Have you recently purchased a home or a new homeowner’s insurance policy? Perhaps you know someone else who has. Either way, someone involved with the sale may have suggested home repair insurance (sometimes referred to as a home warranty) to help protect you from costly repairs in the future. Home warranties can be a fantastic way to boost your coverage when home insurance deductibles are costly; here’s how they benefit you and why they may be a wise solution.
Obtaining home repair coverage (sometimes referred to as a home warranty) can save you money, hassle, and stress if you own a home. Affordable monthly payments and low deductibles allow you to obtain maximum coverage for a small price on appliances and other major electrical components that aren’t well-covered by your home insurance. We’ll teach you the basics of why this approach works right here.
Get Big Home Repair Coverage For a Small Price With this Guide
What’s Covered in Home Repair Insurance?
Home repair insurance is also sometimes referred to as home warranty or home repair insurance. This kind of policy reimburses you for repairs on specific items affected by everyday use, like your furnace or entryway doors. Depending on the policy, it may also cover many other items standard homeowner policies won’t cover, such as:
- Electrical wiring and electrical malfunctions
- HVAC systems (e.g., central air, furnaces, and A/Cs)
- Interior plumbing lines and fixtures (e.g., tubs and toilets)
- Appliance repairs and replacements (e.g., washer, dryer)
- Mechanical items and lighting (e.g., lighting fixtures and ceiling fans)
Each policy is different, so it’s important to carefully review each package to determine exactly what it covers before you sign. You should try your best to ensure you’re choosing a policy that will cover the needs of what you have in your home, including what may or may not already be covered by your existing insurance policy. Keep in mind that most policies have a limit on coverage for specific items; turning in multiple claims can possibly trigger a rate increase.
How Does Home Insurance Benefit You?
You can obtain home repair insurance at anytime, including when you buy and even right up until you sell. There’s technically no need to buy in from day one, but it can be wise if you want to maximize your potential protection. It’s fairly common for insurance providers to offer it in tandem with a homeowner’s insurance policy, but as an add-on, it’s optional.
Additionally, you need to determine if you would benefit from it before you actually decide to pay those monthly premiums. If you have brand new appliances, and they’re covered under a manufacturer’s warranty, it might not make sense to include them within your home warranty.
On the other hand, not signing up for a home warranty early on can also cause issues; some policies require you to pay for three or six months before filing a claim. This might leave you in a position where something crops up, yet you still aren’t covered.
Many home repair insurance companies also require that homeowners prove they follow proper maintenance guidelines for the appliances they insure. You may be asked to update this proof over the years by submitting maintenance receipts; if you refuse, you could be denied coverage. It’s a pain, but this is the kind of maintenance most homeowners should be doing anyway.
Obtaining Home Repair Coverage
You can obtain home repair insurance coverage through most major insurance companies, but it is far more common to find private companies offering these policies instead. A limited number of utility companies and appliance companies also offer their own long-term warranties that cover both their own products and products from other brands, but these may be more expensive.
If budget is a concern, you can get a policy to fit your budget by choosing a lower tier of coverage. However, you should be mindful that lower tiers often mean less coverage (or at least less robust coverage). The more coverage you obtain, the more benefits you’ll have – such as total cost replacement on some models. Keep in mind that premiums may not include service fees or per-use fees every time you access that coverage.
~Here’s to Your Success!
