If you are a homeowner, chances are, you have your home insurance. As a matter of fact, home insurance often goes with owning properties. However, one of the things that you might not have yet and you should have this is a home warranty, such as those offered by companies like Complete Care Home Warranty.
What is a home warranty and why should you need one? In this piece, we will take a look at what a home warranty is, how it is different from home insurance, and what is included in its coverage.
Home Warranty Defined
Similar to home insurance, home warranties offer protection for the property owner. When you are covered not just with home insurance but with a home warranty, you can be provided with security and the best coverage that any homeowner can ever hope for. It is important that you have both a home warranty and home insurance. Let us begin with the home insurance.
The Home Insurance
There are so many things that might affect the way your house is built, including storms, natural disasters, and fires. With home insurance, you are most likely to get covered in terms of the expenses that you will spend taking your house back to its original form.
Home insurance policies typically cover four primary areas: the house interior, the house exterior, the personal property in cases of theft, loss, or damage, and the general liability if someone living in your property becomes injured.
Commonly, home insurance policies are renewed annually with an average annual cost between $300 to $1,000. There are also policies that offer a deductible, or the amount one is responsible for on a claim, and only after it has been met do they take care of any additional costs.
The Home Warranty
On the other hand, home warranties pertain to service contracts that cover the repair and replacement of home systems and appliances that may fail due to time and the standard wear-and-tear.
A home warranty covers your HVAC, electrical appliances, kitchen appliances, plumbing, washer, and dryer. For instance, there are home warranties that cover up to 21 of the major systems and appliances in your property.
Unlike home insurance policies, home warranties are never mandatory and are usually purchased as one-year or 12-month contract terms. They usually do not require a deductible and you are instead charged a moderate service fee.
Practically, home warranties work this way. For example, your refrigerator stops functioning. In these instances, a licensed and qualified service technician will visit your home and evaluate the problem. Assuming that the problem is because of wear-and-tear, the service contracts for home warranties also cover this. The technician will then make either the repair or replacement of the appliance for only the cost of the service call. Typically, each visit from a technician costs between $75 to $125. Given these costs of repair or potential replacement of the appliance or system, having a home warranty can undoubtedly save you a lot of dollars.
The Home Warranty Coverage
What does a home warranty cover? You have learned tidbits about this earlier, and we would be more than glad to expound this for you.
Home warranties cover service, repair, or replacement of your major home appliances and systems. It offers the homeowner peace of mind, especially if the covered items are older and already not under the warranties of the manufacturers.
Unlike home insurance, home warranties are touted as a consumer product. Home insurance offers financial assistance in case of unexpended circumstances like fire, wind, hail, theft, or vandalism, while home warranties cover your appliances and systems as what is listed in the contract.
When a homeowner is covered with a home warranty, they can lessen the expenses of having to fix or replace appliances.
The coverage of home warranties vary, but there are some standard coverages for appliances and systems you can acquire from many home warranty companies.
Here is the typical coverage of a home warranty.
Systems:
- Electrical
- Ductwork
- Heating
- Interior plumbing
- Water heater
Appliances:
- Air conditioning (at times, could be optional)
- Dishwasher
- Garage door opener
- Garbage disposal
- Pool equipment (also optional)
- Oven, range, and cooktop
- Refrigerator (at times, optional, and may exclude the ice maker)
- Spa equipment (likewise optional)
Note that there are companies that offer plans that only cover particular systems, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, as well as interior plumbing or electrical. There are also appliance-specific plans that may work the same way.
Property owners may select a warranty program like this one if they only want to cover particular items no longer covered in the warranty of the manufacturer.
Then, there is also an optional coverage. Depending on your location, clients may want coverage for home systems that include a sump pump, well pump, or septic tank. Remember though that some appliances you might think are covered under a standard warranty may be listed as options, such as your built-in microwave or refrigerator.
Moreover, if a homeowner has over one refrigerator in their property, they are more likely to necessitate added coverage since home warranties only cover the primary kitchen refrigerator. There are also companies that offer duplicate appliance coverage.
There are also comprehensive home warranty plans that include coverage for appliances like, but not limited to, free-standing ice machines, trash compactors, ceiling fans, and jetted bathtub motors and pumps. There are home warranties that may also include coverage for pest control and limited roof. Furthermore, some companies may likewise offer rekeying service which is useful if you bought a house and want to change the locks.
Protect Your Properties Better
Home warranties and home insurance policies work together to offer homeowners, or you, the ultimate protection. For instance, you have a leaky pipe. Depending on the nature of the leak, there are times this may only be covered by one policy and not the other. This is when home warranties do their purpose.
A home warranty would cover the pipe’s repair, but not the damage caused by the leak. Then, you got your home insurance to cover the leak damage, but not the repair of the pipe, which a home warranty takes responsibility for. Home warranties and home insurance policies work together.
When you have both the home insurance and the home warranty, there is no way you should worry in case any of these problems occur. Take note of how home insurance protects you from the unexpected things that may happen, while the home warranty takes away your worry about things that will happen. Get your home warranty and home insurance today.