Choice Home Warranty ties for the No.1 spot in our Best Home Warranty Companies of 2023, alongside Liberty Home Guard. Founded in 2008, the New Jersey-based company offers home warranty plans in all U.S. states except Washington. The company has two coverage options for homebuyers and sellers alike, with a handful of a-la-carte add-ons. In exchange for a monthly fee, its customers can avoid being fully on the hook for repairs and replacements of eligible household components and take advantage of a network of affiliated service providers.
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Choice Home Warranty
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#1 in Best Home Warranty Companies of 2023 (tie)
Pros:
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Straightforward plan structures
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Flat rate service fee
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Response time of four hours for a service request
Cons:
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Can’t choose your service provider
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Small list of optional add-on coverages
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Not available in Washington
Choice Home Warranty offers two plans for customers, Basic and Total, that provide coverage for a variety of appliances and home systems. Customers won’t get to choose their own contractors, but the company maintains a network of over 25,000 affiliated contractors and makes contact within four hours of requesting service. Like many of its competitors, Choice accepts claims 24/7/365.
Choice has a guarantee on serviced household components that is longer than that of many other home warranty companies, with a 60-day guarantee for workmanship and a 90-day guarantee for parts.
Choice doesn’t require a home inspection or maintenance record prior to purchasing coverage. Lastly, it charges a flat rate of $85 per service call, rather than a variable rate like other companies in our rating.
The Bottom Line:
Choice Home Warranty offers near nationwide availability (except Washington) and has just two plans for homeowners to choose from. Its max coverage plan is comparable in price to others in our rating and protects a home’s major appliances and systems. However, the add-on features are limited.
Choice Home Warranty’s two plans cover a variety of household items. Rather than organizing its plans as either built-in systems or household appliances only, as some home warranty companies do, Choice uses a tiered combination structure with two levels of coverage. As is common for home warranty companies, Choice’s pricing varies depending on location, home size, and building type. To compare rates from the companies in our Best Home Warranty Companies of 2023 rating, we used a sample 2,345 square foot townhouse in Austin, Texas.
Choice’s Basic Plan is the company’s least comprehensive home warranty option and starts at $46.67 per month ($560.00 annually). The Basic Plan covers only the household essentials: heating, electrical, and plumbing systems; built-in kitchen appliances (except the refrigerator); and ductwork, fans, and garage door openers. It also covers whirlpool bathtubs.
The Total Plan starts at $55.00 per month ($660.00 annually). It covers everything included in the Basic Plan and tacks on several other key coverages: washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and air conditioning systems. For further coverage, homeowners with either base plan can purchase any of the company’s individual add-ons. These include pool equipment, well pumps, and septic systems, to name a few.
These prices put Choice toward the low end of the pack for cost among our top-rated home warranty companies, with only Cinch Home Services and First American Home Warranty offering lower monthly prices.
One cost that’s consistent no matter the location or coverage plan is Choice’s $85 service fee (referred to by Choice as a “trade service call fee”). This is paid directly to the technician and, outcome aside, covers the cost of the home visit. With Choice Home Warranty, the only way this fee varies is if a specific discount or promotion is being applied.
If you would like to learn more about what home warranties cover and don’t cover, read our What Does a Home Warranty Cover? guide.
Between Choice’s two plans, they cover the following items. Except for the items indicated in this section with an asterisk, a Choice warranty applies to only one covered item or instance per yearly plan without additional fees being incurred.
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AC system*
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Ceiling and exhaust fans*
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Ductwork*
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Electrical system
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Garbage disposal
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Garage door opener*
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Heating system*
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Laundry appliances
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Major kitchen appliances
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Plumbing system and stoppages
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Water heater
Choice Home Warranty lists in its user agreements many household components or issues that it excludes from both its plan-based and a-la-carte coverage options, including:
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Central vacuum ductwork, hoses, accessories, and blockages
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Doorbell
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Fireplaces
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Pool accessories
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Portable or above-ground pools and spas
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Portable sump pumps
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Rooftop or roof-level accessories
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Roof preventative maintenance, partial replacement, and cracked or missing material
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Septic leach lines, leach beds, field lines, lateral lines, and tile fields
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Smoke detectors
Available
Available in:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District Of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Choice Home Warranty plans are available in all U.S. states except Washington.
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Monthly Plan Cost
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| $55.00 | $66.66 | $69.99 | ||||||
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Annual Plan Cost
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| $660.00 | $799.99 | $839.88 | ||||||
Choice Home Warranty vs. Liberty Home Guard
Like Choice, Liberty Home Guard offers home warranty plans in nearly all U.S. states except Washington and Wisconsin. Both Choice and Liberty do not require an inspection or maintenance record prior to purchasing coverage, and both usually assign a contractor to a service request but allow the customer to choose in some cases. Both companies also accept service requests 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Liberty offers a 60-day workmanship guarantee, which is comparable to Choice’s policy of a 60-day workmanship guarantee and 90-day parts guarantee.
Liberty will dispatch a service provider within 24 to 48 business hours of a service request being placed. By contrast, Choice begins contacting service providers within four hours of a service request but indicates that it may take two days or more for the service provider to reach out. Liberty also has a more comprehensive list of optional coverages, and, unlike Choice, it divides its plans into systems-only, appliances-only, and combination packages.
One big difference between the two companies is price. Liberty’s appliance-only plan costs $58.33, while its combination plan costs $66.66 and covers similar items as Choice. Liberty also charges varied service fees up to $125, higher than Choice’s flat rate of $85 per call.
If price is your biggest concern, Choice is more affordable and covers the most common appliances and systems. However, if you only want to cover appliances or systems, Liberty provides that flexibility, along with a longer list of add-on features.
Learn more in our full Liberty Home Guard review.
Choice Home Warranty vs. American Home Shield
American Home Shield’s full-coverage plan is the most expensive in our rating at $69.99. However, its ShieldSilver and ShieldGold plans are more affordable at $29.99 and $49.99, respectively. The company is comparable to Choice Home Warranty in many ways, including its tiered plan structure.
American’s cheaper and most basic plan covers only plumbing, electrical, heating, and cooling systems, while a mid-range plan tacks on coverage for common kitchen and laundry appliances. The company’s most comprehensive plan adds a few more coverages, such as roof leaks, HVAC tuneup, and permits.
American offers six main optional coverages, fewer than Choice and many other home warranty companies on our list. However, there is the inclusion of optional coverage for electronics and guest units, which Choice lacks.
Choice has the more generous workmanship guarantee, as American Home Shield’s guarantee lasts only 30 days. American has a more flexible service fee system to Choice’s $85 flat rate. American allows customers to choose between several price points ($75, $100, and $125), with a higher fee lowering your monthly cost. Both American and Choice service the majority of U.S. states (American Home Shield excludes Alaska), and both share a similar response time.
For more information check out our full American Home Shield review.
Before buying a home warranty from Choice Home Warranty, it might be helpful to review a sample user agreement, found here. Because Choice offers relatively little detail about plan specifics in its marketing materials, this can be a useful step. Choice’s online process for getting a quote and purchasing a plan is straightforward, with no need to schedule a home inspection.
To begin, prospective customers enter basic information on Choice’s Get a Quote page, including an address and phone number. Customers are then directed to choose between Choice’s two base plans, with the option to add additional a-la-carte coverages, and finally are prompted to enter payment information to purchase.
To file a claim, Choice plan holders can begin by signing in to the Choice Home Warranty Customer Portal, which requires a customer email address and policy number. Customers can also call Choice’s claims department, which can be reached 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Choice begins contacting service providers within four hours of a claim being submitted, but it could take over 48 hours for a service provider to accept a request. Once the request is accepted, the plan holder will be contacted with the name and phone number of their assigned service provider and a date and time for their home visit.
There’s no guaranteed timeframe for a home visit, but Choice indicates it will contact a service provider within four hours of a service request. A technician may then take 48 hours or more to contact the customer.
Choice states on its website that discounts affecting a warranty holder’s service fee rate may be available by contacting the company directly, though it doesn’t elaborate further.
Yes, Choice offers limited roof leak coverage as an add-on. Choice does not cover leaks in its Basic or Total Plans. However, this isn’t uncommon among other home warranty companies. Some offer it as optional coverage while others don’t offer it at all.
Choice does not publish a standard price, meaning a quote is needed to determine cost. The optional coverage affords up to $500 of coverage for accessing, diagnosing, and repairing a roof leak. For a leak to qualify, it must be through a shake, shingle, or composition roof over an occupied living area. The company does not apply this coverage to partial or full roof replacements.
Choice Home Warranty does not offer coverage to address mold, but neither do any of the other companies in our rating. Choice specifies that any mold found in a household appliance will disqualify coverage. Some degree of coverage for mold-related issues may be available through certain homeowners insurance policies.
No, Choice Home Warranty doesn’t generally cover water damage. Its sample user agreement indicates that the company’s liability does not include physical damage to household components, only “normal wear and tear.” Choice does offer optional limited roof leak coverage, though this only covers a roof leak itself and not any secondary damage to other household components.
No, Choice Home Warranty does not cover termites, insects, or other pest-related issues. However, this is not that uncommon as only some home warranty providers offer a form of limited pest control coverage as an optional add-on.
Home warranty plans, including those offered by Choice, don’t cover theft. Homeowners typically seek coverage for liabilities, like theft and vandalism, through a homeowners insurance policy.
No, Choice Home Warranty does not generally cover tree damage. For liabilities like structural damage to a house from a fallen tree, you should turn to your homeowners insurance. However, homeowners typically wonder about damage to covered household components such as plumbing from tree root growth. Choice Home Warranty specifically excludes “lines broken, infiltrated, or stopped by roots” from its coverage in its user agreements.
Choice has optional coverage for the following:
- Central vacuum
- Limited roof leaks
- Pool/spa equipment
- Second refrigerator
- Septic system
- Septic tank pumping
- Sprinkler system
- Stand-alone freezer and ice maker
- Sump pump
- Trash compactor
- Well pump
Choice Home Warranty has preset dollar limits on how much it will cover for each optional coverage item, which are outlined in their terms of service agreements.
At the time of this review, Choice Home Warranty has a C rating with the Better Business Bureau and has closed over 3,000 complaints within the 12 months. Some complaints include inconsistencies between service providers and Choice representatives concerning evaluations and other issues, as well as not covering certain repairs. It’s important to always read your contract carefully to understand what is and isn’t covered.
Learn More
For more information on home warranties, visit our home warranty guides:
- Best Home Warranty Companies of 2023
- How Much Does a Home Warranty Cost?
- Are Home Warranties Worth It?
- How To Buy a Home Warranty
- How Does a Home Warranty Work?
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