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Family Living Without Heat Despite Insurance Coverage

Living Without Heat (Added: December 22, 2009)

It looks like a normal Christmas at a home on Westbrook Village Drive. But looks can be deceiving. (more)

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Published: December 22, 2009

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It looks like a normal Christmas at a home on Westbrook Village Drive. But looks can be deceiving.

Inside, the stove burns day and night and there are space heaters everywhere.

On Christmas Day, it will be two weeks since Jason Charles and his fiancée Tawni Hester have had heat in their home after their furnace broke.

There are young children living in the home as well.

It happens to many people but the couple had prepared for such an event and bought the type of homeowner's insurance that is supposed to protect someone when their furnace breaks.

They pay American Home Shield in Carroll, Iowa, approximately $102 each month.

Then, when something goes wrong, it can be fixed very quickly. The company contacts a local contractor to complete the work. But it's not working out that way.

"The first time it was a Friday night. We called him and said our furnace didn't work. They can't do nothing until Saturday so they sent someone out Saturday and he came out and spent 10 (to) 15 minutes," Charles said.

That was the first of several companies to check into the issue.

"I think it's been four or five companies and they each stayed about 10 (to) 15 minutes when they came to look at it," Hester said.

In each case, the furnace wasn't fixed.

Charles and Hester said American Home Shield told them they could buy another furnace and then submit the cost for reimbursement.

But, both Charles and Hester lost their jobs in the last few weeks.

NBC 4 contacted American Home Shield and their response was that they don't accept media calls.

Regardless, Charles and Hester said they learned a very expensive lesson from the experiences: Beware.

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