National Home Protection, refused emergency service on heat pump in snow storm Clinton Maryland

I purchased a home warranty from National Home Protection (NHP) on January 30, 1997 for $373.91. It was to cover my house at in Clinton, Maryland 20735. The one year warranty went into effect on February 16, 2007 despite the erroneous paperwork that was sent to me that reflects start date of February 28, 2007. This would prove to be indicative of the lack of professionalism at NHP.

On February 24 approximately midnight, I called NHP to file an emergency claim for my heat pump. I had no heat on the night of the worst snow storm of the year in sub freezing temperatures. I asked that the claim be flagged as an emergency and I was told that it would be treated as such. I was also told that I was entitled to a call back regarding the emergency claim.

I explained to all of the people I would eventually speak to that I had elderly people and children in my home and it was too cold for them to go without heat for several days. No one seemed concerned and, subsequently nothing was done.

I proceeded to call on 5 other occasions on February 25 (at 1AM, 8AM , 11AM, 1:10PM, and 5:10PM) and on February 26 (at 7:20AM) each time someone different told me that an emergency message was sent to NHP. I still never got any response or action.

Finally, on February 26 at approximately 9 AM (the time that the NHP claim office will actually expect phone calls from paying customers despite claiming that the claims department will take calls 24 hours, 7 day per week), I was able to get a rude and indifferent claims representative on the phone who would only identify himself as Mike. I demanded some service on the claim.

He informed me that while my requests had been received over the prior 2 days, nothing was done until that morning. I told him that was totally unacceptable and not what was promised. I was told a contractor had been contacted and would be calling me to arrange an appointment.

I attempted to contact the contractor, Capitol Heating and Plumbing, and all the phone numbers to the office were not working. I called to insist that another contractor be assigned and I was told by someone named Andy that this contractor was the only one for my area. I informed him that nothing was being done and that I was not given a good phone number for the contractor. He was completely unconcerned and offered no solution. I needed to get someone to my house that day to do repairs so I made arrangements for repairs myself.

I paid out of my pocket for something that should have been covered PROMPTLY by the NHS warranty service I purchased. Even though this should have qualified as an
emergency, I was denied emergency treatment on this matter. I was flatly refused this service.

NHP has my money and did not provide the service that is was intended for. Since absolutely nothing was done on my behalf and this company left my family in jeopardy in the dead of a harsh winter, I cancelled the warranty and informed NHP in writing through its website and via the U.S. mail that I would be disputing the charge for a full refund. I have also filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Protection Agency. I am considering legal action on this matter depending on the outcome of this dispute.

Craig
Clinton, Maryland
U.S.A.