"Am I missing something?"

No I think your assumptions are correct. I'm not a fan of third party warranties and this is one of many reasons.

It just seems like something I would want to be done now, and not X number of months in the future, when my home warranty isn't active anymore. My understanding is eventually the freon leak will make this problem happen again or ruin the unit. Am I missing something?

So you signed up for a home warranty simply to just fix your AC then cancel the contract?

Like a home warranty has never failed to realize what people do to try and cheat the system?

The home warranty knows what you spent on that contract, the length of that contract, how many service calls you've initiated from it, how much they have paid out since you took it out.

And you think a home warranty company is going to take a loss on you and every one else who wants a freebie? Home warranty companies make millions of dollars a year by collecting premiums, not giving away free HVAC systems.

Clearly you're new to this "game".

So now you realize the error of your ways and you start hearing the sound of money fleeing your wallet. Congratulations, you're now much wiser. Home warranties don't do what they promise to do. It's mostly smoke and mirrors.

The commericals on TV make it look "oh so good". Truth is stranger than fiction.

I don't work for home warranty companies. Best decision I ever made from a business perspective.

I service the Katy, Texas area.

@Austin Air Companie I think you failed to read where the OP said he got the home warrantee when he bought the house. He didn't buy it to get the AC Fixed - he got it as reassurance from the seller that everything would be okay and if anything went wrong in the first year it would be taken care of through the warrantee.

@HU-160847019 - I had a home warrantee on my last home and kept renewing it year over year until the company sold out to another company and service went down hill fast. Over the 15 years that I had the warrantee they replaced my hot water heater, furnace and washing machine. They also covered other small things that probably wouldn't have cost much more than the service call deductible. If I added everything together we probably spent more on the warrantee than the costs to replace the items. When they did replace an item it was usually only after multiple attempts to make it work - each costing us one of the service fees. They also selected what brand and item replaced the one we originally owned. It was not the brands I would have chosen if I were purchasing new.

When I bought my current home I looked at the home warrantees available today. I couldn't find one that didn't have more exceptions than coverage. To replace a system most require that you show that you have maintenance records throughout the life of the unit. New buyers don't have the maintenance records for the years before you owned the home. Most likely they will never replace your system.

The best option that I found was a rider on my insurance (State Farm) that covers major systems in your home for $25.00 a year. It only provides limited coverage for your heating, air conditioning, hot water heater and dishwasher, not all your appliances. $500 deductible, up to $2000 for systems over 15 years old. When my hot water heater and furnace died within a month of each other I was glad for the $4 k toward the repairs. Unfortunately the AC unit I had wasn't compatible with the new furnace so that needed to be replaced as well (18 years old), but insurance does not cover if it isn't broken. All in all my bill was $7k instead of $11k. I got to choose my own plumber / HVAC person, discuss my options and pick the system I wanted.

It sucks when these things happen, but maintenance, repair and replacement is part of home ownership. General rule of thumb is save a minimum of 1% of your homes value toward repairs annually, closer to 2% if your house is over 15 years old. When something happens you will have the money to fix it.

You can renew the warrantee in 6 months and have it for another year and hope that the AC goes out during that coverage year, but read the warrantee carefully and try to find the loopholes. Don't be surprised if they don't actually cover the cost of replacement with no limits.

State Farm didn't ask for anything more than a reason for replacement from the plumber / HVAC person and a copy of the final bill.

Austin Air- Jennifer is correct. I bought the home warranty months ago when we bought our house, with no indication the freon line was bad.

Our home warranty contract specifically states it covers items due to corrosion, natural wear and tear, and even due to lack of maintenance so they don't require maintenance records. The freon line isnt something that is maintained by regular service even if it were required, so I don't see why it would not be covered except in the case that the HVAC technician doesn't recommend it to the company. That is my concern. If the home warranty company turns down the claim, thats a separate issue. but if the HVAC technician doesnt even indicate the work is necessary, the greediness of home warranty companies is a moot point.

Jennifer, thanks for the suggestion of renewing the contract and having certain coverage. our contract does exclude any preexisting knowledge of system failure so I don't know that it would cover it in the future. I don't understand why I should wait another year when the system already failed under warranty. It seems I'll just have to call the warranty company and/or the HVAC company to advocate for myself, like most insurance issues.

Thanks!

Low refrigerant will cause the coil to freeze up. Mostly likely you have a leak. The proper way fix is to identify the leak and not keep adding refrigerant. If the system is over 10 years old then it probably uses R-22 refrigerant which is no longer manufactured and is getting very expensive.

You should measure the temperature split. This is the difference in temperature at a supply and the return. It should be in the 15-20 degree range. Monitor it every few weeks. If you see the differential getting smaller then that is a sign the refrigerant level is dropping. If you want the warranty company to fix this properly then keep calling them.

Ah, home warranties, managed care for appliances.

Yep. Home warranties are in the business to make money (from you)! Call them, tell them the tech diagnosed a leak, and charged the system as a temporary fix until proper repairs can be done. Ask them when they are coming back to fix the issue permanently.

A/C systems don't lose charge unless there is a leak. You have a leak, they need to fix it.

All businesses are in business to make money. All insurance companies set rates to cover expected claims.

It's as jrb says, it's the equivalent of managed care - go slow and do as little as possible.

I bought a second home a few years ago and the seller, a devoted annual buyer of home warranties for himself, bought one for us for the first year after our purchase. About 6 months after purchase, while washing dishes, a stream of water ran out from the cabinet and onto my feet. Opening the cabinet, it was coming in a steady stream from the bottom of the garbage disposal. While thinking of how to deal with it I remembered the home warranty and I thought to call the carrier (a major company in the field) the next morning.

The person answering the phone was friendly. She gave me the phone number of a plumber they work with. I called the plumber, explained the problem and was told they had no appointments available until the next week, about 7 days away. I said Ok, please bring a new disposal to install and they said No, they needed to come out first, diagnose the problem, and then schedule a second appointment to perform whatever they found was necessary. There was a $50 co-pay for the first call and no co-pay if a second visit was necessary. So, 14 days with no kitchen sink.

That took about 10 seconds to assess. I looked under the sink to get the brand and model of the unit that needed to be replaced, called a plumber I'd used for other things, and he showed up the next morning with the necessary new disposal. $125 for the disposal he'd picked up at Home Depot, $125 for his time, done.

When the home warranty service called a few months later asking if I wanted to renew for another year, I said no.

Austin Air- Jennifer is correct. I bought the home warranty months ago when we bought our house, with no indication the freon line was bad.

Our home warranty contract specifically states it covers items due to corrosion, natural wear and tear, and even due to lack of maintenance so they don't require maintenance records.

Then why didn't they fix it?

Doesn't matter what or who you think is correct... because why on earth does this post of yours even exist?

Theme music... Another somebody done somebody wrong song. If I had a nickel for every time I came in contact with someone who had a home warranty that didn't deliver what they promised I would be a retired wealthy man.

Home warranties are very lucrative for the home warranty company. They make millions of dollars a year. If they make millions of dollars a year by collecting premiums, common sense would tell you what? (does this mean they never pay a claim? no, that's not what I said. But odds of that are slim to none.)

Home insurance companies are good at dragging out claims process to the point of wearing you out. Why? Money. That's the only reason.

There are homes in my neighborhood sitting vacant, hollowed out shells ripped down to studs from the recent freeze debacle. That happened how long ago? (months ago)

How much you want to bet they are waiting for insurance claims to pay off?

I've been doing what I do for over 26 years. I know every con game in the book... whether it's you or them makes little difference. (It's a two way street with a river running down the center of it called Denial.) De Nile get it? LOL.

These kinds of things are considered 3rd party contracts. You, them, the contractor.

What happens in 3rd party contracts / worse yet 4 party contracts? Someone isn't going to be happy. The way it's designed the insurance company always wins.

How do you think they can afford to keep the scam going by making all those fancy commercials on TV? Because they've paid out all those claims?

If home warranties were all that, why wouldn't I as an HVAC contractor work for one?

I don't need them to do my job, they need me more than I need them. My terms. I grew tired long, long ago in a land far, far away for those who like to use me and not in fun ways. Get wealthy off my labor. Millions of dollars in profit for them, less than chicken feed for me.

Only a fool would accept those terms.