Are home appliance warranty plans worth getting?
If you have just bought a brand new home appliance and considering extended warranty, your investment may not be worth it, considering the age of the equipment. However, if you have aging appliances, you should consider appliance protection plans.
As a homeowner, you might have been bothered by break down of the washing machine or non-working garbage disposal or the leaking water heater. Has the repair bill of your major home appliances scared you? Has the maintenance of your home appliances made you insomniac?
Contrary to popular belief, home owners insurance will NOT cover the repair or replacement of all your major home appliances due to normal wear and tear. They only cover burglary or natural disaster such as fire, lightning etc. The manufacturer’s warranty that comes with the appliance also expires within a year or two, leaving you frustrated with the expensive repair bills. Well, the solution for all your worries would be home appliance warranty for all your aging home appliances.
What kind of appliance warranty plans are available?
You can either get extended warranty for each appliance or get a home warranty which covers all appliances in your house. Buying extended warranty for each unit is not very practical, so that means your choices are having no insurance or get home warranty insurance plans. Some home warranty companies let you choose the appliances you want to cover so you can reduce the insurance premium if you choose fewer items.
Home warranty is the service contract for the repair and replacement of all the major home appliances. It is the system that helps you protect your major home appliance repair costs. when your air conditioner, heater, refrigerator or any other appliance breaks down, your insurance company will repair or replace the machinery. Some of these appliances are expensive to replace, so it is generally recommended to get protection plans unless you have a brand new home appliances.
Basically, the home warranty company has a contract with the repair companies for service. So every time you call up the home warranty company for the repair of a major home appliance, the company in turn calls up the service company which sends the technician to your door. The technician decides upon the option of repair or replacement of the major home appliance based upon the severity of the damage. The home warranties takes care of the repair or the replacement of the major home appliance. But you will have to pay the service charge of the technician which would be a nominal fee.
Average life expectancy of home appliances
National Association of Home Builders brought out the following list of some kitchen appliances and mechanical systems and their lifespan. You need to replace the appliances after they reach their end of the life cycle, however, the maintenance expenses start raising long before they need to be replaced.
| Item | Expected life (years) | Item | Expected life (years) |
| Central Air Conditioning | 15+ | Dryers | 14 |
| Window Air Conditioning | 10 | Disposal | 10 |
| Air Conditioning compressor | 15 | Freezers | 16 |
| Electric water heater | 14 | Microwave ovens | 11 |
| Gas water heater | 11 to 13 | Electric ranges | 17 |
| Forced-air furnace | 15 | Gas ranges | 19 |
| Gas or oil furnace | 18 | Gas ovens | 14 |
| Trash compactors | 10 | Refrigerators | 17 |
| Dishwashers | 10 | Washing Machines | 13 |
| Exhaust fans | 20 |
It has been found that the maintenance of the aging major home appliance gets tougher and costlier as they age. Keeping a homeowners warranty would definitely save thousands of dollars that would have been spent in repairing those major home appliances.
A homeowner may have different reasons for purchasing a home warranty policy. The common reason would be for protection against the high repair and replacement costs. One more advantage is that the home owner does not have to pick and choose technicians, dealers or contractors every time there is a break down. The help will be just one phone call away in case of a home warranty. The homeowner needs to explain the problem maybe related to plumbing, heating, cooling, water leak and so on to the customer representative.
Appliances covered by a home appliance protection plan
The following appliances are generally covered by home warranties:
- Air conditioning
- Dishwashers
- Doorbells
- Furnace / heating
- Water heater
- Ductwork
- Garbage disposal
- Inside plumbing stoppages
- Ceiling fans
- Electrical systems
- Range and oven
- Telephone wiring
You can also buy additional home warranty coverage for things that aren’t covered under a basic or essential home owners warranty plan – including your refrigerator, pool, or washer and dryer.
Once you decide to buy home warranty, get a price quote from top providers before you get the policy. You can also check our home warranty directory to find the companies that service your area.
Things you need to know about appliance protection plans
It is a known thing that home appliance warranties are meant for security and easy maintenance. So many home owners have been buying home warranties along with their homes. But at the same time, some of them have are not too happy with their home owners warranty plans.
These plans are not meant to provide blanket coverage. They generally do not cover pre-existing and lack-of-maintenance issues. Also, it is not a good idea to call the warranty provider for every minor problem through out the year.
Some of the common complaints the dissatisfied customers have been putting across are as follows:
- It is seen that the customer service of some of the home warranty companies is not very communicative and not very prompt with follow ups. It is the case with most of the large companies these days, so it may not be an issue for most of us.
- It has been seen that many a times, the home owners do not read the contract thoroughly. This leads to frustration on their part especially when a home appliance breaks down and the home warranty companies refuse to repair it quoting the text in small characters in the contract.
- The waiting periods for the home appliance to be repaired or replaced irks lot of customers. Many a times, the contractor will order appliance parts after getting approval from the warranty company and it takes some time before they complete the repair work.
- Many customers feel that the home warranty companies always opt for repairs rather than replacements and this method might not be too kind on very aged devices. They say that these repairs force them to call up the home warranty companies frequently as the aged devices keep breaking down repeatedly.
- The home owners feel that the claims for the repair of the home appliances are rejected quoting some unrealistic reasons and then generally homeowners give up after fighting for a while. They are some fraudulent companies out there rejecting majority of your claim. That is why you should choose a reputable company that has good ratings
- There have been occasional lawsuits filed against the home warranty companies for engaging in denying claims for repairs. But the home warranty companies state that the home owners do not read the contract properly. The companies claim that the home owners should understand that the appliances will be repaired or replaced only if they are broken because of normal wear and tear.
- Some home warranty companies deny claims of repair of appliances stating that the home owners have not maintained a regular schedule of maintenance. This is one of the items in the contract that is overlooked by homeowners. Lack of maintenance problems are generally not covered.
The homeowner should check the warranty contracts very carefully as they can be limited and generalized. Read the fine print thoroughly to see what is covered and what is not covered. Also pay attention to the deductible amount and copayment.
So, is it worth getting home appliance warranty?
At the end of the day, it cannot be denied that home warranty reduces your major home appliances repair cost effectively. So the home warranty works best if your major home appliances are aging and you want to settle with repairs if the company does not replace them. It also holds good for you if you are trying to sell a house with a home warranty so that the buyer does not sue you if any major home appliance stops working after the sale.
There have been mostly positive feedback regarding the home warranty companies. You might see lot of negative reviews, but generally people tend to post reviews when they had bad experience. If you get an exceptionally good service, you are likely to share it. If you have take time read the contract and find out what exactly is covered and when, you should be fine. After you have done that, you might not ever regret about having taken the home warranty.
If you decide to go ahead to buy a home warranty, then check out home warranty directory to find the companies that service your area, make sure you understand what is covered and what is not covered, go through the reviews online, compare their premiums and then get a price quote before you choose the company that you want to go with.
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[...] extend the lifespan of the appliance and will also reduce maintenance expenses. Even if you have an appliance warranty plan, warranty companies expect you to maintain your appliances in good [...]
Appliance warranties for older appliances are definitely worth the money, but home warranty plans when you buy a home, I think are a total waste of money.
Every time we called our home warranty company they had an exclusion for the coverage…it is only worth it if you are buying an older home, and appliances left, such as the heater or garbage disposal look like they are about to go….then it may be a good deal, but check for policy exclusions first.
[...] if you are a responsible homeowner, make sure you have appliance warranty policy to protect yourself from costly [...]