A home warranty is an insurance policy that covers the major systems in your house. It's a great way to protect your biggest investment from unexpected and expensive repairs.
You can buy a warranty for both new and existing homes, but it's especially useful if you're buying a new house or condo. Here are the major systems that home warranties cover.
Electrical Systems
Most home warranties cover the electrical system, which includes components such as wiring and circuits. They also cover repairs to those components, but not materials or labor costs for installing them. For example, if you have a faulty outlet or fuse box and need to replace it, most companies will pay for the parts and labor involved in doing so (within reason). If you hire an electrician to install those parts for you, however, that's on you—the warranty won't cover it.
Plumbing Systems
The plumbing system includes the pipes and fittings that carry water to and from the fixtures in your house. This includes the sink, toilet, bathtub, shower/tub combination, and laundry tubs.
The plumbing system is covered by most home warranties for the first year and a half of its coverage period.
Heating And Cooling Systems
One of the major systems that most home warranties cover is the heating and cooling system. This can be a major benefit for homeowners because it provides peace of mind when your furnace goes out in the middle of winter or your A/C stops working on a hot summer day.
Home warranties will usually cover both parts and labor for heating and cooling systems—meaning they will pay for new parts if yours break down, as well as send out their own technicians to install them. They also come with a warranty on those parts, so if something goes wrong with them later on, you won't have to pay an arm and leg out of pocket! It's like having an insurance policy just in case anything goes wrong with your heating or cooling system down the road.
As mentioned above though: this may not be right for everyone's situation...but it could very well be worth considering if you're looking into buying one!
Built-in Appliances
Most home warranties will cover appliances that are built-in to your homes, such as a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave, and washer/dryer.
However, some appliances are not covered. This includes portable or outdoor items such as televisions and grills.
Some appliances may be covered only if they are part of a major system that is also covered (like air conditioning). Others may be covered only if they are a specific brand (i.e., GE or Whirlpool).
Roof Leaks
Some home warranties include coverage for roof leak repairs. This coverage may be included in the premium plans or offered as an add-on to the basic plan. The coverage may include tile replacement, nail pop repair (holes in the roof caused by nails), seam repair on flat or rolled roofs, and vinyl membrane (a type of rubber material used to waterproof roofs) repair.
However, some repairs are not covered such as the full roof replacement, damage from the hall, ice, mud, and wind, clogged gutters, and roof-penetrating items such as skylights and vents.
Water Heaterr
Water heaters are covered by most home warranties. The water heater is covered if it leaks or breaks, but only when the failure is due to a defect in materials or workmanship. In other words, if someone accidentally breaks your hot water heater while they're staying at your house (because they're clumsy), that's not covered by the warranty.
The warranty will also cover leaks from the water line connected to your hot water heater as long as those lines aren't damaged by something external like tree roots growing into them or damage caused by an earthquake (since those things aren't really under your control).
Minor System Coverage
Home warranties cover major systems, such as the roof and plumbing. Some home warranties also cover minor systems, including your refrigerator and dishwasher. A thorough home warranty covers appliances, electrical systems, and plumbing problems.
In addition to appliances like refrigerators or ranges, a home warranty will also take care of repairs to roofs (if they're damaged), water heaters (if they malfunction), plumbing (if leaks are detected), and electrical wiring issues that have been damaged by lightning strikes or other power surges.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we hope that this article has helped you understand the various things that home warranties cover. If you have any questions about what your warranty covers or don’t know whether it is worth getting one for your home, please feel free to contact us!
