Built-In Savings Guaranty: The simplest energy guaranty®.

If the total energy costs for the home exceed the amounts projected on the Guaranty Certificate, then the EPX Guaranty Co will pay the homeowner the cost difference between the projected and actual amounts.

The EPX Guaranty Co believes in making the world more energy efficient one home at a time.  We feel so confident in the value of purchasing an energy efficient home that we’re willing to guarantee that the homeowner’s energy bills will not exceed our estimate.

So what’s the catch? How can anyone know how much energy someone else is going to use?

Bottom line … we can’t. Everyone is different, but as far as overall energy bills are concerned, we aren’t all that different from each other.

Because of this, we can make good estimates of how much energy a house will use under normal conditions and this is what we guarantee.

What if my normal is different than someone else’s normal. I like to take long showers; I don’t like to be cold in the winter; I’m not going to sweat in my house in the summer.

All of these things are very reasonable, and we don’t expect people to suffer in their own home. The reality is that most new homes are much better at controlling energy use than homes built just 10 years ago. This is one of the reasons we feel confident offering this Guaranty; we believe in the value of purchasing a home that has been built to higher energy standards than one that perhaps merely meets code. But let’s look at your concerns.

First, we can’t control lengths of showers, keeping lights on all the time, or having a lot of electronics within your home – and we don’t want to. These are personal decisions that certainly affect your energy usage and we encourage behaviors that save in these areas. However, even though each individual varies on their average use, we feel confident that we can predict a realistic estimate of your energy bills.

We’re assuming that people who are interested in an energy Guaranty are also interested in actually saving energy – or at least saving money on energy. What this means to a homeowner is that they should be taking an active role in managing the energy use of their home. A great first step is purchasing an energy efficient home – but the habits while in that home need to be reasonable too.

Link to energy saving tips:

What if I don’t follow these guidelines?

Your bills may be higher. But think of it this way, we guarantee the excess in usage, not the predicted amount. If you want to save energy (i.e. money) then choosing to make energy efficient decisions in your home may help bring you down below the predicted usage amounts and you’ll pay less out of pocket.

I’ll bet you have a bunch of other things that will void this Guaranty?

Not really, but we have a few we consider to be reasonable – they concern the house as it was originally tested.

If the house has any major modifications done (including adding a whole house fan, adding additional rooms, a hot tub, etc.) or if the HVAC equipment is changed after the Guaranty is issued, the Guaranty will no longer be valid. In this case we reserve the right to recalculate the usage estimates based on the changes made.
We also cannot guarantee usage if the installed HVAC equipment is found to be malfunctioning during the Guaranty time frame.

What if it’s a really cold winter or really hot summer – won’t my bills be higher?

Yes. In order to account for this, we perform industry standard weather normalization. That is, the energy usage is computed from average predicted temperatures for where the home is located. This is a common adjustment for similar programs, as we can’t control the weather, only the work that we do and the quality of the inspection process that gives us confidence in our Guaranty.

Did you just bump up the estimated amounts to give yourself some wiggle room?

The estimate is based upon official rating the home receives. To accommodate for variances in occupancy and lifestyles, we take the estimate from the Home Energy Rating Certificate and add 10%.

What if my energy usage is over the estimated amounts, how do I make a claim?

If you think your home’s energy costs have exceeded the amount estimated on your Guaranty Certificate, you should first use the online calculator to determine the amount of the potential claim. If the calculator shows excess costs, you may submit your claim using the online clam submission form.  After receiving the initial claim, a Built-In Savings Guaranty representative will contact you to request copies of your monthly energy billing information.  Failure to submit all bills from the claim period will potentially void your claim.

Claims are calculated using 12 consecutive months of data and subsequent claims may not include any months previously used for claim purposes.  All claims must be submitted by the homeowner no later than 90 days after the end of the coverage period.  Homeowners should submit potential claims as soon as they have at least 12 months’ worth of energy bills in order to take maximum advantage of the coverage period.

Remedy:

  • In the event that the home exceeds the Built-In Savings Guaranty, the EPX Guaranty Co. will pay the homeowner the difference between Built-In Savings Guaranty and actual energy use for the Guaranty Period, provided none of the homeowner’s responsibilities were violated and all other conditions were fulfilled.
  • The EPX Guaranty Co is only responsible for actual energy costs in excess of the predicted amount.  EPXGCo is not responsible for any secondary costs, including but not limited to any legal fees potentially arising from submitting a claim.
  • The EPX Guaranty Co reserves the right to conduct inspections in order to determine the cause of the elevated energy consumption and may or may not develop a report with recommendations for repairs and/or modifications in order to reduce energy consumption below predicted values. Failure to allow such an inspection shall also be grounds for voiding the claim.

Do I have to wait until after the 2-year coverage period ends to submit a claim?

No. You can submit as soon as you have 12 months worth of qualifying energy bills. It’s recommended you use the earliest 12 months available to you so you can potentially submit twice during the coverage period.