name on account, contact number and asked for a return call as soon as possible. I also followed the call up immediately with an email letting her know I had called and left a message. An hour later I tried to call again and still it went straight to voicemail, I tried 3 additional times and still was sent straight to voicemail (during the stated hours of her being available, I however did not leave additional messages). I spoke with the technician, Anthony, that came out to fix the unit yesterday (01-06-2020) and told him what they said the reason for denial was. He explained that there was very little dust on the blower motor (he took pictures) and that it is impossible for consumers to clean those parts as they would have to completely take the unit apart to access the blower motor. He further explained that if the consumer did in fact try to clean the blower motor it would cause it to be unbalanced among other things, which IS in the (“CHW”) clause as NOT COVERED. He stated that they were deliberately trying to avoid fixing the AC unit that has worked for 23 years until now. I have a copy of the diagnosis that Anthony submitted to (“CHW”) and nowhere does it state that it is broken due to lack of proper servicing. The AC unit was just serviced in September 2019.
01/09/2020 I finally received a return call from the case manager, who left a message on my voicemail and also sent an email. I was asked again to return her call, which I tried to do but got voicemail again. (She did note in her email that we would need to speak clearly and include certain things in the voicemails because ALL voicemails are translated into email messages). I received a call back from case manager, Paula Monsalve and she stated she had read over the Technicians report and saw the pictures he sent in and that the service would NOT be covered because it was due to lack of maintenance. CHW “claims” that the people who makes the decision to approve or deny claims are Licensed technicians in the fields of what they cover (such as electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, etc.) I asked for the name and employee number which she could not provide of the “licensed technician” and then placed me on hold and came back to tell me that they ARE NOT all licensed but do not have to be to approve or deny services they only have to be if they are working on the unit in question. I asked her to contact the Technician THEY (CHW) sent out and ask him if the issue was due to lack of maintenance or from normal wear and tear… she said she would call but it would NOT change the decision. I ask her how they determined the denial and she stated it was based on what the Technician sent to the company which she began to read to me and it was NOTHING like the paperwork he left for our records, it was in fact the email they (CHW) had sent to us. I then asked for a copy of the information and was denied stating it is for their records ONLY but that I could contact the company that came out and ask them for the records of what was sent to CHW. I asked for her corporate number and was told that she had an address but no phone number she could give me. I took down the address (seen at bottom of notes). I then ask to speak to her supervisor, and she proceeded to tell me what he was going to say…I ask her to please connect me to him and allow him to speak for himself. I was connected to her Case Management supervisor named Kevin Niemcewicz. I was asked to explain my issue to him and while doing so, I included the 2 previous claims one on the water heater that was denied due to the customer service rep for CHW putting in the wrong name of the broken part as well as the service tech telling her it was the wrong part she was documenting. And the other for our clothes dryer that took over a month and several service charges and never was properly fixed so we had to dry clothes for 5 full cycles to get them dry, and after paying our premium and several serval service charges we still ended up having to purchase a new dryer. He did not want to hear about the other claims, and I told him I was using them to establish a pattern for him when it came to CHW fixing broken items that they “claim” to cover. Kevin still denied the claim stating that the picture he received was of an inside unit and it was not being covered due to rust and corrosion … which is something completely different than the denial email that was sent out to us. He sent the picture that they were sent by the technician and continued to insist that it was on our inside unit… which it is NOT! It is the outside unit and is exposed to the elements year-round and some dust, dirt and debris are expected as it is outside. After a lengthy conversation back and forth as to where the unit is located, he stated that he (Kevin) has been in the HVAC industry for 17 years (yet he works at CHW) and is NOT licensed but worked under someone who holds a license, he can tell by the picture that it IS IN FACT my inside unit that is in the picture and it IS NOT COVERED under their policy and the denial decision stands and will not be changed for any reason. I again asked him why they could not contact the company they (CHW) contracted to come and diagnose the issue and have them tell them that it was caused by normal wear and tear. He proceeded to tell me that the decision would NOT BE CHANGED FOR ANY REASON! I informed him that I was aware of the numerous lawsuits currently against them including 3 open class action lawsuits and that I had filed complaints with the BBB, the Texas Attorney General and added our information to the class action lawsuit. He replied with “why would you do that before giving us a chance to correct the issue”? I told him that I left the last line stating “IF THE OUTCOME SHOULD CHANGE THEN I WOULD NOTIFY THEM AND WITHDRAW MY COMPLAINT” at the same time he is asking me this question I had received an email that was sent before I began speaking to Kevin stating that the claim was denied and closed. So, I in return asked him why CHW would send out an email closing the case before I had the chance to speak with him and try to resolve the issue. He had no response to the question. I requested a cancellation of my policy and a refund of my money and he cancelled the policy and made a note on the account to issue a refund in the amount of $120 which would be in the form of a check and would be received by me within 30 days (which would be by 02/09/2020). We shall see what happens.
***See additional notes regarding service provided by Choice Home Warranty***
*** This is not the only issue I have had with Choice Home warranty not covering items that are “claimed” to be covered. I submitted a request for my water heater to be fixed through a lady (unknown name due to refusal to give) with (“CHW”) customer service and because she put down the wrong part name that was broken, even though we tried telling her that was the incorrect part name, the claim was denied and I was forced to purchase a new water heater after paying my monthly fee the service fee for them to send a company to come and look at the water heater. The Technician also tried to tell her that the part she was reporting as broken was incorrect. She argued with him saying that the part he was talking about was technically named "whatever term she used" which is NOT COVERED in our contract. After an hour or so he finally gave up and left it to us to handle (I don’t blame him). He also told us that His company had decided that once they completed the tickets they had already received, they were canceling their contract with (“CHW”) due to them denying most claims and if the claims were approved, it was taking them months to get paid through (“CHW”). We had to purchase a new water heater as well as tear out the sheetrock that had molded due to the water heater breaking and replace it all, from start to finish (which cost additional funds).
*** I submitted a request for my clothes dryer to be checked and fixed and (“CHW”) sent out a company to “fix” it. The first “issue” the technician said was the issue he got approved and ordered the part and came back 2 weeks later to finally install it. Once the install was complete and the technician had left, I found the old part that was removed from my dryer laying in my front yard. Two (2) days later we had to call (“CHW”) again because the dryer still wasn’t drying the clothes. They sent the same technician out and although he was not happy about having to come back out, he determined that the heating element was out. He spoke with (“CHW”) and got an approval and ordered the part. After 2 more weeks he finally showed up to “fix” the dryer. He spent 3 hours in my living room talking about politics while he let the dryer run. He claimed it heated up well and was fixed. I went to dry a load of clothes only to find that the dryer still wasn’t getting hot. I received a call from (“CHW”) asking me to take a survey about my experience and to please rate them a 5. I explained that I could not take the survey because the dryer still was not fixed. The gentleman opened another ticket and the same Technician was sent back out for a third (3rd) time. He then expressed that he was not happy to have been sent out when he had already “fixed” the dryer twice before and it must be something we were doing to the dryer or just didn’t know how to run it. He spent 2 hours looking at our dryer while cursing under his breath and sent my 14-year-old son to “clean out” the lint trap under the house (my son was not being paid to do the job of the technician). He finally came to a conclusion as to what the issue was and while putting our dryer back together, he broke some clips. He ordered what was needed to “fix” the issue and the clips he broke and had them sent to my address. The day they arrived we called and let him know they had come in. Several weeks passed and he FINALLY came back out to “fix” our dryer once more. (note it has been over 2 months since our dryer worked. We were having to take our clothes to the laundry mat which was costing us additional funds on top of the service fees and monthly fee to “CHW”) I am not sure what he “fixed” on the dryer other than replacing the clips he broke (except for the one he broke again while trying to put back on) but our dryer still was not fixed. In order to dry one (1) standard load of clothes (it didn’t matter if it was light material or heavy material) the dryer had to run for 5 FULL cycles to dry the one load. I contacted CHW and was told that the technician turned in a completed ticket that stated the dryer was fixed and there was nothing further they could do to fix it. I was forced to purchase another dryer even though CHW states if they cannot fix it, cannot get the parts for whatever reason they will replace the appliance.
***please see information (including links) on current and past lawsuits against Choice Home Warranty***
***I searched the internet and found several lawsuits for fraud against Choice Home Warranty, including Arizona and New Jersey. I found one (1) lawsuit that had been settled for over $700,000 (against “CHW”) and was settled out of court. I also found several class actions lawsuits against Choice Home Warranty and forwarded our information to them and will await a response from the attorneys regarding the class action lawsuit. I also found many, many pages of complaints on the BBB site (there were 4,830 complaints made against Choice Home Warranty on the Better Business Bureau website, as of June 28, 2019. There are currently 5,263 complaints on the BBB site as of 01/07/2020) for Choice Home Warranty doing the same thing to countless customers which is offering a service and using a term “normal wear and tear” to deny the claim and avoid paying for the product that is “claimed” to be covered.
*** Links to lawsuits***
https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumers/2019/10/02/choice-home-warranty-faces-fraud-charges-amidst-lawsuit/3841804002/
https://www.bbb.org/us/nj/edison/profile/home-warranty-plans/choice-home-warranty-0221-90048733/complaints
https://www.app.com/story/money/business/2015/06/15/choice-home-warranty/71248424/
https://www.consumerclassactionlawyers.com/choice-home-warranty-class-action-investigation.html
https://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/legal-news/home-warranty-insurance-lawsuit/home-warranty-lawsuit-insurance-32-20110.html
(I am still adding lawsuit links, there are plenty more)
Choice Home Warranty Corporate office
1090 King Gorges Post Road
Building 10 suit 1007
Edison NJ 08837
Mia Monique Broughton
on
Shana Linder
on
Christine riegler
on
Kelly Bain
on
What a scam.
Tequila Johnson
on
Dennis S. Sherman
on
Josh
on
Joseph Hernandez
on
Roscoe M Trout
on
Mike Nicholson
on
Sudeep Nambiar
on
I am in the same boat as you guys although not as badly affected as some of you. I am going after them as well. They are unethical and fraudulent to the core. When my water heater's anode rod was busted and sprung a leak at that point I called them and they sent a tech guy who said the water heater can't be saved. I call them up and they say sorry case closed as they dont cover the tank. What the F@#$ ? Feel free to reach out to me in case you want to collaborate.
I am an NJ resident. I have filed against them in BBB and also called up NJ consumer affairs division to report this. I should be hearing about the next steps in a couple of days. I am also planning to file with the Federal trade comission as they are in conflict with section 5 of the FTC act.
Hang in there fellas.
Dian Peterson
on
John Lovett
on
I bet they are in northern NJ. That place is notorious for being a "toilet"!!
Shearly
on
I would sign up!!!
john
on
Randy Clark
on
Is there a class action suit for vendors against CHW?