What to know when buying home warranty, understanding policy coverage [Video]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – The fans are blasting, a portable AC unit is blowing and curtains are tightly drawn at the home of James Andes in Charlotte.

Andes said his HVAC unit stopped working at the beginning of the year, so he contacted his home warranty company, Liberty HomeGuard. He pays the company $85 each month.

“I got the thing from the home warranty people saying that the unit was too old,” Andes said. “They have to replace it.”

That will cost him about $7,000, which he wrongly expected his warranty to cover in full.

“First it was $100, [then] the second guy I talked to said, you paid only $480 into the policy, so we’ll give you $500 toward a new unit,” he said.

Andes felt this was not right, so he contacted WBTV.

Consumer Investigator Caroline Hicks looked into the policy. She found that a few pages in …