Being a homeowner means being responsible for repairing, replacing and maintaining all of your home’s systems and appliances. That’s not cheap. In fact, personal finance experts recommend that you budget about two percent of your home’s value for repairs and maintenance each year. That can easily add up to thousands of dollars. Even if you have a relatively inexpensive home, you’re still looking at spending a couple of thousand dollars a year on home maintenance and repairs or saving it for the day when you need to pay for a big-ticket repair, like a new HVAC system.
A home warranty from American Home Shield can help you fit unexpected home repairs into your budget.
Does a Home Warranty Cover Appliances?
Yes — in fact, for many homeowners, the whole point of a home warranty is that it covers appliances. American Home Shield's ShieldSilver and ShieldGold plans both cover up to 9 major home appliances. That means that if your appliances break down due to normal wear and tear during your 12-month plan agreement term, we’ll cover the cost o repair or replace them per your coverage and plan agreement limitations and exclusions.
Does a Home Warranty Replace Appliances?
Yes, American Home Shield home appliance warranties will cover the replacement of your appliance per your coverage limitations if the item cannot be repaired.
Does American Home Shield Cover Old Appliances?
Yes, we do. We’ll cover your appliances no matter how old they are. We don’t need service or maintenance records. The only requirement is that the home warranty plan must be in effect for the 30 days before you place your first service request. The covered breakdown must also be the result of normal wear and tear.
An American Home Shield home appliance warranty can also cover duplicate appliances, so you can go ahead and get that second fridge inthe garage repaired.
What About Pre-existing Conditions?
There is a waiting period of 30 days before you can place your first service request. Appliance problems that pre-date the home warranty plan aren’t covered though.
What Are Some Things That a Home Warranty Doesn’t Cover?
When it comes to repairing and especially replacing appliances, there are some things that a home warranty doesn’t cover. Your appliance coverage only covers the appliance itself, not any modifications that might need to be made to your home or fixtures in order to install the appliance correctly. For example, let’s say your service professional determines that you need a new fridge. You decide you want to upgrade to one of those models with the water and ice dispenser in the door — but you don’t have a water line running to your current fridge. Your home warranty coverage will likely pay for the replacement of the fridge, but they won’t pay for the plumber to run a new water line.
However, in most cases, you’re not going to need to modify your house in order to install a new appliance — things like dishwashers, stoves, washers, and clothes dryers can usually just be installed right where the old one was without zero fuss.
A home warranty also won’t cover the cost of secondary damage to your home as a result of an appliance breakdown. If your dishwasher breaks and floods the kitchen, causing water damage to the floors, your home warranty will cover the repair or replacement of the dishwasher, but it’s not going to cover the restoration of your water-damaged hardwood floors. If your refrigerator breaks down, you can get the appliance replaced, but most home warranties won’t cover the cost of replacing your lost food. Home warranties also don’t cover breakdowns due to misuse, neglect or errors in installation. Damage from children, pets or pests isn’t typically covered.
Appliances Covered by an American Home Shield Home Warranty
You can get coverage for these 9 home appliances with our ShieldGold and ShieldSilver home warranty plans.
1. Refrigerators
When your refrigerator breaks down, you need it repaired fast. You might be able to fix some fridge problems yourself, but other problems are going to require professional assistance.
Your AHS home warranty will cover all components and parts, including water leaks, in-refrigerator icemaker, water filter, evaporator fan, thermostat, and multiple refrigerators. For more details, please see the refrigerator coverage page.
2. Clothes Washers
You can’t get by very long without a clothes washer. Our clothes washer coverage includes all of the parts and components of washers, but for more details see our washer coverage page.
