Complaint Review: HomeServe - New York NY

HomeServe is a leading provider of service repair plans and works with over 1,000 municipal and utility providers, serving 4.7 million customers across the U.S. and Canada. We are the only service line repair company endorsed by the National League of Cities, and we are proud to have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. 

Contrary to the comment on this website, needed repairs to or replacement of a home’s exterior water and sewer lines are NOT covered under standard homeowner’s insurance, which comes as a shock to homeowners when such a home emergency arises. And, unlike homeowner’s insurance, plans offered by HomeServe carry no deductible and a homeowner is freed from the responsibility of finding a trustworthy contractor to complete a repair, which HomeServe takes care of by using only local, certified contractors.

The claim that these types of repairs are rare also does not stand up to the facts. As the largest provider of water and sewer service line repair plans in the U.S., HomeServe repairs tens of thousands of these service lines for its customers every year. With water lines for example, it is very difficult to determine when a pipe may fail, with key contributors being the type of piping material, age of the service pipe, soil conditions and installation quality. A study in the Journal of American Water Works Association found that failures in water pipes occur most often in homes between the age of 30 and 60 years old. With the median age of homes in the U.S. being about 40 years, the threat of failure is a major concern for the majority of homeowners as many service pipes are functioning on borrowed time. And a water line repair can be costly – a replacement averages $2,500 nationally. With the modest cost of a HomeServe service plan, homeowners would still see financial benefit if the service line didn’t break for another few decades – versus saving the small monthly fee at current rates.

Finally, the comment mentions the unseasonably cold weather that hit Texas earlier this year. When the February polar vortex hit Texas with sub-zero freezing temperatures, thawing pipes revealed an emerging problem – damaged plumbing. Many homeowners found their own plumbing, including either the water service line that connects their home to the utility’s system or the in-home plumbing, had frozen and subsequently burst. And, as temperatures returned to normal, those burst pipes poured water into their homes. HomeServe’s water service line jobs increased by five times over February 2020 numbers, in-home plumbing work increased by 65 percent and call volume increased by 40 times in some areas. Plumbers were in short supply so HomeServe brought in contractors from across the country to Texas so that they could support local contractors to complete 4,800 jobs for our customers.

One thing the Texas freeze taught us is the invaluable worth of protecting your home against potential and unexpected damage. While homeowners should still absolutely carry homeowners insurance, which covers a wide range of problems from theft to fire and water damage, having a HomeServe repair plans provides homeowners with an additional layer of protection against a common, expensive home repair emergency.