How Long Does a Home Warranty Last?

Home warranty coverage can provide peace of mind that you won’t be on the hook for repair and replacement costs for appliances and home systems. However, they don’t last indefinitely, so you’ll want to make sure yours is still active. In this article, we’ll cover the standard contract length and some factors that can affect it.

How Long Does a Home Warranty Last?

A home warranty normally lasts for one year, although it’s not uncommon to see contracts that have two-year or even three-year terms. Some local home warranty companies offer contracts that last five to ten years, although these options are much less common. You’re more likely to see these longer contract terms If a seller offers a home warranty to entice you to buy.

Factors Influencing How Long a Home Warranty Lasts

There are a few key things that affect how long your home warranty lasts and how long you actually have coverage.

Contract Term

The contract term is the most important thing to pay attention to when it comes to how long your home warranty lasts. Most home warranty providers offer contracts that default to one year, but you can often choose a shorter or longer term based on how long you want coverage for your home. Common options include two- and three-year plans, and some companies may provide month-to-month coverage, which comes with a variable term.

If your home warranty coverage requires an inspection, then your coverage will usually begin 30 days after you get a home inspection, which can affect when coverage is up.

Renewals

You can usually renew contracts that end after a year, which means your initial one-year agreement could turn into a two-year agreement or one that lasts even longer. If you expect to renew a one-year contract, though, it’s often beneficial just to go with an agreement that lasts for two years or longer from the beginning, as you can get a multi-year discount, leading to lower effective home warranty costs if you agree to several years up front.

Coverage Caps

Most home warranty agreements have coverage caps, which are the maximum payout amounts your provider will pay during a contract period. Many home warranty companies have coverage caps for individually covered items, as well as a maximum payout for all covered items in total.

Once you hit a coverage cap, your home warranty coverage is effectively up until you renew your contract, so this is another way your contract may effectively end.

How to Extend a Home Warranty

There are a few ways to extend your home warranty, depending on the contract term you chose when you initially signed up and why your coverage has come to an end.

• Buy an additional year of coverage: If you’re simply coming to the end of your current home warranty plan, you can usually just contact your provider to extend the term for a year. Coverage caps will reset, effectively giving you a new plan that lasts for a year. Some plans may auto-renew, so check with your provider first.

• Buy a new home warranty: If you’ve hit your coverage limits and can no longer get service from your home warranty provider, you might be able to purchase a second home warranty to cover additional breakdowns. Some providers have rules against doubling up on coverage, though, so read your contract before going this route.

• Upgrade your home warranty plan: Some home warranty providers have tiered plans, with the more expensive options including a wider range of coverages and, often, higher coverage caps for those covered items. If your coverage has effectively come to an end due to hitting your coverage caps, you can sometimes “extend” the coverage by upgrading to a plan with higher caps.