A home warranty plan is like repair support for your home's most important appliances and systems. You'll pay a fixed monthly or annual fee for your home warranty plan. If your washing machine breaks down, your plumbing gets backed up, or any other covered item stops working properly, you can just make a phone call, and someone will come around to fix it.
Typically, home warranty plans cover items like your washing machine and dryer and your plumbing and electrical systems, but they don’t always cover air conditioning and heating units. It’s important to check each home warranty plan policy separately, in order to see what’s included.
Most home warranty plans give you the option of buying extra coverage for items that aren’t part of the standard policy. This gives you the chance to cover your heating and cooling units, as well as big kitchen appliances like your oven or range, garbage disposal units, and swimming pools.
As a general rule, as long as your home warranty policy covers your a/c and heating units, the repair person will agree to fix or replace them. But take note that there are some situations where your home warranty policy could refuse to repair or replace your a/c and heating units:
Sweltering through the hot summer months or shivering through the freezing mid-winter just isn’t anyone’s idea of fun. With a home warranty plan, you won’t need to suffer through the effects of having your a/c or heating unit break down on you just when you need it most.
A home warranty plan gives you simple peace of mind. You know that your a/c and heating units are likely to stop working someday, although you hope it won't be for a long while yet. With a home warranty plan, you won't need to worry about what you'll do when that day comes.
What’s more, we all tend to put off tasks, but fixing a broken heating or a/c unit isn’t something that you want to leave until you have time. With a home warranty plan, you can just pick up the phone and have someone come around to fix it for you, instead of waiting until you have the time to do it yourself or to research someone reliable to call.
When you think about the costs of fixing a heating or a/c unit through a home warranty plan, you need to consider the cost of premiums as well as the service charge. While premiums vary depending on the age of your appliances and state where you live, you can expect to pay an average of $400-$450 per year.
Almost every home warranty company charges a service fee whenever you call out a repair person. Usually, the fee per appliance is around $60 or $75, but some plans can charge as much as $125 per callout, so read the fine print carefully.
If your a/c or heating unit breaks down, don’t worry. It’s pretty easy to file a claim with a home warranty company. Here's a step-by-step guide to filing a home warranty claim:
1. Call the claims number for your home warranty company. The company should give you the details you need for how to get in touch.
2. Wait for one of the home warranty company’s repair people to get in touch with you to arrange a convenient time to come.
3. When the repair person arrives, pay them the service fee according to your plan’s terms.
4. Wait while the repair person either fixes the a/c or heating unit, or orders you a replacement free of charge,
Whatever the size of your home or age of your heating and a/c system, there’s a home warranty plan to match. Choose a home warranty plan today to keep your home pleasant to live in all year round.