Do I need home warranty?

Many homeowners do not need home warranty at all. With some planning and learning about your sweet and neat home, you can save some money. Get your home inspected by a reputed home inspector and obtain a detailed report. It will help you decide whether you need home warranty. Feel free to ask home inspector’s opinion about the need to buy warranty.

You definitely need home warranty-

• if any of your big ticket appliances such as air conditioner, water heater etc. are about to reach the end of their life cycle and there is a fair chance that you will need to replace them.
• if you do not want to get your hands (and mind) dirty when something breaks down.

You may need to consider buying home warranty-

• if your house is older than 10 years and you have been spending some money on maintenance
• if you are financially not prepared to handle major expenses when a system break down
• if you do not have a trusted service contractor and do not want to go through the pains of calling contractors from Yellow Pages
• if the appliances are not maintained properly

I don’t want to buy home warranty. What next?
Okay, if you decide not to buy home warranty, then follow these steps

1. Look around, get references and settle with a good plumber in case of emergency. Shop around and negotiate the rates if you can. Have a backup plumber contact.
2. Learn a little more about major appliances and pay attention to their maintenance needs. Regular maintenance is a must if you want to live without home warranty. Visit the Maintenance Tips section of our website to learn more.
3. t is a good idea to get your major appliances such as heating/cooling systems inspected by a professional every 2-3 years, if those systems are old.
4. At the beginning of each year, re-assess your home warranty needs and you may decide to go with a home warranty policy if necessary
5. Every year, save what would have been your home warranty premium costs in a reserve fund, so that you don’t have to scramble when you need a major repair/replacement. This advice is for those who do not have adequate emergency cash reserves. Others, invest your hard-saved money elsewhere for better returns.

If you have decided to buy home warranty, we recommend that you get a price quote from Home Warranty Experts below -

Home Warranty Plans - Protect Your Home Appl. & Avoid Costly Repairs. Get Covered Today!

Posted in Home Warranties, Home Warranty, Home Warranty Advice, Home Warranty Plans, Homeowners Warranty | 2 Comments »

Home warranty buyers guide

When you are ready to buy home warranty insurance, follow these steps that are intended to help you chose a better service. The important step is to find a reputed company in your area. However, that is also the most difficult part because most buyers do not have great opinion about any one company in particular. We have started collecting provider ratings from our website visitors, but most of the ratings given fall below 3 (out of 5) for all warranty companies. That means, along with rating, buyers will also have to consider other factors such as annual premium, deductible costs, appliances coverage and of course small prints in the contract. Read on…

Very first step is to decide if you need home warranty. Check this article that explains is there a need for home warranty on this site and review the checklist. It is a good idea to get a detailed home inspection report on your existing house from a third party inspector. This report will help you understand the potential and existing problems with your appliances and will also help you decide if you need home warranty. If some appliances are aging and need special attention, be sure to check if the warranty company provides sufficient coverage for those appliances.

Make a short list of 3-5 companies that match with your needs. You can use home warranty price comparison section to identify few providers based on premium, deductible, coverage effective dates etc. (Please note that our list covers most of companies that have nationwide coverage and it may have missed local warranty providers.)

Check with your friends and colleagues as to which providers do they use. Be sure to ask about their satisfaction levels with service and claims processing. The may some comments about customer service, contractor turnaround, quality of work etc.
It is important to choose a company that has a decent track record in this industry. Many consumers are dissatisfied with the services offered by many home warranty companies and it is indeed difficult to deal with some companies when it comes to claims processing. It is not easy to find a perfect home warranty company, but you can always chose a company with least number of complaints. There are several ways to research.

1. Use home warranty insurance ratings to learn the ratings given by our users.
2. Check company’s track record using trade organizations such as Better Business Bureau.
3. Research the company over the Internet for any negative reviews. Insurance discussion board in scam.com has the list of complaints against many home warranty companies. www.ripoffreport.com is another website for lodging complaints.
4. Your real estate agent will also be able to provide the name of few reliable warranty companies in the area

Determine if you need extra coverage. Most basic plans do not cover clothes washer/drier, second set of equipments (second refrigerator), pool/spa equipments, computers etc. And some plans also exclude air conditioning, roof, etc.

Now, start calling the companies and make notes of their offerings. Be sure to collect information such as -

• Annual premium

• Deductible per incident (Trade service call fee)

• Average turnaround time for repair handling

• If you have determined that you need extra coverage mentioned above, check how much extra would it cost

• If you have any aging equipments reported in your Home Inspection report mentioned earlier, be sure to check if the warranty company provides adequate coverage for those equipments

• Is coverage effective immediately upon buying the policy? (only matters if you need immediate coverage)

• Ask for clarifications and contractual obligations. Observe how they are treating you, which is a good indicator of how the company treats its customers after sale.

Finally, glance over the contract terms when you are ready to buy the coverage to make sure which appliances are NOT covered. Request a reliability report from your local BBB to make sure there are not too many complaints.

Now you have completed your due diligence part. If you have decided to buy home warranty, we recommend that you get a home warranty quote from Home Warranty Experts below -

Home Warranty Plans - Protect Your Home Appl. & Avoid Costly Repairs. Get Covered Today!

Posted in Home Warranty, Home Warranty Advice, Home Warranty Companies, Home Warranty Plans, Homeowners Warranty | 2 Comments »