Home warranties are one of the most heavily marketed products in real estate — routinely included as a sweetener in home sales and aggressively advertised to new homeowners. They sound like comprehensive protection. The reality, for many homeowners, is a series of denied claims, service delays, and repairs done to the minimum covered standard. Here's an honest look at what you're getting, and how it compares to a home services company that lines up a vetted pro when something actually breaks.
What a home warranty actually covers
A typical home warranty covers repair or replacement of specific systems and appliances — HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and major appliances — when they fail due to 'normal wear and tear.' The average annual premium is $400–$800, plus a $75–$125 service call fee each time you use it. The catch is in the exclusions. Most plans exclude: failures due to improper installation, pre-existing conditions, lack of maintenance, code violations, cosmetic defects, and secondary damage caused by a covered failure. In practice, those exclusions give warranty companies significant latitude to deny claims.
The service quality problem
When a home warranty company dispatches a tech, they're sending whoever in their vendor pool accepts the lowest rate — not whoever is best suited to your problem. You can't pick the pro, you can't see a quote ahead of time, and the repair target is 'functional,' not 'proper.' A warranty company may replace a failed compressor with a reconditioned unit rather than a new one, or patch a leaking pipe in the minimum way rather than address the underlying issue, because the cheaper fix is what the plan pays for.
When home warranties make sense
Home warranties make the most sense for: older homes with aging systems where multiple failures are likely, buyers who want budget predictability in their first year of ownership, and sellers who want to give buyers confidence. They make the least sense when you have newer systems, when you value a quality repair over a minimum-standard repair, or when you've done the math and the premium plus service fees approaches what you'd pay out of pocket for typical repairs.
The alternative: a home services company that lines up the right pro
The alternative to a home warranty is a home services company you call when something breaks. With Novum, that looks like this: you submit one request, Novum lines up a vetted, licensed, insured pro from its partner network for that specific problem, you get an upfront quote before any work starts, and the job is backed by the Novum Guarantee — if something isn't right, Novum makes it right. You pay when something breaks rather than prepaying coverage you may not use. The downside is unpredictability month to month. The upside is that the repair is scoped and priced for your actual problem, done to a proper standard, and you know exactly what it costs before anyone starts.
- ✓Home warranty: annual premium plus a service fee per claim; coverage subject to exclusions
- ✓Novum: pay per job; upfront quote approved before work starts
- ✓Home warranty: the warranty company picks whoever accepts its rate
- ✓Novum: a vetted, licensed pro is assigned to your request, with one point of contact throughout
- ✓Home warranty: repair standard is 'functional' under the plan terms
- ✓Novum: work backed by the Novum Guarantee
Bottom line
Home warranties aren't a scam — they provide real value for some homeowners in some situations. But go in with accurate expectations: read the exclusions carefully, understand the service call fee structure, and know that the repair standard is 'functional,' not 'optimal.' For homeowners who want repairs done right by a licensed pro at a price they've approved up front, one request to a service like Novum often delivers the better outcome.
Need plumbing work done?
Novum lines up a vetted, licensed pro. Flat upfront quote before any work starts.