Centauri Insurance - Equipment Breakdown Policy Claim Experience
In this post, I will review my experience of claiming with Centauri Insurance for an equipment breakdown of my central A/C unit under their Equipment Breakdown Coverage.
I have purchased my homeowner's insurance through Centauri Insurance for the last couple years due to somewhat lower prices and also because I thought the Equipment Breakdown Coverage rider had value. As I will show in my review, purchase of the additional rider is a waste of money.
This is the company's webpage:
This is an advertisement they have for equipment breakdown:
The outdoor A/C unit had numerous components replaced less than 2 years ago. The compressor, indoor blower fan, and outdoor fan were all inspected and working fine.
Here is the sequence of events:
July 7, 2019: A/C unit stopped cooling. Claim filed with Centauri Insurance Equipment Breakdown.
I was assigned a claim number. I was advised to have a contractor come out and evaluate the unit.
Centauri stated they would also be sending their own HVAC contractor to inspect the unit.
July 8, 2019: My HVAC technician came out and determined that outdoor AC unit not turning on due to:
1) hard start kit "imploded";
2) capacitor weak (but not failed yet).
He replaced with new hard start kit to test and unit began working again.
He recommended: 1) replace hard start kit; 2) capacitor; 3) contactor.
Also offered alternative of replace with new unit.
He took pictures of the imploded unit showing damage and failure. I forwarded these to Centauri.
These three parts: hard start kit, capacitor, and contactor were actually all replaced with brand new parts <2 years ago.
July 9, 2019: Centauri contractor HVACI tech came out and evaluated unit, told me verbally on phone that hard start kit and capacitor had both failed.
July 16, 2019: Centauri staffer sends me denial letter rejecting claim stating "wear & tear."
I appealed immediately and re-sent him my HVAC's determination showing "implosion" of hard start kit showing clear physical damage.
July 19, 2019: Centauri staffer again denies claim, referencing previous letter. Makes no reference to the study done by the HVAC tech that I brought out.
In the interim I have purchased window A/C units to cool the house.
My experience with Centauri Insurance, in particular their Equipment Breakdown Coverage department, is that they tend deny the majority of claims based on "wear and tear" even when provided with evidence to the contrary.
The hard start kit, capacitor, and contactor were replaced <2 years ago as mentioned above. I've read that some of these parts are actually rated for 15-20 years of use. As mentioned above, all other parts of my A/C unit were inspected previously and determined to be working fine. Centauri was shown a clearly damaged and failed part. So how it that Centauri could simply call it "wear & tear?"
They do not have a clear appeals or arbitration process for if a customer disagrees with their determination.
If they consider an appeal and again deny the claim, they do not address any additional evidence provided.
In summary, I do not see any value in the Equipment Breakdown Coverage rider that consumers can purchase separately as an add-on to their homeowner's policy. In my opinion, you will simply be throwing good money after bad because it seems that they will reject most claims due to "wear and tear" even when this is not the case.
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