There are many myths about home warranty plans. People may read a home warranty company’s reviews online and mistakenly believe that a home protection plan isn’t worth the cost or aggravation. But many “bad experiences” — and bad online reviews — could have been avoided if the customer had simply taken the time to learn what is and isn’t covered prior to signing up for a plan.
We are here to help set the record straight about a wide variety of falsehoods regarding home warranties.
MYTH: Home warranties are the same as homeowners’ insurance.
Home warranties and homeowners’ insurance policies are not the same thing. Most standard homeowners’ insurance policies are required by a mortgage provider, and they will provide coverage for things like damage caused by tornadoes, floods, hail, windstorms, fires, vandalism, or certain events that are outside of your control.
Home warranties, however, can cover necessary repairs or replacements for your family’s appliances, systems, and service lines — things like your air conditioner, furnace, cooktop, fridge, washer, dryer, water lines, sewer lines, water heater, and more. A home warranty plan will come in handy when a repair or replacement is needed because a covered problem occurs to an item, and in many of these same instances a homeowners’ insurance policy won’t provide any assistance.
MYTH: Home warranties don’t provide coverage for anything important.
There are a wide variety of home protection plans available to homeowners and renters. Many home warranty companies, such as ours, offer repair or maintenance plans for your air conditioner and furnace, as well as plans to cover repairs for kitchen or laundry room appliances. Some home warranty plans — such as with our Outside Water and Sewer Line Protection Plan — will even provide valuable coverage if a situation arises with the service lines in your yard and a repair is needed.
Home warranties can prove to be extremely valuable when it comes to protecting your budget. For example, when you’re enrolled in a protection plan for your heating system and a covered problem occurs, simply pick up the phone and call the warranty provider. A professional will be sent to your home to diagnose and treat the problem — without you having to search online to try and find someone who’s qualified to do the job. The warranty will cover repairs/replacement needed all the way up to a stated coverage limit. Also, you may not even need to pay a deductible or service fee for the appointment with some warranty providers — such as with Oncourse Home Solutions.
It’s important to understand the terms and conditions provided for protection plans, so you will know what exactly is covered when it comes to your appliances, systems, and/or service lines. Then, if a problem occurs in your home, you will know whether or not your warranty plan will be able to take care of the issue or whether you will need to contact a professional on your own.
MYTH: It’s impossible to file a claim with a home warranty provider.
It’s actually a very simple process. Using our home warranty company as an example, all a customer must do when they notice a covered problem occurring in their home is to pick up the phone and give us a call. Our team of knowledgeable, friendly customer care experts will be able to assist the homeowner or renter with setting up a time with a professional in their area to get the problem taken care of as quickly as possible. Some situations may even be deemed an “emergency” that requires immediate assistance, such as a no-heat scenario in the winter months.
In addition to reaching our customer care experts by phone, we also make it easy for customers to report an issue online. During standard business hours, our chat agents are available to assist you with setting up a claim. Simply visit our website and click on the blue “Click to Chat” tab on the right side of the page. A caring and friendly customer care representative will be ready to help.
MYTH: If I enroll in a plan that includes maintenance, I don’t need to worry about doing anything myself in my home.
Your home is likely your family’s most valuable asset, and it’s your job to be sure you’re doing what you can to keep it protected and properly maintained. This means that there are some tasks you still need to do yourself, even if you are enrolled in a home warranty plan that includes maintenance services, such as with our Cooling Maintenance and Heating Maintenance plans.
For example, when you’re enrolled in our Heating Maintenance plan, you still need to take care of replacing the air filter. It’s recommended that you do this monthly, perhaps more often if you have pets in your home or individuals who smoke, as these could cause the filter to get dirty quicker than normal. Failure to replace it could result in premature wear and tear on your furnace due to it working overtime to move air through a clogged filter.
And as another example, even if you’re enrolled in our Cooling Maintenance plan, you still need to do some key maintenance tasks like trimming back any bushes or tree limbs that are growing too close to your outdoor condenser, as these things could severely restrict air flow to the unit. It’s recommended that you have a minimum of two feet of clearance around all sides of your condenser.
Ready to learn more or want to enroll in a home warranty plan?
Visit us online and enter your ZIP code to see what home protection plans are available in your area!