Background: When we moved from the back of KW to the front of KW 4 years ago (cut our commute by 20 minutes), our house came with a home warranty by Old Republic. In that time, we've used the warranty and renewed it annually. It paid for itself easily each year, service has been very good, and in one event, when OR's vendor could not resolve an issue, they settled at a reasonable rate, allowing us to locate a vendor that could resolve our problem.
Issue: Our automatic garage door went out last week. I tried to open a service request on-line, and got a "your contract has expired" message. I called the service line and was told my contract had expired in January. I explained that that couldn't be because I always pay for a full year. She replied that OR can, without notice to the customer, opt to not renew a customer's contract. She proceeded to tell my my contract had expired on 1/1/14 because they opted to not renew us. I asked why had they not given me notice that they were choosing not to renew so I could at least pursue a warranty with another company. She replied that they are not obligated to do that. So much for customer service. I was riled by this point and said I'd be filing a complaint, posting my experience to Angie's list, etc. I later learned that OR is having some financial troubles and has taken the approach of not renewing some warranties. This post is just a head's up for any of you KWU folks who may have a home warranty with OR and who might have used that warranty for its intended purpose. You should make sure your warranty is still active. Fortunately, First American was more than willing to welcome me as a new customer - and at close to the same rate I had with OR.

P.S. Re my post a couple of weeks ago about credit card fraud - thank you to the person who made the simple recommendation to change my account alerts to notify me of any charges over $1. Works beautifully and gives me back some of the control I felt I had lost. 

Upfrontku. We have OR and I just shared in a recent thread that our last three claims have been denied for various reasons. I had a feeling something was up. I wonder if I can get a partial refund. Did they refund your money. 

a business has the right to refuse business. They honored claims for you 3 times as you stated. Just move on, quit b*tchin and find another company 

I do not find that she is ______. If they are not going to renew they could atleast let you know! May be one reason some people say to stay away from the home warranty companies... 

They dropped us in September (same story). No warning after two years. Would have been better customer service to at least let us know. we have picked up American Home Shield. Much happier with them - we've used them once for AC now. 

AHS. Have used them the last 5 years. I will say have never been denied. Just worry when it may get down to a replacement needed vs a fix. I hear most of these companies do not want to do so...Either way it has paid off for us! 

Crap, hope did not sound like an advertisement or spam, lol. Dam pixies! 

a business has the right to refuse business. They honored claims for you 3 times as you stated. Just move on, quit b*tchin and find another company


If you are talking about me, they denied all three of our claims after we gladly forked over the money. If the OP paid a premium, he/she has the right to get a refund. 

a business has the right to refuse business. They honored claims for you 3 times as you stated. Just move on, quit b*tchin and find another company

If she paid the premium, they are obligated to honor the contract. 

If they chose not to renew you would notice payment not going through, correct? 

I bought two houses at the same time in 2012. Both came with an OR warranty (around $400 for each warranty). In one year, I had two claims on one house (total cost to OR of $230) and one claim on the other (total cost to OR of $100). When 2013 rolled around, I received received a renewal notice for only one house.
The renewal amount went up to $950 (from the initial $400) and the service call fee went to $75 from $50.
I called them and was told that my excessive claims (both cost to them and the number of claims (which again was 1 claim at $100)) caused the rise.
I asked about my other house and they said they would not renew that one again due to excessive costs.
So I did some research and found LandmarkHW to have the highest ratings from both customers and contractors.
I called Landmark, told them what happened with OR and asked about their claims policies. They assured me that they would not do that. They told me they will not refuse to cover a home and though they may raise the price for excessive costs, it will be only in increments of $25 and only after 5 or more claims.
So I went with Landmark for the two houses, plus another I bought in 2013.
I've had claims since then on all the houses. Landmark replaced the refrigerator and over-the-range microwave in one house (they actually settled and paid me what they would have paid to repair them at my request due to the color of the appliances not being built grade white) for these two) in another house, the replaced a nearly complete central AC (full outside unit and almost all of the inside unit (I paid a little more for the premium warranty so they even paid for the recovery and refill of the coolant).
In the third house, they repaired a dishwasher and a water heater.
I was a little worried when it was time to renew, but they renewed all 3 houses with no rise in premium. The house with the AC replacement had probably 4 different calls in for it too.
I happily renewed and will again next year as well.
I told my realtor about them and he's since cut a deal with Landmark to provide warranties from them instead of OR. 

Unless I was planning to sell my primary residence in a few years or managing a rental property, I would not maintain a home warranty. If they cut your coverage, thank them.

Much like with any extended warranty, the only way they can stay profitable is to make sure you get less out of it than you put into it. Pay yourself instead of one of these businesses. Take the sum of whatever you pay annually and put it in an interest bearing account that you only use for home repairs. It may feel like a home warranty is worth it for a year or two, but over time you will only lose money as the need for repairs that are covered regresses to the mean. Break your addiction to the false peace of mind they are selling. 

Agree with Warren. Not a fan though there is the occasional person who it does pay off for. My neighbor bought one when she bought her home. Literally everything that could go wrong with a house did go wrong with hers. They dumped her soon after.....it's insurance nothing more and nothing less. 

It has paid off for us short term, but now getting to soon need total replacement which i hear something most avoid. 

With 3 houses, my warranties have saved me literally thousands of dollars over the years (especially with the AC replacement).
Of course I just write the warranty off as a business expense along with lawn care and HOA fees.
It's certainly a choice... and it's not for everyone. I know some people who refuse to buy extended warranties for their vehicles also. I always will though. I once had an f150 that blew the transmission and took the 4x4 transfer case and torque-converter with it. It happened at 38,000 miles (2,000 miles out of factory warranty). Had I not purchased the extended warranty, I would have been out of pocket around $6,000 on my 2.5 year old truck.
Now I buy nothing but Chrysler vehicles and buy the lifetime/unlimited mile warranty (yes, you can still buy this warranty).
Like I said... Not for everyone, but certainly beneficial to me.