Are Home Warranty Plans Needed for Modern Homes?

As you might know, home warranty plans provide an added layer of protection for your home appliances and systems. If something gets damaged and needs repairing or replacing, this type of warranty comes in handy. Instead of paying the full cost of repair or replacement out of pocket, you’d only pay the agreed-to service fee associated with your contract.

Millions of people have a home warranty plan. With a one-time annual expense that ranges between $200 and $600 combined with a service fee of anywhere from $30 to $150, it’s far less expensive to have a home warranty than not to have one. For many homeowners, this makes perfect sense.

If you’re interested in getting a warranty, you should check out this guide on home warranty providers. There, you’ll find an abundance of information that can guide you to the best plan. However, you might wonder if a home warranty is necessary for everyone. What happens with new construction or a relatively new house? Well, it all depends. 

Home Warranties for New Houses

Whether you build a new house or the one you currently live in is only a few years old, there’s an excellent chance that the appliances and systems are still covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Because of that, there’s no viable reason for you to spend money on a home warranty plan.

Remember, home warranties protect kitchen appliances, air conditioning units, furnaces, water heaters, pipes, electrical systems, built-in alarms, and so on. Whatever you have in a new or newer home likely still has protection. For that reason, there’s no need for additional protection.

If you have an appliance or system breaks, you’d simply contact the manufacturer. With it still under their warranty, the company would send a professional tech to your house who would either repair or replace the item. The bottom line is if you just built your house or it’s still considered new, you don’t need a home warranty plan.

There is an exception, though. If you brought appliances to your newly constructed house or one that’s still considered new from another home, they might not have protection under the manufacturer’s warranty. In other words, you could build a brand-new house but bring five-year-old appliances along. In that case, you’d definitely want to invest in a home warranty plan.

Determine Expiration Dates

To avoid getting stuck in the gap that might occur when appliances and systems are no longer covered by the manufacturer’s warranty to the time you purchase a home warranty, it’s a good idea to determine the expiration date on all these items.

If you just purchased appliances and systems, you’ll have the receipts to help you keep track of that information. Otherwise, contact the homebuilder or manufacturer to get the data and then make a list of when these items would no longer have coverage. The minute that something falls out of the manufacturer’s warranty is when you should start looking at the American Home Shield reviews.

For example, say you purchased a refrigerator three years and two months ago. However, the warranty provided by the manufacturer expired at the three-year mark. Although the appliance is still considered new, you don’t have any security if something goes wrong. By selecting a home warranty, not only is the refrigerator covered but all other appliances and systems within your house.

Unfortunately, something that seems like a small problem can quickly turn into a major financial dilemma. That makes having a home warranty worth it. Once you know when the manufacturer’s warranty expires on the appliances and systems you own, you can take action to protect yourself financially.