COMPARING DIFFERENT TERMITE WARRANTIES

Your home is your biggest investment.  At A American Pest Control, we offer a Termite Warranty that is second to none.  We encourage you to measure our treatment and warranties up against the competition.  To assist you in making the right choice in this important decision, we recommend that you consider the following when researching what companies offer in their Termite Treatment Warranties.

•  Areas Covered
• 2.  Keeping The Warranty

AREAS COVERED

This is something most people take for granted and most companies don’t bring up.  You need to understand what is covered under your warranty.  Some warranties cover only the areas treated, while others cover the entire structure.

• Warranties that cover “treated areas” only – This is important to consider.  In almost all circumstances, there are possible termite entry points that cannot be identified.  And many times, companies choose not to treat areas inside (such as plumbing penetrations).  If your warranty only covers “treated areas”, you may have to pay more money later on to have your termite company treat areas they originally missed.
• Warranties that cover the “entire structure” – This is the ideal warranty to have.  This type of warranty covers you, even if your termite company has missed areas inside.

KEEPING THE WARRANTY

If keeping your warranty is something you consider to be important, keep reading.  There are several ways a company might avoid their obligations under a termite contract, depending on how it is written.  Failure of the customer to maintain the house free of conducive conditions, disturbing the barrier, refusal to renew, and significant renewal increases are all important considerations.

• Failure of customer to maintain the house free of conducive conditions – This is where you, the consumer, need to understand your own obligations in regard to keeping your house free of termite infestations.  Read your contract thoroughly.  Understand what your responsibilities are.  What specific conditions can cancel your warranty?  Some contracts require that your soil line be at least 6” below the top of the slab.  I have seen very few houses that meet this requirement.  Just make sure the requirements are reasonable.  If they are not, ask yourself how reasonable it is that your warranty will not be cancelled.
• Disturbing the barrier – This is a necessary condition in most contracts that use liquid to protect your home.  If you are relying on treated soil to protect your home, then adding to or taking away from that soil might compromise your barrier.  Once a treatment is completed, you should not disturb the soil within 6” of your house.
• Refusal to renew – Many contracts are written in such a way that the customer requests to renew the warranty each year, and the company has complete discretion on whether or not they want to approve the renewal.  Generally, there are no problems for a couple of years, but when the company is worried the barrier may be breaking down, they can easily stop renewing the warranty.  This leaves you in a situation where you have to pay for a new treatment if you want to protect your home.
• Significant renewal increases – Almost all contracts are written in such a way that allows for increases in the annual renewals.  And this is understandable.  However, most contracts have very little or no restrictions on those increases.  One customer’s annual renewal increased from $75.00 to $278.00 in 5 years!  Make sure your contract offers you some reasonable protections against unreasonable increases.