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Thursday, January 23rd
Select Home Warranty is a reputable company based in New Jersey that has been in business since 2012. As a home warranty provider, they offer coverage for various aspects of your home, including appliances, home systems, or a combination of both. With their experience and expertise, Select Home Warranty aims to provide you with peace of mind and financial protection in the event of unexpected repairs or replacements. Uniquely, this company appears to have celebrity endorsement. Fans of Star Trek will recognize the famous William Shatner on the front page, claiming to trust the company over other options in the industry.
Three plans to choose from
Select Home Warranty offers three plans to choose from: Bronze Care, Gold Care, and Platinum Care. The Bronze Care plan covers essential appliances such as the clothes washer and dryer, refrigerator, built-in microwave, cooktop, stove/oven, and garbage disposal. The Gold Care plan covers a different area of your home including HVAC, water heater, ductwork, electrical, and plumbing systems, but none of the features covered by Bronze. The Platinum Care plan includes all the features of the Bronze Care and Gold Care plans and adds additional coverage for garage door openers, ceiling fans, and plumbing stoppages.
Pricing from $44.22 to $47.75 per month
When it comes to promotions and discounts, Select Home Warranty often offers special deals to attract new customers. At the time of this review, they were offering a promotion that included $150 off any plan, free roof coverage, and two extra months free on plans paid yearly. In our area, we had options to choose from all three plans offered by Select Home Warranty. The Bronze and Gold Care plans both cost $44.42 per month and Platinum Care for $47.75 per month. During our sign-up process, we didn't see any information about the trade service call fee for each claim. Instead, the Select Home Warranty website mentions a "small fee" without providing a specific amount. Even in their terms and conditions, they only mention "a fee" without giving a numerical value. We believe that customers should be informed about all costs associated with their home warranty before signing up, and it shouldn't take digging through the company's blog to determine that the service call fee will be $75 to $100, depending on the length of the contract.
Add-ons from $3.33 to $8.33 per month
What's great about Select Home Warranty is that they offer a la carte coverage options at the bottom of their plans. You can select from 9 different add-ons. These range in price from $3.33 for things like a stand-alone freezer or sump pump to $8.33 per month for a pool.
$75 cancellation fee after 30 days
When you purchase a home warranty from Select, you have the right to cancel the agreement within 30 days of the order date. During these 30 days, if you decide to cancel and no services have been provided, you'll be eligible for a full refund. After the 30-day period has passed, you can still cancel, but you'll receive a prorated refund based on the non-discounted annual plan cost. At this time, a $75 cancellation fee will be charged, as well as any service costs incurred by Select.
Customers either love or hate Select Home Warranty
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives Select Home Warranty a "B" rating due to over 5,000 complaints filed in the past three years. While this may seem concerning, it's not unusual among home warranty companies. The "B" rating indicates that Select Home Warranty is doing an adequate job of responding to and resolving these complaints. However, one of the main issues with Select Home Warranty is repair delays. It can take weeks for a broken appliance or system to be serviced and repaired by a technician. This may vary depending on your location and the availability of parts and repair specialists. That's why there are generally mixed reviews for Select Home Warranty. For example, on ConsumerAffairs, the average rating is 3.3 stars out of 5. The reviews are split almost 50/50 between 1- and 5-star ratings, showing a massive range of praise and concerns for the company.
Still needs to update its cost transparency
While Select Home Warranty has made some improvements since our last review by providing more transparent pricing information and eliminating broken links and spelling errors from their website, they still need to work on greater transparency regarding service fees and improving their response times for repairs. As such, we recommend trying a better-ranked home warranty company first before considering Select Home Warranty, but it may still be worth your while to research prices here if you like what they offer.
Being prepared for unexpected expenses is part of homeownership. Whether you're a landlord looking to reduce operating costs, a homeowner trying to sell your property, or just a regular homeowner who wants to be protected against surprise repairs, having a good home warranty can be a lifesaver. A home warranty is a type of insurance, separate from your home insurance, that covers the cost of repairs or replacements for major systems and appliances in your home.
By choosing the right plan, you can avoid the financial burden of costly repairs so that your home remains safe and functional. Home warranty plans typically offer different levels for different home concerns and budgets. Basic coverage might include protection for appliances and systems like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems.
Premium plans, on the other hand, might cover more extensive components like electronics, septic systems, and pools and spas. Some providers offer add-on services for extra fees, such as coverage for sump pumps or water softeners.
When selecting a home warranty provider, you'll want to read the fine print and understand what's covered and what's not. Most policies have limits, exclusions, and caps on the amount they'll pay out over the contract's life. For example, some policies might only cover appliances up to a certain age or value. Others might exclude certain types of damage or wear and tear. Be sure to ask about these details before signing up. It's also important to note that most policies have a 30-day waiting period before coverage takes effect. So, if you need to make a claim soon after purchasing the policy, you'll have to wait a month before it kicks in.
During the waiting period, many providers offer a money-back guarantee. This allows you to cancel your policy if you're unsatisfied with the coverage or if you discover something you didn't expect. Another important consideration is the trade call service fee, which is similar to a copay on medical insurance or a deductible on car insurance. This fee can vary depending on the provider and may apply per service call or per repair. Be aware that you could be charged multiple fees for a single repair if different tradespeople are needed to fix the issue.
While it's great that there are a lot of companies to consider for your home warranty, sifting through them all can be stressful. To help you avoid getting overwhelmed by the numerous plans and companies, we've put together some helpful criteria to guide you through your vetting process:
To help keep your home safe from any eventuality, Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the most popular home warranty providers out there today. We hope this information helps keep your home and appliances operating safely, and gives you a little extra financial peace of mind!
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