Our Thoughts on Choice Home Warranty
How Choice Home Warranty Scored
Overall, our team rated Choice Home Warranty 4 out of 5 stars, largely for its higher coverage limits compared to other home warranty providers. While it lost points due to its lack of add-on and plan options, its monthly and service fee pricing is cheaper on average compared to some other companies, such as Elite Home Warranty or American Home Shield.
Choice Home Warranty Plans and Pricing
As part of our review, our team requested sample quotes through Choice Home Warranty’s website. Overall, we found the process was easy. Customers will need to submit their address, email and phone number to view pricing, which may vary by area.
Choice currently offers two plan options, which include both systems and appliance coverage.
- Basic Plan ($47): A more standard plan that includes coverage for your heating system, electrical system, plumbing system, plumbing stoppage, water heater, whirlpool bathtub, oven, range, stove, cooktop, dishwasher, built-in microwave, garbage disposal, ductwork, garage door opener, ceiling fans and exhaust fans.
- Total Plan ($55): This is Choice Home Warranty’s option for more inclusive coverage, covering everything listed above plus your air conditioning system, washer, dryer and refrigerator.
Most items covered in each plan have a $3,000 limit, higher than what some competitors offer. However, garbage disposals have a coverage limit of $500 a year, as do multiple add-ons.
The table below summarizes the coverages included in both plans.
Add-On Options
Choice Home Warranty offers the following 10 add-on options with both the Total and Basic plans.
How Much Does Choice Home Warranty Cost?
Choice Home Warranty currently offers the following average monthly prices for each plan, based on quotes we received from the company’s website.
- Basic Plan: $47
- Total Plan: $55
Choice assigns a $100 service fee to all of its policies, which you pay each time you file a claim.
Types of Covered Damages and Perils
Choice Home Warranty’s service contract states that it only covers damage that occurs as a result of “normal wear and tear.” This means you can only qualify for coverage if a covered system or appliance stops working because of everyday use. Coverage would not extend, for example, if your kitchen catches fire and causes damage to your fridge. Choice’s technician will diagnose the cause of damage before approving your repair, which will determine your coverage eligibility.
Coverage Exclusions and Limitations
Choice Home Warranty includes multiple clauses in its service contract that limit how and when you can use your coverage. Here are a few examples:
- Damage unrelated to wear and tear: Like all other home warranty companies, Choice Home Warranty excludes all types of damage not associated with normal wear and tear. Damage from specific events, such as a fire, should fall under your homeowners insurance coverage, which can work in conjunction with a home warranty.
- Repair versus replacement: Choice Home Warranty retains the right to decide whether an item included under coverage is repaired or replaced. It also can decide to offer a payout of the actual value of the system. However, this clause frustrated some customers leaving reviews on the BBB, who claimed payouts did not cover the cost of a suitable repair or replacement.
- Waiting period: Choice Home Warranty’s policies have a 30-day waiting period before coverage goes into effect.
- Maintenance records: The company retains the right to deny your claim if you cannot provide adequate maintenance records as support. You can review a sample contract to learn more about required maintenance before buying a policy.
Discounts and Policyholder Perks
Unlike some of its competitors, Choice Home Warranty does not offer special subscriptions or memberships to policyholders. However, it does include a free month of coverage with all new policy issues.
Sign-Up Process
Enrolling in a Choice Home Warranty policy is straightforward, based on our experience — we completed the sign-up process in two minutes. The steps included submitting your contact information and address and then looking at pricing for your state.
After verifying you live in an area that qualifies for coverage, you should get redirected to a side-by-side comparison of the Total Plan and the Basic Plan. As you can see in the screenshot below, this layout can help you compare each plan but does not include pricing until you navigate to the following page. You can also select your add-ons at this point, with pricing also listed at the next stage.
After you select your base plan and add-ons, you can enter your payment information and confirm your pricing.
We noticed that Choice Home Warranty does not make a sample contract readily available during the three steps before paying, which can result in customers lacking information about policy details before buying.
How To File a Claim with Choice Home Warranty
Choice Home Warranty offers multiple routes for filing a claim, including an online portal and phone options. Generally, you can expect to follow a few steps when filing a claim.
- Contact Choice Home Warranty: The company’s contract requires that customers contact Choice Home Warranty to submit a claim as soon as they notice an issue. You can submit a claim through your online portal or by calling (888) 373-7924.
- Comparison of plan benefits: Choice Home Warranty will then compare your current plan benefits to the damage you’re submitting a claim for. If the household item and damage are covered, the company should contact a repair professional to make your appointment. Choice Home Warranty will not cover the cost of any repair you schedule on your own.
- Appointment scheduling: If the repair you need is covered, Choice Home Warranty should assign a repair professional within four hours of approving your claim, according to the company. It aims to handle all claims within 48 hours of submission but does not provide any financial guarantee on that timeline.
- Pay your service call fee: After your appointment, you will pay your service call fee in exchange for the repair or replacement received. If the repair or replacement is fully covered and does not exceed your plan’s coverage limits, you should not owe additional money out-of-pocket.
Most customer complaints, especially those we found on the company’s BBB profile, mentioned rejected claims. Some customers accused Choice Home Warranty of not maintaining a sufficient technician network, which caused repair delays.
What Customers Think About Choice Home Warranty
Reviews and testimonials can provide a more in-depth look at how home warranty companies handle customer service and support. Our team analyzed BBB and Trustpilot reviews to identify insights into customers’ experiences with Choice Home Warranty.
What Customers Like
- Quality repairs: Many customers who received service with a Choice Home Warranty-issued technician seemed happy with the quality of service provided and acknowledged the company’s professional team members.
- Customer service: Another frequently complimented aspect of Choice Home Warranty is the quality of its sales team, which many customers described as professional and easy to work with.
- Quality plumbing repairs: Multiple reviews mentioned quality plumbing repairs performed by Choice Home Warranty’s network of partner companies and technicians.
What Customers Don’t Like
- Denied claims: The most common complaints from BBB users described denied claims. Some customers accused Choice Home Warranty of using fine print in its contract to deny all types of damage as not being related to “normal wear and tear.”
- Second and third opinions: Choice Home Warranty’s contract states that the company has the right to obtain a second opinion following a diagnosis by a contractor. Some customers claimed Choice required they get a second opinion after a representative already said their initial claim was approved. One BBB user reported being required to schedule multiple diagnostic appointments before having their repairs approved.
- Long wait times: Some customers with approved claims complained about long wait times. For example, one BBB customer claimed to have waited five months to have their washing machine repaired, while a Trustpilot reviewer claimed to have not had hot water for 10 days.
- Failure to pay technicians: Reviews of Choice Home Warranty indicate the company may not always pay its contractors on time, which then prompts contractors to refuse to perform work. Multiple reviews mention that local technicians refuse to do work associated with Choice Home Warranty, claiming the company would not pay them. This effectively left homeowners with no way to use their policy.
Choice Home Warranty is currently facing government action in Arizona related to accusations of fraudulent market activity. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Choice, claiming the company “used contract exclusions, payment caps and bad-faith refusals to avoid paying for repairs.”
We reached out to Choice Home Warranty for comment on its negative customer reviews and government actions related to fraudulent market activity but did not receive a response.
