HAVING YOUR WARRANTY SERVED

Knucklehead.

That is just one of the many things I called myself recently. That is the only one suitable for a family newspaper.

I began the verbal self-spankings when it occurred to me that, over the past few years, I have doled out several thousand dollars that I probably did not have to. That’s right – had I simply stopped going to cockfights…

Oh, wait. Different problem. My blown money problem had to do with home repairs.

I have owned my home for over three years. When I got the house, I did the sensible thing and got a home warranty policy. The policy was supposed to be an insurance policy on all of my appliance-type stuff. Any time something mechanical in my house got sick, these people would send an appliance doctor out to cure it. It was a sound investment, I thought. And, religiously, I renewed each year, sending my hard-earned money to the warranty company.

So here’s the problem – despite numerous home repairs over the past three years, not once did I call the home warranty folks. I have repaired the heater, air conditioner, disposal, and sprinkler system – all items covered under my home warranty. But did I call the insurance company one time to get them to pay for it? No. And you know why? Because I’m a knucklehead.

The realization that I had let my home warranty sit idle while I paid for repairs myself became clear when I returned from vacation and found my house to be in the subarctic temperature range. In the summer, this would be OK, as this would mean the air conditioner was working. But in the winter – bad. Very bad.

I immediately called the heating repair guy. In a matter of hours, the heat was speeding through my home, establishing a far more appropriate 80-degree indoor mark. As I handed the man a check for his efforts, a little voice said to me, "Why do we even bother paying for our home warranty?"

Yes, that little voice belonged to my wife. She sat there in amazement as I let yet another wad of cash float out the door, despite our yearly contribution to a company who already agreed up front to pay for these things.

At that point, all of the repairs came flooding into my mind. I began to steam as I thought about how much money had been paid out. Knucklehead, I said, over and over with some variation.

I decided I would call the home warranty company and see about getting reimbursed. I was only going to ask for reimbursement on the most recent repair. The other ones would be chalked up as Idiot Tax.

I spoke to a very nice woman who told me that it is company policy that folks call them first, and they call a repair person for you. I explained that I had a four-month old child, and was mainly concerned with getting my heat back and working, lest I have a childsicle. That and I was a knucklehead.

The woman told me to send a letter to the reimbursements department, explaining what was done, and that I called the repair company directly because of a child in the home. She said it was not necessary to mention that I was a knucklehead.

In about a week’s time, I got a letter from the company informing me that they would indeed pay for the repairs. Although they did make it quite clear that I should call next time. In the letter, the said, "As your contract states, ‘MIKE’S HOME WARRANTY COMPANY (NYSE: MHWC) will not reimburse for service performed without its prior approval.’ Although contractually we are not liable for your payment, we have made a business decision to reimburse you." Translation: "You know the rules. Call us before the repair next time or no dough. Dig?"

Now that I have learned my lesson, I will be sure to call the home warranty folks any time something breaks in my house. A little bit of wait is nothing if someone else will pay for it. Just think of all the money I’ll be saving! I’m sure that over time, I will have saved so much money that I won’t even think about all of the times I failed to use it. Plus, I can finally pay off those cockfighting debts.