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Introduction to American Home Shield Warranties

Maha Ahmed Maha Ahmed
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Home warranty is a kind of insurance that protects your home appliances. You pay annual premium and in addition, you will pay service call fee per repair incident. American home shield is one of the leading providers of home warranty services which are also known as home service contracts. There are many such providers and some are limited to one or few states. Other companies such as American will provide nationwide coverage.

American home shield is also known by the name AHS warranty which is a subsidiary of Service Master Company. If you are looking to buy home warranty coverage, then AHS is definitely one of your top choices. However, do not limit your selection choices. Review the offers from other companies in the market. Some companies offer really low rates, but that does not mean you have to go with the company that offers lowest of rates. As the saying goes, you generally get what you paid for. So you must be cautious American Home Shield whenever you choose a service based on the rate only.

Before you decide to buy the policy, determine if you really need home warranty. General rule of thumb is that if your major appliances are older than 10-12 years, then you probably need to plan for maintenance and repair work. The replacement cost of big appliances such HVAC far exceed what you typically spend on the premium of the policy, so your decision would be justified. However, please be aware that all home warranty companies require YOU to do get the annual maintenance inspection done by a professional. Failure to do or keep records of such maintenance is considered to be a violation of your contract they your reject your repair claims.

Aged homes generally need home warranty protection as they tend to have appliance reaching the end of the life and replacement costs will be on the higher end. Most of new and existing homes are sold with home warranty policies as an incentive to the buyer. This is also one of the reasons warranty is overused as a sales utility rather than the actual insurance. For the same reason, home buyers are recommended to have a professional inspector inspect appliances before the closing date. It is NOT recommended to go with the home inspector suggested by real estate agent as it creates a conflict of interest.

Choose the company that has good reputation. After all, you need an insurance that helps you in tough times. If the company is provides shady service, then what is good is the insurance for? Make sure you check reviews of the company online and offline. Call up your friends and check which company they are using and ask if they are happy with the service they are receiving. Most importantly check if they had to get any major appliance such as heater or air conditioner repaired or replaced. If the warranty company did a good job, then you may want to check their offer and price. AHS prices are generally bit expensive when compared to other offers. So if you find a reasonable company that offers good service and rate, why not go for it?

New home warranty coverage is effective from 30 days of purchase date with most insurance companies. However, American Home Shield policy is effective immediately, which is a great offer considering that you do not need to wait 30 days before you file your first claim. You can also cancel your policy within a month if you are not satisfied with the coverage. If you need to cancel after 30 days, you should call the customer service number but you may have to pay some fees unless you are moving.

The busy homeowners who do not have time or inclination to fix minor problems with home appliances, this kind of insurance comes handy. If do not have such coverage, then you will have to screen few contractors, check their references and wait until show up for work. This may take some time and if you are not willing to wait, you may want to consider home service contract. As with any insurance, do not assume that you have blanket coverage. Problems caused due to care negligence or lack of maintenance will not be covered and you may have to spend your own money to get the repair work done in such scenarios. Overall, if you have aged appliances and if they are costly to repair or replace, you should get some kind of coverage.