Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield

Need help figuring out whether Liberty Home Guard (LHG) or American Home Shield (AHS) is the best home warranty company for you? While both service providers offer superior plan level options, customizable features, and an overall positive reaction from current policyholders, their home warranty coverage isn’t interchangeable. We’ve set both companies side by side to see how exactly they work to offset unexpected repair or replacement costs for your home’s appliances and systems.

Best Coverage Limits

4.2/5

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Limited Time Offer: $150 Off All Plans*

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Our Take

Both prominent providers on the home warranty market, Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield are frontrunners among the 65+ companies we’ve reviewed at Today’s Homeowner. That said, the ideal fit for you will depend on your cost and coverage objectives. American Home Shield’s flexible service fee, lower-than-average monthly rates, and $50 new joiner discount make it an excellent choice for homeowners looking to secure comprehensive coverage within a set budget.

Liberty Home Guard is a more viable option for customers prioritizing coverage over cost. With LHG, you’ll have access to an exhaustive list of policy add-ons plus appliance-only and systems-only plan levels for a dialed-in coverage approach.

Compare Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield

Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield Coverage

Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield each offer three plan levels for homeowners to choose from. Both providers offer a systems-only option, but only Liberty Home Guard includes a freestanding appliance plan. Liberty Home Guard’s third and most comprehensive plan level, Total Home Guard, offers combo coverage for appliances and systems. American Home Shield, however, offers combo coverage in two of its plan levels, with bonus incentives for customers who purchase its premier ShieldPlatinum policy.

Liberty Home Guard may be the right provider for you if you’re interested in taking your plan to the next level with optional coverage riders. Though American Home Shield does offer six add-ons, a few of which are unique, Liberty Home Guard showcases an impressive spread of 41+ additional coverage options. LHG’s optional add-on coverage goes above and beyond, covering everything from exterior power washing to pest control to pro-series appliance protection.

Read also: Options for Fixing a Leaking Roof

Liberty Home Guard Coverage and Plans

Liberty Home Guard’s coverage is divided between its Appliance Guard, Systems Guard, and Total Home Guard plans. Appliance Guard covers repairs and replacements for a total of 9 essential kitchen and laundry appliances. Likewise, the Systems Guard plan offers protection for six built-in home systems. Costing just about $5 more per month, Total Home Guard combines all systems and appliances included in Appliance Guard and Systems Guard for homeowners wanting wall-to-wall home protection.

Most appliances and systems covered by Liberty Home Guard have an annual coverage limit of $2,000 per item. All plumbing, electrical, and optional add-ons are limited to $250 per year for your first 90 days of active coverage, which increases to $500 per year after the 90-day mark. Coverage for A/C refrigerant maxes out at $10 per pound.

Rating:

Best for Customization

4.5/5

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$200 Off + 2 Months Free*

*First application. See quote for terms and conditions.

Liberty Home Guard’s optional add-ons available for coverage:

For a free quote from Liberty Home Guard, fill out this online form or call 866-451-2281.

To learn more about LHG, read our full Liberty Home Guard review.

American Home Shield Coverage and Plans

Like LHG. American Home Shield offers three base plan options. Homeowners can choose between ShieldSilver, ShieldGold, and ShieldPlatinum. ShieldSilver, AHS’s most basic plan, covers a total of 14 select built-in systems. In contrast, ShieldGold and ShieldPlatinum include a variety of 23 home systems and appliances, but ShieldPlatinum comprises a few exclusive premium features of its own.

By opting for ShieldPlatinum, you’ll also benefit from:

• A boosted annual allowance of $6,000 per appliance for repairs and replacements
• Unlimited HVAC refrigerant
• Up to $1,500 per year for roof leak repairs
• Up to $1,000 per year for code violations, permits, and modifications

No matter what plan level you purchase through American Home Shield, all covered systems are protected under an unlimited annual allowance for repairs and replacements. ShieldGold has an annual payout limit of $3,000 per appliance, doubling to $6,000 for ShieldPlatinum policyholders.

Best Coverage Limits

4.2/5

Get a Free Quote

Limited Time Offer: $150 Off All Plans*

*First application. See quote for terms and conditions.

American Home Shield’s optional add-ons available for coverage:

• In-ground pools and spas
• Limited roof leak repairs
• Guest units and casitas (for dwellings up to 750 square feet)
• Well pump
• Septic pump
• Electronics coverage plan (covers an unlimited number of devices like TVs, smart home products, laptops, gaming systems, and more)

For a free quote from American Home Shield, fill out this online form or call 888-365-2839.

To learn more about AHS, read our full American Home Shield review.

Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield Cost

A home warranty plan through Liberty Home Guard costs anywhere from $70 to $79.99 per month, whereas American Home Shield costs from $29 to $74. Given that the industry-average cost of a home warranty is around $51, only American Home Shield offers premium options that fall below or near that.

Homeowners looking to build a policy that best accommodates a specified budget will likely have more success with American Home Shield, as it is one of the cheaper Home Warranty companies, thanks to its customizable service fee. American Home Shield customers can choose between a service fee of $75, $100, or $125, based on what they can pay upfront. The higher the service fee you select, the lower your monthly cost will be and vice versa. On the other hand, Liberty Home Guard charges a $75 service fee that can’t be adjusted to lower your monthly payment.

New joiners who sign up with Liberty Home Guard will benefit from $200 off their premium, two months of free bonus coverage, and complimentary roof leak protection. Customers new to American Home Shield that opt to pay annually will receive an additional $50 off.

Here’s how monthly premiums and service fees vary across each provider and its plan:

Liberty Home Guard Cost

American Home Shield Cost

Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield Reviews

Liberty Home Guard sports an impressive A- rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) as American Home Shield follows closely behind with a B rating from the organization. LHG has been accredited by the BBB since 2019 and AHS since 1997. To compare the experiences of policyholders at Liberty Home Guard vs. American Home Shield, we’ve provided a sampling of both positive and negative reviews from each company’s customer base below.

Home Warranty Customer Reviews Comparison

Liberty Home Guard Customer Reviews

Here are a few of the BBB reviews from LHG customers:

“My A/C failed to cool on Friday, July 15, 2022, and I called Liberty to get service. This was around 4 pm here in Las Vegas . The next morning around 9 am a tech showed up and replaced a capacitor that runs the compressor. Very quick service and Liberty acted very fast to get a tech out to our house. Thank you, Liberty for the quick resolution to this problem. I recommend Liberty as they have responded to 3 claims with my home in the past 2 years with excellent results. The service charge for each visit is very reasonable compared to actually hiring a plumber or HVAC company, plus any parts are covered by Liberty. Thanks again for the quick response.”

– Michael F., 07/20/2022

“Just tried to file the first claim on a new policy for an air conditioning problem on a home just purchased. Was told that I am in a 30-day holding period so no guaranteed coverage. Very frustrating… there were no heads up at all that there’s no coverage for 30 days. Buried in fine print. Feels deceptive.”

– Kyle H., 06/13/2022

American Home Shield Customer Reviews

Here are a few of the BBB reviews from AHS customers:

“American Home shield is awesome!I have had to use them three times since I have had my policy. My washer machine broke and was not worth fixing. I was given the option of choosing my own machine, and they would reimburse the money, or choose the one they offered, which was a top-of-the-line high-efficiency washer. Next, one of my power outlet/plug faces came disconnected from the wall, service was fast and efficient. Lastly, my A/C quit working in August, the hottest time of the year! I just paid to have the service technician come out. They replaced the capacitor and fan! So glad I have this policy. It has absolutely paid off.”

– Lisa S., 08/11/2022

“AHS refused on 8/9/ 2022 to cover the cost of unblocking my blocked kitchen drainpipe contrary to the sample contract. According to AHS, the blockage, which their plumber diagnosed as due to grease, is not covered. However, nowhere in my service contract does it state that such blockages are not covered…”

– Wendell W., 08/09/2022

Final Thoughts

Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield don’t differ drastically in terms of cost. Still, each home warranty provider has strong suits when it comes to breadth of customizability, standard coverage options, and available policy add-ons. AHS and LHG offer three base plan options, including a standalone systems plan, but only American Home Shield has an appliance-only alternative.

Though made-to-order coverage is guaranteed given LHG’s plan options, homeowners will have more control over cost with AHS. Unlike Liberty Home Guard’s fixed service fee, American Home Shield gives customers three deductibles to choose from based on their budget.

• A Liberty Home Guard policy might be right for you if:
  • You’re interested in purchasing coverage riders to maximize your home protection beyond what’s offered in a standard plan
  • You’re looking to purchase standalone appliance or systems coverage
  • You don’t live in Washington or Wisconsin.
• An American Home Shield policy might be right for you if:
  • You’re more budget-centric and would prefer to have more say in what your monthly payments and service call fee is.
  • You live in a home with older or less reliable built-in systems and would benefit from AHS’s unlimited coverage maximums for systems.
  • You don’t live in Alaska.

If you’re still on the fence about whether Liberty Home Guard or American Home Shield is the best home warranty company for you, we suggest generating a free quote with both providers. This way, you’ll get a feel for how each carrier’s costs and coverage terms accommodate your specified needs.

To get a free estimate from Liberty Home Guard, fill out this online form or call 866-451-2281. For American Home Shield, fill out this online form or call 888-365-2839.

Today's Homeowner Home Warranty Ranking Methodology

At Today's Homeowner, transparency and trust are our most important values for the reader.

To create this rating system, our team spent hours researching over 60 companies, analyzing 2500+ key data points, getting the thoughts and opinions of 1000+ homeowners, and speaking to home warranty company representatives directly. We also dug into the fine print on each company’s service agreement to ensure no detail was left out.

We developed an objective home warranty review and rating methodology to score each home warranty company based on several criteria. We used a five-point scale with a point index ranging from 0.00 to 1.00. The minimum awardable value is 0.0, whereas 1.00 is the maximum. These numeric points are translated into star ratings, using whole star increments between one and five.

Here is a quick breakdown of our five core scoring categories:

• Coverage (0.4): This category evaluates the scope of protection offered by a home warranty provider. We clearly distinguished between limited or broad coverage to help homeowners identify their own home protection needs. We also factor in claim turnaround times, average waiting period lengths, plan types, annual coverage limits, policy exclusions, etc.
• Cost (0.3): This category considers what home warranty companies charge homeowners monthly, annual, and out-of-pocket. We urge homeowners also to consider the cost-to-value ratio of a home warranty plan.
• Transparency and Trustworthiness (0.15): This category evaluates home warranty providers based on pending or past legal action, hidden fees, lack of information readily available on the website, exclusions, and more. We consider how upfront a company is to its potential policyholders, which says a lot about its products and services.
• Customer Support and Satisfaction (.09): This category evaluates the efficacy of a home warranty company’s effort to provide supportive guidance to inquiring customers and how policyholders are satisfied with the assistance they receive.
• Customization (.06): This category evaluates the ability of homeowners to adjust and choose their policy details, such as pricing variation, optional add-ons, and the number of plans available.