While making decisions about how you want to protect the investment you’ve put into your home, it’s important to make sure that you understand all of the options. Many homeowners nationwide decide to go with a home warranty to ensure that everything in their home is adequately covered, but what exactly is a home warranty? Doing your due diligence before entering any sort of contract is often seen as good practice and a responsible way to ensure that you aren’t on the hook for services that you don’t need as a homeowner, and learning about home warranties is a great place to start.
Keep your Home in Working Order.
In the United States, there are strict guidelines both on the state and federal level that a warranty must adhere to. But those only apply to things that are considered warranties in the strictest legal sense. In the United States, home warranties usually aren’t warranties in any way other than the name; in most cases, your home warranty is likely to more closely resemble a service contact because most of the time, that’s exactly what it is.
Home warranties in the United States typically cover the cost to repair and replace home appliances, major systems, and some structural parts as well. This can include things like washers and dryers, HVAC systems, plumbing, dishwashers, electrical systems, and more. It all really depends on the home warranty plan you take out, as well as what your home warranty company offers. In many cases, work will only be done if the damage is done by normal wear and tear, but again this varies depending on plan, company, and also what exactly caused the damages.
Limitations of Home Warranties.
Most home warranty plans have stipulations in their contracts, and this varies from plan to plan. Make sure to read your contract! Most home warranty companies won’t help with appliances that weren’t properly maintained. These terms can also stipulate policies such as how much money the company will spend on a new unit, how many units are covered and can even set the maximum size of a unit that can be covered.
In some cases, the home warranty contract will set an upper limit on how much they will spend to repair or replace an item. So, once that limit is hit, everything comes out of your pocket. If the item has no upper limit, that means that the home warranty company will cover it in full. That’s why it’s important to read through your contract carefully to ensure that the agreement meets your needs.
Many companies do offer different plans with various levels of coverage, and you can always talk to your representative to make sure that your coverage level will be able to meet your needs. If the company you’re speaking with doesn’t offer a plan that meets your needs, you can always shop around until you find a company that will be able to provide you a plan that meets your needs.
Using Home Warranties to Protect your Investment.
A home warranty plan may not be the best for everyone, but that’s why it’s important to do your research before getting into any agreement with any company. It may be a good path for you to continue looking into if you’re good about maintaining your home and the appliances and major systems within because the right plan can make your life a breeze when things start breaking down as well as saving you a good deal of money if you have the right plan. Just make sure to always read your contracts to make sure that the plan you’re signing up for is the right plan for you, and make sure to do as much research as you need to be able to move forward with this decision with confidence.
