On April 7, 2015 the sale of a single family residence closed. The order for the home warranty plan was placed by the listing agent with Fidelity National Home Warranty (FNHW), a part of the FNF Family of Companies since August of 1998. The selling agent called shortly before closing to add additional coverage. At closing, the settlement agent sent in the payment. A few days later, on April 15th, a service call for plumbing services was initiated by the selling agent.

FNHW placed the service call with one of its trusted vendors. The plumber added the stop to his daily schedule. When the plumber pulled up to the home he immediately realized the home was not being used as a residence. The property was being used for commercial purposes as a senior care home.

The vendor knew this type of use was not covered by the contract which says: "This contract covers single–family dwellings under 5,000 square feet and does not cover multi–unit homes, unless amended by FNHW prior to the start of coverage. Guest houses, casitas and the like require a separate contract. Covered dwellings cannot be used for commercial purposes, for example, as day care centers, nursing care homes, fraternity/sorority houses, etc."

The plumber contacted his Contractor Relations Manager, Ben Bittner. Ben thanked his vendor for alerting him of his findings. Ben did some research on the Internet and quickly found the property listed on a multitude of elder care websites as an available facility. He notified the Vice President of Customer Service at FNHW who in turn, notified the customer the property did not qualify for coverage, cancelled their plan and processed a refund for the fee collected.

FNHW currently operates in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington. They have a network of over 1,400 vendors consisting of men and women who are looking out for the best interests of FNHW and the customer.

Such loyalty exists because the vendors know they are an intrinsic part of the team; they are considered family and many have been working with FNHW for years, sometimes decades.

On the surface, this little discovery cost FNHW nothing other than administrative costs. Had the plumber said nothing it would have cost FNHW $50 for him to clear the drain, if it was simply clogged and not the symptom of a larger problem.

Potentially it could have cost FNHW $650 if it was discovered the property had a large underground leak. FNHW originally collected $685 for the contract. If the stoppage was the result of something as serious as a large underground leak, FNHW's profit margin would essentially be eaten up by this one claim.

The owner had another service call pending for repairs to their microwave. The average cost of a microwave repair is $253. The service call was cancelled at the same time the home warranty contract was cancelled. Clearly the potential for loss on this one contract was high; illustrating why commercial use properties are not covered by a home warranty plan.

It was the quick thinking and honesty of the vendor that ultimately resulted in preventing non–covered services from being rendered at this property. If FNHW had not been promptly informed by the first vendor, there was a potential for service calls to be served for years.

Ben truly appreciates the integrity of the vendors with whom he works, who have the best interest of FNHW in mind. Since the Company was informed a week after the start date of the home warranty, there will be no loss to FNHW because they cancelled the contract.

Was this fraud or just a misunderstanding? We might never know. Both the listing agent and selling agent had played a part, in ordering the home warranty and included coverages. The selling agent was actually the one who purchased the home warranty as a gift to their client.

What we do know is Ben has worked hard to compile a reliable and honest group of vendors to respond to service calls, and they have an understanding of just what the home warranty contract covers. For Ben's efforts in Contractor Relations he was rewarded with $1,500 and a letter of recognition on behalf of the Company.

For more information on just what a home warranty covers and the costs associated with a home warranty, visit www.homewarranty.com.