Nowadays, it’s more important than ever to throw caution to the wind when it comes to picking a home warranty service. Many people blindly put their trust into home warranty companies, without doing the requisite research to ensure that they are legitimate operators. Recently, ABC 15 in Arizona ran a comprehensive story on home warranty providers, and the merits of these services. As a rule, a homeowner can expect to pay anywhere between $300 per year and $500 per year for a home warranty plan, depending on the level of coverage provided.

Of course, if your home has a swimming pool that should also be included in the home warranty plan since the costs of repairing, replacing, and maintaining pool motors and pumps is expensive. In addition to the home warranty fee, there are also other costs to bear in mind such as the service callout fee. This can range from $50 – $100 every time the home warranty company sends a contractor out to your property. This fee is nonrefundable.

It should clearly be stated in your home warranty contract how much you will be charged for a callout fee. Experts advise homeowners to consider the benefits of using home warranty companies if your systems and appliances are at least 4 years old. There is little point to purchasing a home warranty plan if you have brand-new appliances in your home, since these appliances will be protected from damage and defects for the first year. This is all written into the manufacturer’s warranty.

The decision to purchase a home warranty plan is dependent upon several factors in the service contracts, namely:

• Is the home warranty provider credible and trusted by clients?
• What level of coverage can you expect from the home warranty provider?
• Would you be better off putting $300 – $500 away in a savings account every year to cover for wear-and-tear on your appliances?
• Do you have the technical skills to service/repair your own appliances throughout their lifetime?
• What are the exclusions in contracts such as pre-existing conditions, items that fail from issues that are not regarded as normal wear and tear, and secondary damage to appliances (such as water leaks that damage drywalling)
• Will you be responsible for the cost of accessing systems such as tearing up walls, drilling into concrete foundations?
• What systems or appliances are not covered, or are only partially covered by the contract?

Since there are many scam artists operating in the home warranty industry, it’s important to do the requisite research to ensure that you don’t fall victim to them. Over the years, homeowners have been hit by many scams in the home warranty arena, particularly by out-of-state operators, or illegal home warranty providers that simply take your money without providing any services to you. The best way to guard against these bad actors is to conduct research. It may be a good idea to contact the Better Business Bureau to verify that there have been no complaints against the business, and that it is a certified operator in the home warranty world. Ethics and trust are central to the services provided by home warranty companies.

How do you determine value, trust & credibility with home warranty companies?

It’s a difficult undertaking for a layperson to conduct the level of research needed to ascertain the professionalism, integrity, and credibility of a home warranty company. You don’t have to do that since there are businesses that are tasked with doing precisely that, such as ReviewHomeWarranties . This company is a consumer watchdog organization with plenty of bite. It reviews home warranty companies and provides objective analysis of these organizations. Among others, there are 6 ways that a fair assessment can be made of a home warranty provider:

1. Experienced Assessments – ReviewHomeWarranties is a respected name with in-depth knowledge of the game. With multiple referral partners, this company has deep roots in the home warranty industry.
2. The Terms and Conditions (Fine Print) – It’s all in the details. What’s covered and what’s not.
3. Affordability – home warranty plans must be priced right for them to be adopted en masse by homeowners.
4. Objective Client Reviews – on-site reviews of home warranty company should be avoided, and only external reviews should be considered. Sites like BBB, TrustPilot, and other unbiased platforms should be considered.
5. Mystery Shoppers – these guys and gals do the callouts for you, and their reviews/reports can save you the hassle of falling victim to a scam artist.
6. Credibility More Than Anything Else – clients should only work with credible operators. These are the organizations that have established reputations and are known for providing service quality on all their plans.