Insurance Claim

[KarlaH]

Home was built in 2006 and has had coverage by USAA since then. We contacted USAA after we were informed by our PM that the AC no longer works and replacement will cost $9600. Please read response from the company and advise on how to proceed.

"I have spoken to your HVAC technician as well as the Property Managers Technician. They are both consistent with the following.��* This is an old unit�* This unit is not in good shape�* This unit is not large enough for the space��- There is not coverage for normal aging of a product as discussed, Lack of or faulty maintenance or design. Additionally The design or size is not correct. All of the above listed are not covered by your policy. You will be receiving a formal letter stating where in the policy these exclusions can be found. Unfortunately at this time there is no coverage. Please call me if you have further questions.

[BBFult]

Why did you call usaa? Homeowners insurance is for disasters. It doesn't cover replacing old stuff. HVACs have a limited life and unfortunately they aren't as long as they used to be. At thirteen years I would replace. We replaced both of ours at an out of pocket cost of about $14000. I'd get another quote or two. But that's probably what you need to budget.

[SLopez]

 Be careful calling USAA from here on out! If you have three inquiries/claims within a certain period they will drop you! Only call them for catastrophic purposes and not small things such as this or you will deeply regret it. Another friend just got dropped and is having a heck of a time finding another company now and will pay lots more once she finds someone. You need s home warranty company (and many of those are shoddy and use inferior parts, hard to get appointments and like to band aid problems) or you start building up a reserve fund that all homeowners should have anyway for emergencies. With an AC unit or your HVAC if you have a home warranty company you probably also have to show these items were serviced regularly so make sure they get one every year or get denied when something goes wrong.

[A.Michael]

 I don't think that is unusual at all--I've never heard of homeowner's insurance covering AC repair or replacement. It's just one of those home maintenance costs you have to be prepared for. 10-15 years seems to be about average lifespan.

[LynnSmith]

A home warranty would be the route to go to help with replacement cost of house systems. I've only seen it mentioned in here once of how a home insurance company helped with replacement cost of a house system. I wouldn't have gone to a home owner's insurance over this...it'll leave a red flag on your account.