Top 10 new home warranty claims

What’s in your new home warranty? Ideally, that’s a question you’ll never have to answer for real – at least not the hard way, be it filing complaints or, worse, proceeding with warranty claims settlements. Life is sometimes not fair, and despite the best intentions of home builders, things do go wrong. To put it nicely – stuff happens.Indeed, according to Tarion Warranty Corp., nearly every new home built has some form of defect. Such is life when you’re building outside, dealing with the elements and working with natural materials.In most cases, warranty claims get resolved, and builders large and small are getting better at responding to customer concerns.Still, there are unscrupulous – or worse, illegal – builders that try to circumvent everything from relatively minor registration fees to taxes, all under the guise of “saving you money.” In this case, when there’s a problem or issue that needs to be resolved, good luck.That’s why it’s important to ensure your new home builder is registered with Tarion – to provide the peace of mind that Tarion is backing the new home warranty, as well as to learn what is covered, for how long, and what the steps and procedures are.

Top 10 warranty claims:

» Paint:inadequate application or coverage» Doors:improperly installed or finished» Floors:Damaged, cracked or installed with gaps» Drywall:Blemishes on walls, ceilings or corners» Stairs/steps:Inadequately built» Water/moisture:Moisture inside the home» Concrete:Cracking» Baseboards:Improperly installed» Trims:Improperly installed or finished» Cabinets/vanities:Improperly installed or finishedYou can understand how prevalent such “defects” would be in brand new homes, and how action is required in many cases. Nine times out of 10, for homes backed by Tarion, warranty claims are resolved without issue.More drastic is another example involving 23 homes by one builder in one development in Ontario, also, thankfully, backed by Tarion:» After the homes were built, the water table shifted, causing differential soil settlements» The problems arose three to five years after construction» 23 homes were monitored and repaired over a period of five years» 10 homes required major repairs – causing the homeowners to be relocated to hotels for an average of 38 daysThe cost to Tarion to rectify the matter? More than $5 million.The cost to homeowners? Zero.The benefit of having the peace of mind of a Tarion backed new home warranty? Priceless.Think that would happen if your home was built by an unregistered or illegal developer?More and more builders, Tarion says, are improving their customer service. And it’s not just the large companies.“The advantage of using a small builder might be that you often get to know the principal,” says Tarion president Howard Bogach. “But large builders are closing the gap. “The large builders that do well are the ones that behave like small builders.”And with real estate and new home prices rising, homebuyers, understandably, expect more.So, what’s in a new home warranty? In short, your builder is not just building your home, it’s building a relationship.