Frequently Asked Questions

A home warranty is a service contract that covers the repair or replacement of home systems and appliances when they break down due to normal wear and tear. Unlike homeowners insurance (which covers sudden damage from events like fires or storms), a home warranty covers mechanical failures of systems like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, as well as appliances like refrigerators, washers, and ovens.

Each company receives a Reliability Score from 0 to 100, a transparent blend of its BBB letter rating (45%), BBB customer-review average (25%, minimum 5 reviews), and Trustpilot TrustScore (30%, minimum 5 reviews). Missing signals re-normalize the weights; a company with no reputation signal is shown as Not rated. Raw BBB complaint counts are shown separately for context and are not part of the score. PlainWarranty does not accept paid placements, sponsored rankings, or affiliate commissions.

Consumer review sites can be gamed through incentivized reviews, fake reviews, or suppression of negative feedback. We focus on standardized, verifiable data sources: BBB profiles and Trustpilot TrustScores (published aggregate ratings) plus official plan documents. This gives a more comparable and harder-to-manipulate picture of company reputation.

The Reliability Score blends three independent reputation signals already published by the BBB and Trustpilot. Letter grades band the score (A ≥ 85, B 70–84, C 55–69, D 40–54, F below 40). Raw complaint volume is deliberately excluded because it scales with company size; we show complaint counts as a separate labeled figure.

Standard exclusions typically include pre-existing conditions, cosmetic damage, improper installation or maintenance, code violations, and damage caused by misuse. Coverage limits, diagnostic fee/service call fee requirements, and exclusions for older systems vary significantly by company and plan. Always read the full contract, the exclusions section is critical.

No. Coverage matrices show the typical coverage described in publicly available plan documents. Actual coverage depends on your specific contract, state, property age, plan tier, and any exclusions or limitations. Coverage details may vary by state due to regulations, and custom or add-on options are not always captured. Always read your actual contract.

PlainWarranty currently analyzes 19 major home warranty providers, covering the most widely available companies in the US market. The database is updated as new information becomes available or new major players enter the market.

No. PlainWarranty does not accept paid placements, sponsored rankings, or affiliate commissions from any home warranty company. Rankings and scores are based solely on public BBB and Trustpilot reputation signals and published plan documentation.