The Best Home Warranties with No Deductibles 2023

A home warranty is a service contract that pays for repairing and replacing specific items that break from normal wear and tear and aging. Most insurance companies charge a service fee for each service call when something fails, whether the company pays for repairs or replacements. No-deductible warranties have no associated service fee in their agreement. Service fees are far more common than no-deductible plans because most insurers work with contracted technicians, and fees cover the technician’s travel time and diagnostics costs.

When researching the best home warranty companies for appliance coverage or systems plans, it helps to compare options. We selected important features to consider when choosing a provider and compiled a table for our top no-deductible and low-deductible providers.

A home warranty plan that provides sufficient coverage without a deductible is rare. We combed through companies that sell no-deductible policies and chose two with the best services.

• HomeServe USA
• Complete Protection

Top Companies with Low Deductibles

We also identified three companies that have policies with low service fees and exceptional coverage.

• Liberty Home Guard: Our top pick
• American Home Shield: Most experienced
• Select Home Warranty: Most budget-friendly

The cost of a home warranty with no deductible depends on your chosen provider and services. HomeServe offers plans as low as $7.95, limited to exterior water lines. Complete Protection’s rates start at $45 monthly, with coverage including HVAC systems and three appliances. HomeServe doesn’t offer appliance plans, so Complete Protection is your best bet for coverage.

Low-deductible plans have service fees that range from $65 to $150, depending on your policy, location and add-on riders. Select Home Warranty has the least expensive service fee on all plans, but the company’s coverages aren’t as extensive as other providers on this list. American Home Shield has the least-costly premiums with the option to choose a $100 deductible, while Liberty Home Guard provides the best bang for your buck if you want the most coverage at reasonable rates.

If you’re like most homeowners, you wonder if home warranties are worth it for the price you pay. There’s no right answer for everyone, but it usually boils down to whether a home warranty includes enough items that are at risk of damage because of normal wear and tear. Even if you live in a new home with coverage from a home builder, a home warranty might cover items the builder’s warranty doesn’t.

Home warranties usually cover appliances and built-in systems (plumbing, electrical, HVAC). Homeowners can add extra coverage to include items not usually covered. Examples of appliances and systems that are normally covered by warranty include:

• Washer and dryer
• Dishwasher
• Built-in microwave
• Refrigerator
• Cooktop
• Water heater
• Heating systems
• Central air conditioning system
• Electrical systems

Often, companies offer protection plans with various coverage combinations. If you want complete home coverage, you will need a top-tiered plan as well as add-on coverage to cover a swimming pool, roof leaks or other items not usually covered.

A home warranty isn’t the same as homeowners insurance, but it works similarly. Where home insurance covers repairs or replacements because of damage from unexpected and uncommon perils, a home warranty offers protection from breakdowns due to normal wear and tear. Both typically have a deductible you must pay before coverage plans kick in. Like a homeowners insurance policy, you must follow the correct procedure, or the provider generally won’t cover the costs, even if your claim is otherwise valid.

Home warranties usually require an annual service contract, though Complete Protection and a few other providers don’t require long-term commitments. You can expect to wait 30 days before filing a claim after a policy starts. Most companies allow cancellation within the first 30 days, though you likely have to pay a fee.

Your policy spells out what home appliances and systems are insured. It also identifies exclusions, including certain covered item types and components. Plans often cover unknown pre-existing conditions but not known ones. A home warranty service contract also outlines coverage caps and service fee amounts.

A home warranty provides a measure of financial protection that you don’t get from your homeowners insurance. It offers insurance for wear and tear on specific items, potentially saving you thousands of dollars in repair costs.

While most home warranty companies charge a service fee, a few providers have no deductible. Through extensive research, we determined that HomeServe and Complete Protection offer the best home warranties with no deductible, while Liberty Home Guard, American Home Shield and Select Home Warranty are your best bets for low-deductible coverage.

At the Marketwatch Home Team, we’ve created a comprehensive rating system to rank home warranty providers based on objective factors. We researched each company by speaking with representatives, reading sample contracts, and analyzing and comparing consumer reviews, then deepened our knowledge by gaining homeowner insights through surveys and focus groups.

After collecting data, we scored each provider based on what matters most to homeowners: plan options, cost, trustworthiness, customer service, state availability, additional benefits and coverage specifics.

We established each company’s rating out of 5.0 stars, weighing the following factors accordingly:

• Plan options (20%): Companies that offer at least three plan options and various add-ons scored the highest in this category.
• Coverage details (20%): We rated companies based on the total number of home appliances and systems covered in their plans, emphasizing essential systems like plumbing and air conditioning units.
• Plan pricing (18%): Home warranty providers that offer combination plans for less than $50 a month and a service call fee of $75 or less earned the most points in this category.
• Trustworthiness (14%): We evaluated the Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating, sample contract availability, workmanship guarantee and industry experience to determine the trustworthiness of each company.
• Customer service (16%): Home warranty companies that are available 24/7, 365 days a year, provide emergency services and offer at least two ways to file a claim earned the highest customer service points.
• Additional benefits (8%): Companies with a 30-day free cancellation period earned points in this category, and providers received extra points for offering additional coverage perks and exclusive benefits.
• State availability (4%): Providers that service all 50 U.S. states earned full credit for this category.

Our review methodology for home warranty companies is intended to provide a thorough overview of the best providers nationwide. To learn more, you can read our full home warranty methodology.

Bradford Cuthrell is a meticulous researcher and writer specializing in pet and home finance topics. He’s surveyed thousands of pet owners and homeowners, listened to hundreds of customer service calls from various home service companies and spoken with dozens of industry experts to understand homeowners’ common pain points and needs. When he’s not helping his readers make informed decisions, he’s reading a book a week, planning a camping trip or working on his novel draft.

Tori Addison is an editor with over five years of experience in the digital marketing industry. Her includes communications and marketing work in the nonprofit, governmental and academic sectors. A journalist by trade, she started her career covering politics and news in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her work included coverage of local and state budgets, federal financial regulations and health care legislation.