We bought a sofa from macy's with the protection plan. Then we got a dog. A dog who decided that clandestine peeing on the sofa was a good idea. Believe it or not, the dog peeing on the sofa was covered. They sent a guy out to clean it and when he said he couldn't get all of the pee out, they initiated the claim. We basically got the full initial value of the sofa (less the worry-no-more warranty fee) as a credit to another sofa.
So maybe buying new isn't moustachian, and maybe buying new from macy's is even worse, but the the warranty coverage is legit.