HomeServe review: A comprehensive guide to cost and coverage

HomeServe at a glance

HomeServe has delivered home warranty services for more than two decades, and it offers some of the best coverage and customization for home systems. The company is proud of its lower pricing, which beats competitors like Select Home Warranty (as low as $44 per month).

Fast facts

What we like

HomeServe only hires licensed contractors to work on items covered by your policy. This, combined with a year-long workmanship guarantee on everything but electronics, provides peace of mind that the service you get will be of high quality.

Unlike most other home warranty companies, HomeServe doesn’t charge a service call fee (except for electronics plans), which is similar to a home insurance deductible. That means each service call with HomeServe will save you an average of between $75 and $85 compared to making service calls with other providers.

Finally, I like that HomeServe has just a 10-day waiting period for coverage to kick in on some of its plans — namely those covering heating and cooling equipment. This is about a third of what most other companies require (at least 30 days), so coverage will begin more quickly in some cases.

What we don’t like

HomeServe’s plans won’t work for homeowners who want comprehensive coverage for every home system because combining the individual plans that cover all components will grow too expensive. I pulled sample costs for a plan on Long Island, New York and found that you’d pay around $30 per month for the four plans that provide complete coverage for your water and sewage systems. Many companies charge an average of $60 per month for total system coverage, but that usually includes the electrical system and heating and cooling components.

Also, because HomeServe partners with utility companies and municipalities, the coverage it makes available varies by location. For example, an appliance plan available for a ZIP code in Suffolk County, N.Y., isn’t available for a ZIP code in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

*BBB ratings accurate as of September 2024

HomeServe pros and cons

HomeServe provides quality customer service, including a 24/7 emergency line for service requests and free online quotes. It also has a convenient mobile app for requesting service and tracking open service requests. Unlike many other home warranty companies, HomeServe has no restrictions on older appliances and home systems, and it doesn’t require proof of a home inspection to identify preexisting problems.

HomeServe is the best and most affordable option for customers looking to cover individual components specifically related to their home systems. However, it doesn’t offer appliance coverage in all areas, and combining the solo appliance plans can get expensive if you want to get complete coverage of a particular system — or all of them.

Pros

Cons

How much does HomeServe cost?

HomeServe’s coverage options and pricing varies by location and utility company. For the following data, I used a ZIP code in Suffolk County, NY.

I looked at 14 coverage plans:

What systems you want protection for determine the cost of your HomeServe plan. Below is a breakdown of the overall costs if you combine plans to get comprehensive coverage on different systems:

It’s worth noting that none of these plans include service call fees except the tech protection plans, which have service fees of $100.

Savings and discounts

Some of HomeServe’s plans available in Suffolk County, NY, included a 50% discount for the first year. HomeServe appears to offer these discounts seasonally. The three half-off at the time of writing were PremierCool, PremierCool Plus, PremierHeat, PremierHeat Plus, Exterior Water Service Line Plus and Exterior Electrical plans.

Worth noting is that HomeServe doesn’t charge service call fees for most of its plans, with tech coverage plans being the only exception. Most other home warranty companies charge between $75 and $125 per service call. If you have an older home that may require more attention (and service calls), these fees can add up — but not with HomeServe.

HomeServe also guarantees its repair workmanship for one year, which means you’re more likely to get a high-quality fix that lasts and doesn’t require a second or third service call. For comparison, American Home Shield only provides a 30-day guarantee.

What services does HomeServe offer?

HomeServe covers most utility lines and components, like water heaters and HVAC equipment. Depending on where you live, you might get coverage for electronics and appliances under separate plans.

Below is a list of all the coverage options available in Suffolk County, NY. Remember: Your location, utility company and municipality will affect what coverage HomeServe makes available to you:

Individual plans that cover specific components rather than entire systems provide greater opportunity for customization, but it can get expensive if you combine multiple plans for comprehensive coverage.

HomeServe add-ons and optional features

Most home warranty companies have add-on coverage that you can tack on to a pre-made plan for some customization, but HomeServe doesn’t offer any add-on options. Instead, it provides the opportunity for customization by covering individual parts of home systems in each of its plans.

What does HomeServe not cover?

There are several things HomeServe doesn’t cover. Such as:

I also noticed that HomeServe doesn’t cover oil burners or oil-fired water heaters in any of its plans for Suffolk County, NY. This might not be an issue in many parts of the country, but in areas where oil is still a common fuel source, like Long Island, it’s an important exclusion to be aware of.

HomeServe customer experience

HomeServe makes it easy for customers to contact them no matter what stage of the process they’re in. The company’s website offers a convenient option to email it, a 24/7 service line for filing claims and requesting service, an online account system for requesting and tracking service, and a convenient app for viewing service requests, requesting service and communicating with customer service.

The HomeServe website has a knowledge base with helpful information for appliance and home system upkeep and problem diagnosing, and the app also includes a “My Lists” section that helps you troubleshoot problems with your covered items.

I reached out to customer service to get some information about the plans available in my area and to see what the experience was like. I was connected with a live representative in under 30 seconds, and they were friendly and helpful.

I’ll include two customer reviews below to give you a sense of the best-case and worst-case scenarios when working with HomeServe’s coverage.

The fine print: Terms and conditions you should know

There are a few things that HomeServe includes in its terms and conditions that are standard in the home warranty company but are important to be aware of.

First, you’re required to provide routine maintenance of your covered items, and failure to carry that out could result in a lack of coverage. Damages caused by negligence or natural disasters are not covered, although the latter should be covered by your homeowner’s insurance. Also, HomeServe will not cover any component installed improperly and not according to code.

The only other thing to be aware of is that while there’s no service call fee, you will be responsible for a $99 fee if you miss a scheduled appointment with a contractor that HomeServe sends to your home.

HomeServe vs. competitors

HomeServe’s plans are significantly more affordable than most home warranty companies, but it’s important to note that they cover individual components rather than complete systems.

For example, you’d have to purchase four separate coverage plans from HomeServe to get total coverage for your plumbing system, whereas most other companies include all components of the plumbing system in a single plan, and the value is usually greater because it includes coverage for other systems, as well. HomeServe is, therefore, a smart option if you want specific items covered and want to keep costs down.

HomeServe also doesn’t charge service call fees (except for electronics plans), so your costs over time will be cheaper than other home warranty companies. On average, you’ll save between $75 and $125 per service call by going with HomeServe.

HomeServe competitor comparison

Methodology

The CNN Underscored team researched 21 of the top home warranty companies and analyzed over 1,400 points of data to bring you unbiased reviews of each. We carefully weighted the scores for each company based on what we would want from home warranty coverage ourselves and what we knew would benefit our readers most. We scored companies across seven categories, including coverage options, pricing, guarantees, customer service, reliability, availability and flexibility.

None of our scores are affected by partnerships with home warranty providers, and all of our scoring is objective. The author has researched and written about home warranty companies for the past three years, so he has insight into what makes a provider valuable to homeowners.

FAQs