Why You May Want to Skip the Home Warranty

If someone has recently purchased a new home, there’s a good chance they’ve received mail saying they should also purchase a home warranty to help protect it. This can seem like a good investment—after all, people buy warranties for things like cellphones and computers all the time, so why not homes? Here are some reasons all homeowners should take into consideration when thinking about a home warranty.

Home Warranties Don’t Cover the Expensive Fixes

Many people want to get home warranties to help pay for expensive fixes. A new roof, for example, can cost anywhere from $275-750 per square foot, including the cost of installation. However, most home warranties refuse to cover fixes like new roofs, windows, and chimneys because they’re too expensive. And in the case of any structural flaws that a homeowner may discover, most states explicitly forbid home warranty companies from covering it. Homeowners who want to invest in a home warranty in order to help with expensive repairs for their River Ridge home down the line should look elsewhere. 

Prepare for Extra Fees

When buying a home warranty, the homeowner will expect that the $400-600 they pay for a year of coverage is all they need to pay. However, this isn’t correct. Many home warranty providers charge homeowners a service fee whenever they call to make a claim. The cost of the service fee will vary from company to company, but homeowners can expect to pay anywhere from $50-125, depending on the provider, just to have someone come out to fix the item that’s covered by the home warranty. Home warranties only pay in favor of the homeowner if they have a lot of repairs in a single year.

Terms are Vague

After paying for the home warranty itself and the service call to have someone come out and fix a broken item, this doesn’t mean it’ll actually be fixed. Many home warranties only apply to items that have been “properly maintained,” but leave the term undefined or vague. This can lead homeowners to have to spend even more time and money fixing the item because the home warranty they already paid for won’t cover it.

No Choice in Contractors

Does the homeowner have a favorite plumber they always call when the pipes get clogged? Unfortunately, when working through a home warranty, the homeowner will no longer have the choice of who to work with the next time it happens. After filing a claim for a repair, the home warranty company will select a contractor from a predetermined list of ones they work with and send whichever one is available.

Warranty Companies Fix Instead of Replace

If a washing machine has broken five times, that’s a good sign it’s at the end of its life and should be replaced. However, many warranty companies will avoid replacing items at all cost to avoid spending money. This means more service calls and service fees for the homeowner and more business for the home warranty company and its contractors.

Home warranties may seem like the most helpful choice a homeowner can make when it comes to necessary repairs, but all homeowners should make sure they know what home warranties actually do, and for that matter, what they don’t. Home warranties can be useful in some cases, but for many that seem like they would be helpful, they aren’t. Only homeowners who have fully researched their home warranty of choice and are confident it will be beneficial should go forward purchasing one.