Is a Home Warranty Worth the Money?

As you may know, normal wear and tear to your appliances is not covered by your homeowners policy (and that includes hot water heaters). So how do you protect yourself from costly repairs? 
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Well, one way is to purchase a home warranty. The monthly cost can vary anywhere from $25 to $100 depending on the plan you build.

A Home Warranty is a service contract that covers the repair or replacement of important home system components and appliances that break down due to normal wear and tear over time. 

If you have a Home Warranty, you do not pay for the actual repair or replacement cost for items covered by the Home Warranty. The contract will cover repair or replacements of covered items, regardless of age, make or model.

You can cover a variety of appliances and systems in your home like your refrigerator, air conditioner, clothes washer and dryer, water heater and many more. 

But is it worth it?

In our previous home we had a home warranty and there were times that it came in handy and times when it wasn't so handy. For instance, our garbage disposal wasn't working properly so we put in a service call with our warranty company, and a technician came out the next day and found that all of the eggshells I had been putting down the disposal caused a clog about 30 feet deep.
That day I learned NOT to put eggshells down the disposal and that I was so grateful that I only had to pay $100 to correct this otherwise, costly mistake. 

On the other hand, we starting having issues with our 8 year old garage door. We opened a service call with our home warranty and a technician came out to advise us that the issue was with a particular motor that was excluded by our home warranty. In that situation we paid $100 for the service call and then on top of it $400+ to replace the motor. Originally we grumbled that it wasn't covered and still had to pay for the service call but it's in the contract details so we didn't have much room for complaining.

But that's a question you want to ask when purchasing a home warranty - what's excluded? Here are a few other helpful questions to ask:

- Are there limits for each coverage? Are there certain parts of covered appliances that are excluded? 
- What are the deductibles?
​- What kind of service calls are covered? Is there a limit on how many service calls? 
- Do you have to use their network of contractors and service people, or can you choose your own? 

Some homeowner policies offer equipment breakdown coverage. It's typically very inexpensive and covers mechanical breakdown  (not normal wear and tear) to your appliances. So if your service contact has ended on your one year old GE stove, it may not be a bad idea to add the endorsement.

​That sounds like a whole other blog post... til then... have a great Monday and let us know if you'd like to learn more about protecting your appliances.