Home Warranty Education

Understanding your Home Warranty Contract

understanding your home warranty2

Congratulations! If you’re reading this you may have just purchased a Landmark Home Warranty. Soon your systems and appliances will be covered with our award-winning service. Shortly after purchasing a home warranty through us, you will be sent (by email or mail) a welcome booklet that details your coverage, exclusions and limits. We’re going to walk you through understanding your Landmark home warranty contract with this article.

If you haven’t purchased a home warranty yet, don’t worry! You can compare our plans and pricing with our personalized quote tool here.

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If you want to see in-depth what your options are with a home warranty, you can also download a brochure here:

Download a brochure

Our brochures contain the same contract as our welcome booklets, so you can use this article to best understand what each plan covers and excludes in your home before buying. It’s also a good idea to check out the 5 Questions You Should Ask Before Buying a Home Warranty.

Why Is Reading Your Contract Important?

Going through and reading what your home warranty covers and does not cover will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. It will also set your expectations on what your home warranty will do for you. Sometimes our homeowners assume that Landmark covers every single part of their home. Not only do we not cover things that your home insurance covers, we also have different limits and exclusions that you should be aware of while opening a claim.

Knowing what to expect will save you time, money and help you to get the most out of your home warranty. So let’s start going through your contract!

If you would rather go through the contract using a web tutorial, you can find that by watching this video: 

Understanding Your Home Warranty Contract

To begin, take a look at the plan you have purchased. The email you received about your home warranty coverage should include what home warranty plan you have on your home.

determine your plan
click here to download

 If it’s still within 14 days of purchase, you can upgrade your coverage.

Landmark has different plans and pricing depending on if you have just purchased a home or if you currently own the home. The examples in this article do not always pertain to all of the home warranty coverage we provide.

After determining what home warranty plan you have on your home, open your welcome booklet to the contract pages, which begin on page 3 and 4 of the booklet.

Service overview header

Home Warranty Service Overview

The first section is called “Service Overview.” Although many of our homeowners want to skip this section, it’s extremely important that you read through it. This section includes an overview of what is covered under the home warranty and what is not. Many homeowners skip this section and then are frustrated when their claim is denied.

The Service Overview section explains what will be covered overall. Some things to note here are that the systems and appliances are repaired or replaced if:

  • They are in proper working order on the day you’ve purchased the home warranty.
  • They fail from normal wear and tear after the day you’ve purchased the home warranty.

This section also explains that if your system or appliance failed because of something that happened before you purchased the home warranty, Landmark will cover the repair or replacement if the issue wouldn’t have been detectable through a mechanical test 60 days before the home warranty was purchased. These situations may have limits, so make sure to read through your particular contract.

Read through this section carefully for more information to learn more about the overall coverage Landmark provides, regardless of the type of plan you have.

Conract effective dates

Home Warranty Contract’s Effective Dates

This section explains how long your coverage lasts and when your coverage takes effect.

For example, if you’re a renewal customer, your coverage lasts one year and begins one year after you first purchased the home warranty.

contract effective dates 
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To request service

To Request Home Warranty Service

This section is important for you to read so you know how to open a claim. It explains the claim process (including where to go on our site or what number to call to open a claim), how much your service call fee will be when you open a claim, and your responsibilities when opening up a claim.

This Contract Does Not Cover

This contract does not cover

This is another section that our homeowners sometimes miss and then are frustrated when a claim is denied.

a home warranty does not cover
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Please pay extra attention to this portion of the contract. Some of these items may be covered under your home insurance policy. If one of these situations has occurred and your claim is denied, it’s a good idea for you to call your home insurance company to see if they provide coverage for the situation.

Transferring, Renewing or Cancelling home warranty

Transferring, Renewing or Cancelling Your Home Warranty

These three sections explain how you can renew your home warranty, cancel your home warranty or transfer it to a new homeowner on the property. (You cannot transfer the home warranty to another property.) Pay extra attention to the cancellation policy to know how Landmark will refund your money.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Next, our “Miscellaneous” section goes over Landmark’s right to contact you about your home warranty. For example, if you open a claim, we will send you emails regarding your claim’s status. We will also provide you with information about the best ways to use your home warranty.

Miscellaneous Map
click here to download

This section also includes legal information should you need to solve a dispute with Landmark.

Home Warranty Plans

Home Warranty Plans

The next part of the contract is divided up between the different plans Landmark offers. As you can see, the contract is divided into sections for the main systems and appliances of your home. These systems and appliances may be divided up into different plans, so when you are purchasing your home warranty, ensure you have the right plan for you and your home.

Overall, Landmark generally covers a home’s:

a home warranty plan covers
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  • Cooling and Heating Systems
  • Tune-ups for Cooling and Heating Systems
  • Electrical System
  • Plumbing System
  • Appliances
    • Garbage Disposal
    • Garage Door Opener
    • Dishwasher
    • Oven, Range and Cooktop
    • Built-in Microwave
    • Kitchen Refrigerator
    • Washer and Dryer

Each of these sections has different parts to show you what’s covered, the limits, and the exclusions.

coverage exclusions and limits
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Coverage

The “COVERED” sections of your contract explain all of the items that are covered for that specific system or appliance.

Limits

The “LIMITS” section of your contract explains the monetary limits Landmark has when replacing or repairing this specific system or appliance. Landmark will pay up to that point to repair or replace the system or appliance, but if the repairs or replacements cost more than that you may have to pay for them out of pocket.

Exclusions

The “EXCLUSIONS” sections explain what parts and situations are not covered under the specific system or appliance section.

Different Plans

All of our plans start by covering the home’s systems. Depending on where you live and your homeowner status (purchasing the home through a real estate transaction versus purchasing the home warranty for a home you currently own), the plans will differ.

You can choose to add coverage by selecting a different plan. Some plans add coverage for your appliances, while others just add additional items to be covered under your systems or appliances. Make sure you know what plan you have purchased when looking at the coverage section of your contract.

Before opening a claim, read through the section of your contract to ensure you know what is covered, what is excluded, and what limits your home warranty may have.

A la Carte

Home Warranty A La Carte Options

Finally, your home warranty will have different “a la carte” options that you can use to add coverage to your home. Some homeowners would rather stick with a base plan and add coverage this way on the items they are most worried about, which can be helpful for those on a budget. These add-ons include things like wet bar fridge coverage, roof repair, or septic system and pumping.

A la carte options
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These items are formulated just as the sections were in the plans before.

Congratulations! You have reached the end of the contract. By now, you should have a good idea of what’s covered overall, as well as what specific systems and appliances are covered under your plan.

It’s important to keep this welcome booklet on hand to refer back to it when you’re going to open a claim.

Remember, if you don’t have a home warranty yet, but you want one, you can compare our plans and pricing here to get a free personalized quote for your home:

GET A PERSONALIZED QUOTE

Home Warranty Education

Everything you need to know about what a home warranty is, how it works and what it covers. Real estate professionals: use these articles to help your clients!

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