Moving into your new home may be a dream come true. The process of buying a home is long and can come with a lot of hiccups. You are faced with many decisions along the way. One of these is the type of home warranty you would like, if any. Your decision now about your home warranty will impact the future repair costs of your home, so understanding what it entails is crucial to your future financial stability.
What Is A Home Warranty?
A home warranty is a coverage plan that is for your home’s appliances and critical systems. Many people get this confused with their homeowner’s insurance. Your insurance is there to pay for losses and damages caused by unexpected events, such as weather damage or fire. A home warranty is there to cover breakdowns caused by normal wear and tear.
Essential Components To Know About Your Warranty
Your home warranty is not something that you should pick without contemplating the entire policy. There are crucial components that make up your warranty that you want to look at. This way, you know what you’re covered for in the future and what you’re not.
Deductibles
As with most types of warranty plans, you may be responsible for a deductible before your warranty coverage kicks in. You’ll want to know what this deductible is to ensure it makes sense. For example, you don’t want a $1,000 deductible if most appliances will cost that amount. It wouldn’t make sense to buy the warranty as it wouldn’t help you pay for items.
Cap Limits
The various items that are covered under your home warranty policy will likely have cap limits on them. This is the maximum amount of money the home warranty company will pay for replacing the item. You’ll want to ensure the cap amounts make sense regarding the issues covered under your warranty.
Trade Call Fees
When a breakdown occurs, you’ll be calling in a professional to assess and repair the issue. You may be responsible for the fee that the professional charges to initially come out and assess the situation. This will vary depending on your home warranty plan, so be sure to look it over before signing on the dotted line, so you know what you’ll be committing to.
What’s Covered Under A Home Warranty?
Understanding what’s covered under a home warranty is going to come down to reading over your contract. However, some common components can help you get a feel for the types of situations covered under this type of warranty program. Let’s take a quick look at these components below.
- Central Heating Systems
- Central Air Conditioning Systems
- Washer
- Dryer
- Plumbing System
- Electrical System
- Roof Leaks
- Kitchen Appliances
Items above these basics can typically be included with a premium home warranty plan. It’s a good idea to assess the significant elements in your home and make a list. This way, you can ensure that they’ll all be covered with the individual home warranty plan that you choose to purchase.
Do I Get The Existing Home Warranty Plan The Previous Homeowners Bought?
If the existing homeowners had a home warranty plan, it’s typically included in the sale price of the home. You’ll need to double-check with the home warranty company to ensure that the transfer of real estate also transfers the rights to the home warranty plan to you. In most cases, it does, and you can enjoy the home warranty plan for the duration of what the previous homeowners purchased.
I hope you now have a better knowledge of what a home warranty is and what it covers in your new home. Consider a home warranty plan as an extra form of protection that allows you to financially protect yourself from significant home system and appliance failures. If you don’t currently have a home warranty plan for your home, it’s a good idea to jump online and find some providers to get one from.
