Lawsuits and Consumer Reporters Fight Home Warranty Companies

Las Vegas, NVLawsuits may be the go-to to ensure companies uphold their end of a bargain, but consumer reporters are also being asked to help consumers deal with home warranty companies. Sometimes, those consumer reporters uncover a great deal of information about home warranty companies and how they operate. In other cases, a home warranty lawsuit may be filed to ensure the consumer’s rights are protected.

8 News Now (7/7/14) runs a feature called 8 on Your Side, which examines complaints about companies from consumers. The investigative reporter was asked to look into a company called Sensible Home Warranty, which sold Marie Frisa a warranty policy. According to the report, however, when Frisa had a claim for a new microwave, Sensible Home warranty refused to pay out her claim.

Asked to investigate the situation, reporter Michelle Mortensen found that Sensible Home Warranty has more than 1,950 complaints (1,100 of which were resolved) with the Better Business Bureau - and an F rating with the bureau - and is banned in two states. An investigation into the company was undertaken by the Nevada Division of Insurance but in the meantime, the company reportedly went out of business.

8 on Your Side was not the only consumer reporter looking into Sensible Home Warranty. On July 6, 2014, ABC15 in Arizona also aired a report on the company. In this case, Joe Ducey looked into a complaint from Felice Weiner that Sensible Home Warranty was not helping her with her air conditioner.

According to the report, Weiner was told by Sensible Home Warranty employees that she had to prove maintenance checks on the air conditioner for the past three years, which she did. The company then came up with other reasons not to pay the claim.

Ducey reports that some states filed cease-and-desist orders against Sensible Home Warranty or revoked the company’s license. Like Mortensen, Ducey found that Sensible Home Warranty appears to be out of business.

According to a Better Business Bureau report on Sensible Home Warranty, the State of Oklahoma fined the company $5,000 for not complying with the state’s Service Warranty Act. The same report noted that the State of Utah ordered the company to cease and desist any insurance or home warranty business in the state because the business is not licensed and, “the business failed to pay legitimate claims made on home warranty contracts sold in the State of Utah, or to pay them in a timely manner, and the business failed to respond to inquiries of the Commissioner.”

Lawsuits have been filed against other home warranty companies alleging they failed to uphold their end of their warranty contract.