when purchasing a home the buyer may not know how well the previous owners maintained and managed the components of the home information on the age of household appliances or their useful life in years may not be available at the time of purchase 
also the search for an expert handyman or service provider may be time consuming for the homeowner limited time and the high costs of paying for damage or replacing multiple components of the home are two main reasons that homebuyers purchase home warranties home warranty qualificationshome warranty providers may deny coverage for several reasons known damage existing before the start of warranty coverage may mean a denial of the claim for this reason if a home inspection conducted before purchase reveals damage to some systems or appliances the prospective buyer should ask the seller to repair or replace the item before finalizing the sale also a warranty company will not cover poorly maintained improperly installed or misused household components homebuilders sellers and homeowners may purchase a home warranty some home builders offer policies that cover the structure up to 10 years for structural defects including issues with flooring walls roofs framing sheetrock and other items homebuilder warranties may also cover two years of electrical and plumbing systems and six months for installed household appliances the cost of a homebuilder warranty policy is usually part of the price of the new house the seller or agent may pay for the warranty to incentivize a buyer to purchase the home for older homes warranties for existing homes typically cover a year of household systems and appliance maintenance after a year the homeowner has the option to renew the contract home warranty coststhe average cost for a home warranty basic coverage ranges between 432 to 816 annually depending on what the products are and which ones are added to the policy in addition to the annual premium homeowners will usually pay the servicing contractor a fee often called a service call fee or a trade call fee the contractor fee is synonymous with an insurance deductible the costs of these fees depend on various factors the fee can range between 55 and 150 1 most policies include the clause that if a repair or replacement cost is less than the fee the homeowner pays the lesser amount finally if repair or replacement costs more than the home warranty contract limit the homeowner must cover the excess homeowners should analyze the offerings of home warranty companies to understand which out of pocket expenses they would be liable for in the event of a claim and whether a home warranty is worth it 