Equiguard: A company that wants to be synonymous with extended service warranties

Headnote

Chances are, if you can lock in a customer by selling them an extended warranty, you'll be able to retain them on an active customer list.

Look at the hvacr topics that have spurred lively debates in recent years: CFCs, certification, consolidation, utilities, and extended warranties.

When contractors think of extended warranties, they are more often starting to think of one name - Equiguard.

The company, based in the Chicago suburb of Willowbrook, calls itself "Marketing agents to the Extended Service Agreement Industry."

To be more specific, it focuses its entire service agreement program on the hvacr trade. Equiguard's extended service agreements support original equipment manufacturer's (oem's) warranties and extend the warranty by covering parts and labor for up to 10 years.

Despite past grumbling from wholesalers and contractors, some of whom felt victimized by previous extended warranty companies, the need for a solid extended warranty program is more important now that ever, according to Equiguard national sales manager Jeff Liter.

"Consumers want the peace of mind that manufacturers' warranties and extended service agreements give," he said. "The hvacr industry was slow to recognize the benefits of an extended warranty plan for homeowners."

OLD PROBLEMS

Some of the doubt cast on extended warranties arose from a problem that rooted itself 15 years ago. A large appliance warranty company came into the hvacr trade and began selling extended warranty programs.

"The company was underreserved for claims," Liter added. "It was not fully insured by an A+ carrier, and it held all of the money collected, including the premium risk money. It had no system of checks and balances to police itself."

But those weren't the only reasons the company failed. "They just didn't understand our business," Liter said.

He added that the company was managed poorly and didn't collect enough money to cover its risks. As a result, many good businesses took big hits.

"The company closed its doors and left a lot of distributors and contractors holding the bag," he said. "Some very conscientious distributors and contractors took money out of their own pockets to pay for the program."

ENTER EQUIGUARD

Seeing the opportunity...