Select Home Warranty Review (2020)

Select Home Warranty is known for providing free roof coverage, which isn’t typically included under most home warranty plans, and having relatively low monthly premiums and service fees. Here you’ll find House Method’s 2020 review of Select Home Warranty. We discuss plans and pricing options, compare against other home warranty competitors, include a few reviews and ratings, and help you decide whether or not this is one of the best home warranty companies for you.

Select Home Warranty plans, coverage, and cost

Select offers three plans—Bronze Care, Gold Care, and Platinum Care—at an average cost of $36–$38 per month. They also include optional add-on coverage for items that most companies don’t cover, including roof coverage, lawn sprinkler system protection, and septic system coverage.

Bronze Care: $35.83 per month ($429.96 per year). This plan covers six major home systems.

Gold Care: $35.83 per month ($429.96 per year). With this plan, you’ll receive coverage for eight home appliances.

Platinum Care: $37.50 per month ($450.00 per year). Under this combination plan, you get coverage for all items under the Gold Care and Bronze Care plans in addition to a few extra systems and appliances.

Optional coverage: If you have optional items, like a pool or spa, you can add on coverage to your current plan for an additional cost.

*Note: In addition to paying a monthly premium for these plans, you’ll have to pay a $75 service call fee—or deductible—every time an independent service technician is scheduled and dispatched to your home.

Price of Select Home Warranty vs. competitors

Details on common systems and appliances

To get a better idea of what systems and appliances homeowners want warranty coverage for, our team at House Method surveyed 1,000 homeowners and asked them which home systems and appliances were most valuable to them. Once the results were in, we took the responses and compared them to what each home warranty provider covers. From our findings, we gathered that the top appliances and systems most important to a homeowner are the refrigerator, oven/stove/range, clothes washer and dryer, electrical, plumbing, and air conditioning.

Here’s a closer look at Select Home Warranty’s coverage:

• Refrigerator: They cover the parts of a refrigerator that are necessary to its functionality. These parts include the control boards, compressor, thermostats, damper control, wire harness, evaporator fan motor, condenser fan motors, pressure switches, relays, contactors, start assist, and thermistors. To receive coverage, your refrigerator must be located within the kitchen.
• Oven/stove/range: They covers all components and parts of gas or electric ovens, ranges, and stoves that are necessary to their functionality. Items included are the burners, control boards, thermostats, broilers, temperature controls, heating elements, igniters, ignition modules, and spark igniters. Coverage does not provide protection for the range hood.
• Clothes washer and dryer: Similar to the coverage provided for your refrigerator and oven/stove/range, all components and parts of the washer and dryer that are necessary for the appliances to function are covered.

Note: The refrigerator, oven/stove/range, clothes washer, and dryer are all covered in the Gold Care plan and Platinum Care plan. 

• Electrical: They cover electrical system components including wiring, service panels, sub-panels, switches, breakers, outlets,  junction boxes, and ground fault interrupters. The agreement does not cover damage to the electrical system caused by flood, fire, water, rust, and it doesn’t cover ductwork that’s been improperly sized or crushed.
• Plumbing: They cover plumbing system components like line leaks in water, drain, waste or vent lines not caused by damage resulting from freezing or from roots; toilet bowls; toilet tanks; toilet flushing mechanisms; angle stops; and risers. Plumbing stoppages are also covered and include protection for drain, vent, and sewer lines up to 100 feet from the access point (except if damaged or blocked by tree roots). The items excluded from plumbing coverage include water softeners, slab leaks, and polybutylene pipes.
• Air conditioning: Coverage includes the primary floor air conditioning unit and system components such as condenser fan motors, compressors, condensers, thermostats, capacitors, relays, contactors, pressure switches, thermistors, cut-in switches, transformers, start assists, defrost boards, and blower motors. Window, wall, portable air conditioning units are not included in coverage. If you want coverage for your wall units, American Home Shield covers ducted units, geothermal units, wall units, and mini-splits.

Before signing up, be sure to read the terms and conditions and the contract thoroughly to understand exactly what is and isn’t covered under your specific contract.

Coverage length

Select Home Warranty’s coverage begins 30 days after enrollment and lasts for a standard 12 months with the option to renew at the end of the year. The company offers two extra months for free on a promotional basis.

You can cancel your plan at any time during your contract, but will have to pay a $75 cancellation fee.

Coverage limits

Select Home Warranty will not cover the following:

• Home appliances or systems that have been improperly installed or insufficiently maintained. The sample contract reads, “Select reserves the right and may request prior years’ maintenance records and/or pictures. Without proper maintenance records and pictures, the maximum payout on any system or appliance is up to $150.00.”
• Broken items with pre-existing conditions. The contract continues, “All systems and appliances must be in proper working order on the effective date of the service contract, as set forth in the schedule page accompanying this agreement. Any pre-existing conditions or defects causing the malfunction of system or appliance during the term will not be covered by this agreement.”
• Manufacturer’s defects or foundation and structural repairs. 

This means customers must conduct routine maintenance on their home systems and appliances (think: flushing a water heater or replacing HVAC filters) in order for their items to be covered.

Select Home Warranty is not available in Nevada, New York, Washington, or Wisconsin. If you live in any of these states, check out our state-specific reviews to find a home warranty that’s right for you:

• Best Home Warranty Companies in Nevada
• Best Home Warranty Companies in New York
• Best Home Warranty companies in Washington
• Best Home Warranty Companies in Wisconsin

Our take

Select Home Warranty is an adequate home warranty company, but it’s not the best of the best. It offers three coverage plans, but if you want full coverage of your systems and appliances, you have to opt into the Platinum Care Plan, which is the most expensive plan.

Additionally, if you’re looking for years of experience, Select may not be the company for you. The company has a B rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has been around for only seven years. What’s more: there have been multiple complaints against its customer service department, with reviews saying that multiple claims get denied, technicians don’t show up for scheduled appointments, and contractors haven’t been paid for their services. 

Though the company has resolved 1,469 complaints in the past year, we think it still may be working out the kinks when it comes to executing on high-quality service for both their contractors and customers.

However, SHW does have some unique perks—it has some of the lowest monthly premiums and service fees in the home warranty industry and it provides two free months of coverage to customers who sign up for a plan. It also provides free roof leak coverage and optional septic system coverage, which isn’t typically covered by most home warranty companies.

What others are saying

As a consumer, you probably don’t have the time to sit around and sift through the hundreds of reviews left by Select Home Warranty customers. That’s where we come in. At House Method, we go through user complaints, reviews, and ratings of each home warranty company and compile that information in a chart that’s easy for you to read.

Below, we’ve included Select Home Warranty ratings compared to the industry average.

Select Home Warranty reviews

There are mixed reviews when it comes to the trustworthiness of Select Home Warranty. Here are a few BBB reviews—some good, some bad—from customers:

Will R. on June 25, 2018, said:

Select Home Warranty has gone out of their way to ensure I have the best plan available. My plan is tailored for my needs and I was not pressured into purchasing something I didn’t need. Their customer service is excellent. Their claims department is fast. Everything you need to have a positive feeling when buying a home warranty.

Steve M. on November 15, 2019, said:

Agent Dick was really clear, helpful, and efficient. He gave me a reasonable price on the warranty plan. But you need to read the fine print. For a $1,400 fridge that died, I was only given $500. That’s the deal you’ll find in section 10 of the contract. So just don’t expect to get more that $500 if an appliance dies. But with that understood, it’s a good deal I think.

James M. on October 17, 2019, said:

I am an HVAC contractor who had the unfortunate experience of doing work for a homeowner who was “covered” by this company. Although it was pre-approved for me to do the work, I performed the service and sent an invoice, but the claim was denied and they refused to pay it. If you are a contractor, I would seriously reconsider doing any work for this warranty provider and their clients, as you could be out a good deal of money and time. If you are a customer thinking of buying this coverage, don’t waste your time.

Monica C. on July 20, 2019, said:

Both Jermel and Ron’s customer service was outstanding. Jermel was very attentive to my needs and comforting to my concerns. I placed an online service ticket and within 3 hours I was contacted and within 2 hours I was paired with John of Long Engineering. John came right over on a Friday at 5:15 pm. Now this is what I call great customer service. When John called in to report the problem, the customer rep asked to speak with me and informed me that he would escalate the approval because of the extreme heat conditions. So far so good.

Our conclusion

House Method gives Select Home Warranty 4.23 out of 5 stars. It regularly offers money-saving promotions, like $100 off all annual home warranty plans, free roof leak coverage, and two extra months free. They provide decent coverage, but it’s a pretty average home warranty company when it comes to customer service.

SHW is a good choice for you if…

• you have an old roof that’s prone to leaks.
• you want to cover your septic system.

SHW might not be the best option for you if…

• you’re a homeowner who is looking for BBB-accredited businesses only.
• you want high coverage caps for systems and appliances.

Compare home warranties

Compare Select Home Warranty to the competition.

Methodology

At House Method, transparency and trust are our most important values for the reader. That’s why we took the time to create an objective rating system and score each home warranty provider according to our methodology. Our team spent hours on the phone speaking to representatives from each home warranty company to get information right from the source.

Our rating system involves a weighted, 100-point scale that scores home warranty companies on plans offered, coverage, state availability, cost, trustworthiness, customer service, and unique benefits.

For more details, check out our affiliate disclosure and rating methodology.

Company information

• Company name: Select Home Warranty
• Company type: Private
• CEO: Alex Winters, Vice President of Customer Service
• Founding date: 1/13/2012
• Years in business: 8 years
• Telephone: 317-204-4697
• Address: 1 International Blvd Ste 400 Mahwah, NJ 07495
• Country: USA
• State availability: 46 states
• Service fee: $75
• BBB rating: B
• Number of BBB complaints closed within last 3 years: 2,576