Guide
Cash-Out or Repair? The Buyout Math
The unit can't be fixed, and the company offers money instead of a replacement. It feels like a settlement. It's priced like a wholesale invoice.
Why the check is small
Contracts let the company pay cash in lieu of replacement based on its own cost. Choice's agreement (§E.3) says it in so many words: their actual cost, "which at times may be less than retail", excluding shipping, tax, and installation. One investigated case saw $560.55 offered against a $4,400 air conditioner.
The math to run before you say yes
- Get two real, installed quotes for the replacement — parts, labor, permits, disposal.
- Subtract their offer. That gap is your true cost of accepting.
- Compare against the repair path even at partial coverage, and against waiting out an appeal with your evidence attached.
- Ask — in writing — for the offer's breakdown: what cost basis, what exclusions. Sometimes the number moves when it's asked to show its work.
The kit's cash-out worksheet runs this on one page, with the questions to send back before accepting anything.
Be ready before it breaks — and fight it right if they say no
Included in the $39 WarrantyDecoded Kit
- The evidence-file system — the day-one baseline file (photos, serial numbers, inspection report) that makes 'pre-existing' hard to claim
- Maintenance logs organized by denial reason — each log page names the denial it defeats ('not maintained' dies when the records exist)
- The claim-call script — what to say when you call a claim in, and the things to never say on a recorded line
- The denial-appeal ladder — written appeal, escalation, your state's correct complaint door, and the arbitration/small-claims routing your contract actually allows
- The cash-out worksheet — their 'actual cost' check vs. the real replacement price, so you know the gap before you accept it
- The renew-or-cancel worksheet — caps against the replacement cost of YOUR oldest systems, with the numbers filled in
Get the WarrantyDecoded Kit — $39
One payment. Yours to keep. For any home warranty company, any plan.
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