Patch or Pitch

Costs checked Oct 26, 2026

What a home warranty really is

It is not a warranty. It is a service contract: you pay a yearly premium plus a fee per service call, and the company agrees to cover certain repairs, up to certain limits, with contractors it chooses.

Whether one saves you money depends on the contract and on what breaks. Here is the careful version, built on the FTC's consumer advice.

Before you buy one

• Check what it duplicates. New appliances already carry manufacturer warranties.
• Read the limits. Contracts can cap reimbursement amounts, exclude certain appliances or systems, and charge fees for cancellation.
• Count every fee. The FTC flags costs that may be hidden, like deductibles and fees charged each time a product is serviced.
• Check the claims process. The FTC says a slow or difficult claims process, and waiting a long time to get paid back, can reduce the value of the coverage.
• Search the company name with the words review and complaint before signing anything.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home warranties.

When one can make sense

• Several major systems are old at once and you could not absorb a US$3,000 surprise.
• You just bought the house and do not know the systems yet.

The FTC's first question is whether the contract is likely to save you money. If you can cover a typical repair from savings, compare the yearly premium plus per-service fees against that repair cost before buying.

How this site could make money

Some home warranty companies advertise that they pay publishers when a visitor requests a quote through a link. One such program says a tracking pixel fires on a submitted quote form and that it pays weekly. We have not applied to any program, we do not know whether we would be accepted, what would count as a qualifying lead, or what it would actually pay, and this site has earned US$0. If that ever changes, this page will say so, and we will still tell you to skip the warranty whenever the math says skip it.

Costs: HomeGuide installer-reported data, 2026. Lifespans: InterNACHI home life expectancy chart. All prices in US dollars.