Have you bought a house recently and is it the first time that you have bought a house? Then keeping a home warranty service contract might benefit you.

What exactly is home warranty? It is an insurance of the appliances in your house. It is a system that takes care of the maintenance of most of the appliances in your house. Home warranty provides repairs and replacements of the appliances, that are covered under it, which break down due to the regular use and not because of any accident or any other unfortunate incident. This system works the best if you have not bought a new house.

Once you purchase a home warranty service, the repairs and replacements are billed directly to the home warranty company. You will only have to pay the service charge to the technician. Hence it helps you save a lot of money that you would have normally spent on the repairs of those appliances.

Generally, the home warranty covers the following appliances:

Heating Systems

Water Heater

Spa

Ceiling Fans

Central A/C

Pool

Plumbing Systems

Oven and Range

Garbage Disposal

Plumbing Stoppages

Refrigerator

Built-in Microwaves

Clothes Dryer

Electrical Systems

Dishwasher

Exhaust Fan

Ductwork

Washing machine

Well Pump

Garage Door Opener

Air Conditioning

Doorbells

Home warranty, unlike home insurance, is not mandatory, but optional. The working process of most of the home warranties is as follows:

1. When an appliance that is covered by home warranty breaks down, the owner informs the home warranty company.

2. The home warranty company then intimates its provider company.

3. The provider company in turn calls up the home owner and sets up an appointment.

4. The technician from the provider company repairs the concerned appliance. If the appliance is not repairable, then it is replaced. All these costs are covered under the home warranty. The home owner will have to pay the service charge only.

The annual premium of the home warranty generally ranges from 300 to 450 dollars. And every time, the service for the appliance if offered, the deductible of 50 to 100 dollars is charged.

Before you decide upon the home warranty, it is always better to have a third party inspection of your house just to ensure if you really need the home warranty.

The major home warranty companies are American Home Shield, First American Home Buyers Protection Corporation, Old Republic Home Protection, Sensible Home Warranty, Choice Home Warranty and so on. The ratings of the home warranty companies are available on many websites.

While deciding upon the home warranty company, compare the premiums, deductibles and their coverage based on the reviews available online. You can also get the information on these home warranty companies from your real estate agents.

So what are you waiting for? If you do not have any appliance protection plans, take that first step to reap the complete benefits of home warranties. It might protect you from costly appliance repair costs. Before you buy home warranty, make sure you compare the offers and research the provider.