First American Home Warranty Reviews – Is It Right for You? (Coverage & Review)

Intro: First American Home Warranty Reviews (Coverage & Review)

When you buy a house, you typically get homeowners insurance to cover a variety of possible accidents. However, despite this coverage, you’ll likely also need separate coverage in the case of natural disasters and other unforeseen issues, like your pipes leaking or your air conditioning going out in the middle of summer.

This is where First American Home Buyers home warranties come into play.

Find out what they can do for you, what First American home warranty coverage includes, and what people have to say about working with them through their homeowner protection services reviews.

What Is First American Home Warranty (Reviews & History)?

Image source: First American Home Warranty

First American home warranty is a part of the First American family of businesses, which have been serving their communities for over 100 years. What they provide is peace of mind that no matter what goes wrong, covered members will be able to have pre-approved professionals at their home to help fix the issue.

According to their website, First American vets their professionals, which includes plumbers and electricians, so that no matter what the problem is with your appliances and systems, you can rest assured that a qualified person will be handling the issue. This saves you the hassle of having to find someone when you’re in a pinch and getting swindled.

First American Home Warranty Reviews: What Does the Company Offer?

First American’s home warranties are available for different costs, with some plans costing less than a dollar a day. This means that no matter what your personal financial situation is, you’ll be able to trust that you’re in good hands and can count on your home always being taken care of.

Another aspect that should come up in more First American home warranty reviews is that they have 24/7 customer service available — because accidents happen even when everyone else is sleeping.

Beyond these obvious benefits, First American provides free resources to not only their customers but the public as well. They have a page on their site listing many common household appliances and how to perform general maintenance to keep them in tip top shape. Some of these appliances include:

Air conditioner
Washer
Dryer
Dishwasher
Electrical systems

If you are looking to get value from a company before giving them any personal information, then this site is a great place to start.

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What Does First American Home Warranty Coverage Include?

Like any kind of insurance or warranty company, what is covered depends on you and the plan that you choose to purchase with them. Other factors that come into play are also where you live. As with homeowners insurance policies, some places cost more than others to live.

What they offer is a one-year renewable service contract, according to their website, that will help protect you from spending money on repairing home systems and appliances, no matter the age of these items.

Some First American home buyers protection reviews detail the cost-value of working with them. Nathaniel of Poughkeepsie said, “First American had good reviews and it was a toss up between three companies. First American has the cheapest yearly rates and they had the lowest deductible so I went with them.”

He went on to explain that his initial need for the warranty was because of an old air conditioning unit, but he ended up filing a claim for his dishwasher. These are just two of the things that are covered, but again, it varies from plan to plan.

First American Home Buyers Protection Reviews: How Do Claims Work?

This is one of the most raved about aspects of First American home buyers protection reviews: the system for filing claims. First, you simply review your policy to see if you are covered for the appliance or system that has broken. Next, you sign into your account to request service and set an appointment.

If you’d rather call, you can do so and get a real person – not a machine – on the other line in a matter of seconds. When the repairperson comes out to take a look at your appliance or system, it will either be repaired or replaced. It’s as simple as that.

There is no limit to how often you can request service, and occasionally, if a full replacement is needed, you’ll be offered cash instead of the replacement. This gives you the opportunity to put the money toward a nicer appliance rather than just replacing the older model you were using before it broke.

What Are First American Home Warranty Reviews Saying?

If you’re thinking that First American sounds too good to be true, you’re not wrong, but you’re not entirely right either. While there are plenty of positive reviews out there, there are some negative ones as well. It’s got a solid B rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited with them since May 2002. Here are the good and bad sides of First American from the consumers’ point of view.

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First American Home Warranty Reviews: The Bad

The major issues seem to arise from what is a cornerstone of First American’s promises: fast, reliable service. One First American home warranty review states:

“They have poor quality service providers, who have 48 hours to get in touch with you. If they do not get in touch with you, you have to wait and get set up with another service provider which puts you out two or three more days. The people you talk to at First American speak to you like you are nothing to them, and give you different time frames depending on who you talk to. After being “dropped” on my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th call, I finally spoke to a supervisor, who was sympathetic, but said she couldn’t do anything more. That I would have to wait for contractor relations to resolve my issue (they have 8 hours).”

And another American home warranty review with the BBB details:

“They hire subcontractors that have no experience. Tried for over a month to get them to send someone who had knowledge of my issue and they did not. I canceled 50 days into my policy and they kept 66% of the annual premium I had paid. Their representative admitted that the technician they sent messed up yet they refused to help me in any way. They wanted me to pay even more of my money to get an outside company to fix the issue and then submit it to them for review.”

Fast, high-quality service is a hallmark of what First American offers, so it seems that complaints like these are a big reason they only score a B rating with the BBB. While complaints and reviews like these are plenty, it’s important to keep in mind that people are more likely to go out of their way to write a bad review than a good one. Luckily, some customers have also left positive feedback.

First American Home Buyers Protection Review: The Good

After looking at several First American home buyers protection reviews on the Consumer Affairs site, we see a different story. Consumer Affairs gives them an overall four-star rating based on 913 ratings out of 2,340 reviews. Some of these reviews include details about how First American’s process makes things more seamless for their families, stating:

“My home was getting older and I decided it would be a good idea to get my appliances covered even though they were in working order. I like the people from First American who I spoke with. They were very courteous and answered all of my questions. When my top oven didn’t heat up, I called them and within an hour, the repair person called and set up a time to come in. He was here within the day but had to go and get another of the parts. We made another appointment and my oven was fixed within three days. The work was wonderful. He knew what he was doing. I would highly recommend him and First American.”

One First American home review from a realtor on Consumer Affairs explained that she often recommends this company to her clients and even chose it for herself. Another customer explained that they got their first year with First American free when they bought their home, and they were so pleased with the service that they continued to renew it.

When it comes to First American home buyers protection reviews, it really is a mixed bag, with comments coming from both sides of the spectrum.

First American Home Warranty Reviews: What to Watch for

Image source: Pixabay

Being a savvy consumer takes lots of time, and the first rule of thumb is to read everything and to know exactly what you’re signing up for. It may not seem worth the hassle, but it’s a good idea to know exactly what you’re buying before you sign on the dotted line. Look for the following three things:

First American Home Warranty Reviews: Fees

Some First American warranty reviews that were unfavorable mentioned hidden fees they weren’t expecting. However, these people also acknowledged that they should have read the fine print to discover these ahead of time.

The fees included increasing rates year over year, as well as increasing rates for technicians to come out to the home. Pay close attention to these, and if rates increase, call First American and see what you can do about retaining the fees from your original agreement.

First American Home Buyers Protection Reviews: Repairs and Replacements

Some consumers were confused about just how the repairs and replacements policies work with First American. Again, this is a simple matter of paying attention to the fine print and understanding that not everything will be directly replaced. You may be offered cash, or they may need to work out a special case scenario with them. Whatever the case may be, you’ll be more prepared to deal with the situation if you read your agreement and know exactly what it is that you purchased.

First American Home Buyers Protection Reviews: Customer Service

On the whole, it seems that First American warranties generally provide what they say they will, which is fast, reliable service by professional technicians. That said, there are plenty of First American home warranty reviews that rebut that. If the customer service isn’t what you’re expecting, speak up and write an email, or call and speak to a supervisor. If a company doesn’t know you’re dissatisfied, they can’t work to remedy the situation.

First American Home Buyers Protection Review: Conclusion

If you’re worried about the appliances and systems in your home failing, and you don’t have the time or money to constantly fix them or research and call technicians to do so, First American home warranty coverage may be a great option for you.

Call them and ask about their various plans, the fees and rates, and exactly how their process works where you live. Then make a final decision if they’re the best option for your situation.

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