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Best Home Warranties for Pools
By Susan Doktor MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
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You host the best summer parties. You’re the envy of your neighborhood come the Fourth of July. You have a knock-out tan. You’re also saddled with worries about home maintenance costs. In other words, you’re a pool owner, with all the perks and problems that come with it.
One popular way of managing home maintenance costs is purchasing a home warranty. Home warranties cover a wide range of systems and appliances in your home, and most home warranty providers offer optional, add-on coverage for pool systems.
We’ve reviewed some of the top home warranty companies in the US to learn about the specific pool coverage they offer, including the annual cost of buying pool protection. The purpose of our home warranty guide is to help you select the best home warranty coverage for your entire property, including your pool.
Table of Contents
Our Top Picks for Best Home Warranties for Pools
Best Home Warranties for Pools Guide
Best Home Warranties for Pools FAQs
How We Chose the Best Home Warranties for Pools
Our Top Picks for Best Home Warranties for Pools
Liberty Home Guard
- Systems-only, appliances-only, and combination plans
- Customize your plan with add-on coverage options
- Have your questions answered via online chat
- Low $2,000 coverage cap per system
- High standard deductible with every claim
Liberty Home Guard offers a variety of plans including systems-only, appliances-only, and combination plans to suit different needs. The plans are named in a straightforward manner, making it easy for homeowners to understand the differences among them: Systems Guard, Appliance Guard, and Total Home Guard. The company also offers online chat to help homeowners can get their questions answered more quickly and conveniently.
Liberty Home Guard provides ample opportunity for homeowners to customize their plans with add-on coverage options, including pool coverage. The cost is $239.99 for a year of protection.
Liberty Home Guard charges moderate monthly premiums. The standard service call fee for all claims, however, is $125. Filing a lot of claims may make coverage through the company less affordable overall.
Choice Home Warranty
- Choice of two combination systems-and-appliances plans
- Many optional add-on coverages
- Affordable $85 service call fee
- No systems-only or appliances-only plan
- No choice of deductible
Choice Home Warranty offers homeowners a choice of two combination systems and appliances plans: the Basic plan and the Total plan. The Basic plan includes coverage for common home appliances such as your refrigerator, oven, and built-in microwave, as well as select systems including water heaters, heating, electrical, and plumbing. The more expensive Total plan gives you more comprehensive coverage and includes additional laundry and kitchen appliances like your clothes washer, clothes dryer, and extra systems such as your air conditioner and ductwork.
The company has many add-on coverage options, which include pools, central vacuum systems, stand-alone freezers, second refrigerators, and sump pumps. The company charges a standard service call fee for all claims: a relatively affordable $85. That can help keep the total cost of Choice Warranty’s services in line with your budget.
At $180 per year, optional in-ground pool coverage is very reasonable through Choice Home Warranty. However, there are many exclusions listed in the fine print of the company’s contract, including lights, liners, heat pumps, and saltwater components. So depending on how your pool is constructed and equipped, coverage may be more or less adequate for your needs.
American Home Shield
- Choice of deductible
- Fewer exclusions than some other plans
- No maintenance records required to sign up
- Exceptionally high coverage limits
- Short, 30-day workmanship guarantee
- Higher-priced than most plans
Here’s what we like about American Home Shield: the company’s standard contract has fewer exclusions than competitive contracts. That means more comprehensive coverage. Here’s what we don’t like: home warranty plans through American Home Shield are considerably more expensive than other plans: in some cases double. But when it comes to coverage limits, American Home Shield really stands out from the crowd. Many home warranties cap pool coverage at $500. But American Home Shield offers a stellar $3,000 coverage limit on pools and spas.
AHS offers three plans. The ShieldSilver plan is a straight-up systems plan that covers five major systems in your home: water heaters and heating, cooling, plumbing, and electrical systems. The ShieldGold plan adds coverage for major appliances in both your kitchen and laundry room, including hot water dispensers. The ShieldPlatinum plan covers everything in American Home Shields’ cheaper plans, plus limited roof leak repairs, free HVAC tune-ups, and unlimited air conditioner refrigerant top-offs. If you own an older home, you may be interested to learn that all plans include coverage for repairs made necessary by code violations.
Optional swimming pool coverage costs $288 per year through American Home Shield. Covered items and exclusions are on par with other companies’ coverage and costs. We give the company props for making coverage and exclusions clear and easy to locate on its website.
The following components are covered by AHS:
- Pool sweep and motor pump
- Pump motor
- Blower motor and timer
- Plumbing pipes and wiring
- Plumbing and electrical
Select Home Warranty
- Offers separate plans for systems or appliances
- Low-cost combination plan
- Discounts offered on multi-year plans
- Fewer add-on coverage options
- Low $500 coverage limit on electrical systems and plumbing systems
- More exclusions than other plans
Select Home Warranty offers homeowners three plan options: an appliance plan, a systems plan, and a plan that includes both. All three feature limited roof leak coverage, which is often only included in top-of-the-line plans or available as an option for an additional cost.
Select Home Warranty’s Bronze Care plan covers kitchen and laundry appliances, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, stoves, built-in microwaves, and garbage disposals.
The Gold Care plan offers comprehensive system coverage, including heating and air conditioning, electrical and plumbing systems, water heaters, and ductwork. Plumbing stoppages are excluded from the Gold Care plan.
The Platinum Care plan is a relatively inexpensive combo plan that fills in some of the coverage gaps in the company’s other plans. It covers plumbing stoppages and adds in coverage for clothes washers. Smaller appliances, such as ceiling fans and garage door openers are also included.
Optional add-on coverage for pools under Select Home Warranty is quite inexpensive — under $100 per year. However, coverage is limited to just a few pool/spa components: your pool’s pumping system, its filtration system, and its heating system.
We also have to fault Select Home Warranty for not discussing the length of its workmanship guarantee or the deductible that applies to service calls. Those are important factors to consider when evaluating the final cost and ultimate value of a home warranty plan.
Cinch Home Services
- Extremely favorable, 180-day workmanship guarantee
- More appliance parts and components covered
- Limited options for add-on coverage
- High deductibles
While many home warranty companies package system and appliance coverage together in a series of differently priced plans, Cinch Home Services offers separate systems and appliance plans. That’s a good strategy for attracting a wider customer base.
Cinch Home Services offers some of the most affordable plans out there. Coverage for a single-family home in a midwestern city starts at $30.99 for an appliances-only plan, $35.99 for a systems-only plan, and $44.99 for a whole-home plan. Once you’ve selected a plan, Cinch Home Services you can customize it with coverage for pools and spas, septic system plumbing, and well pumps. Another option is the Premier Upgrade Package, which offers additional coverage for permits, code upgrades, and more.
Coverage for your swimming pool is available for $264 per year. That’s not the cheapest price we’ve seen, nor is it the most expensive. But pool coverage under Cinch is very limited: it only covers pool heaters. According to the company’s sample contract, only “mechanical components and parts of gas, electric, oil, and heat pump units” are covered. In addition, coverage is capped under any circumstances at $1,000 per year.
Cinch Home Services allows customers to choose from one of three service call fees, which range from $100 to $150. Keeping deductibles high is one way home warranty companies manage to keep their monthly premiums low. If you’re lucky and don’t have to file a lot of claims, the overall cost of Cinch coverage will remain low. But you should be prepared for those low premiums to be balanced by higher service fees.
America’s First Choice
- Longest workmanship warranty: one year
- Select either systems-only or appliances-only coverage
- Choice of two combination systems-and-appliances plans
- More comprehensive pool coverage than many plans
- $75 cancellation fee
America’s First Choice Home Club stands out for providing the longest workmanship guarantee we’ve seen during our home warranty review process. The company stands behind its work by guaranteeing satisfaction for a full year (so long as you are still enrolled in the plan). The company offers a discount over annual prices when you select a three-year plan, as well. Many home warranty companies only guarantee workmanship for only 30 days and you risk paying multiple service call fees when a service provider does shoddy work. This is a common complaint among home warranty customers. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. So a one-year guarantee such as AFC’s can wind up saving you quite a bit of money.
AFC HomeClub’s Silver plan is quite inexpensive. The catch is that it covers major kitchen and laundry room appliances and not much else. It excludes coverage for built-in microwaves, for example. But it may make sense for you if your appliances are nearing the end of their lifecycle. AFC’s Systems plan covers all major home systems, including electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling systems (plus ductwork) and water heaters.
AFC Home Club’s Gold plan is a whole-home plan that combines coverage for kitchen and laundry room appliances with coverage for heating and cooling, plumbing, and electrical systems. Microwave coverage is included in this plan. For the most comprehensive coverage, you can select the Platinum plan. It covers everything included in the Gold plan plus enhanced plumbing coverage, such as plumbing stoppages. It also protects refrigerator ice makers (available for an additional fee under other plans), garbage disposals, and ceiling, attic, and exhaust fans.
Optional pool coverage under AFC’s plans costs an additional $100 per year. According to AFC’s sample contract, coverage applies to accessible working components and parts of the pumping system: main pool pump, primary heater, motor, gaskets, blower, timer, valves (limited to back flush, actuator, check, 2-way, and 3-way valves), relays and switches, pool sweep motor and booster pump, above-ground plumbing pipes and wiring that are associated with primary pump and filter. That’s pretty robust coverage compared to many of the plans we’ve reviewed.
First American Home Warranty
- Three combination plans to choose from
- Customize your deductible from $75 to $125
- Unlimited refrigerant replacement
- Starter Plan is short on coverage
- No systems-only or appliances-only options
First American Home Warranty offers homeowners a choice of three combination systems/appliance options — its Starter, Essential, and Premium plans. The company also offers a choice of deductibles, starting at $75. Choosing a high deductible can reduce your monthly payments but carries the risk of paying more in service call fees over the life of your plan.
The Starter Plan excludes coverage for common appliances that other service contracts cover, like washers and dryers. But on the flip side, it covers some major systems, including heating and electrical. System repairs can be among the most costly. Consequently, the monthly premium for the Starter plan is higher than some basic plans we’ve reviewed. Note that the Starter plan doesn’t cover air conditioning systems or water heaters. Those are some pretty major exclusions.
If you opt for the Essential plan, you do get coverage for air conditioning and water heaters. Washers and dryers are included, as well trash compactors and garbage disposals,
First American’s Premium plan covers such additional items as concrete encasements, improper installation of appliances and systems, and repairs made necessary due to code violations.
Pool coverage through First American starts at $288 per year and includes quite a few pool features:
- Salt water cell
- Timers
- Heating units
- Valves
- Circuit board
- Pumps
- Filters
- Pump motors
- Pool sweep motor and pumps
- Above ground plumbing and electrical
2-10 Home Buyers Warranty
- Three modestly-priced plans to choose from
- Kitchen-only coverage available
- Freshwater and saltwater pool coverage
- Washers and dryers not included under two least-expensive plans
2-10 Home Warranty offers three modestly priced plans. The company stands out for its ultra-low-priced Kitchen Only plan. While it offers limited coverage, with a ticket price of just $16 per month, it could be the right choice for homeowners whose kitchen appliances are finicky or nearing the end of their useful life. Kitchen-only coverage includes all major kitchen appliances, including your oven, cooktop, or range, your refrigerator (ice makers, crushers, and water dispenser covered), your dishwasher, and your built-in microwave oven. If you want a little more coverage, you can add bundled optional coverage for your washer and dryer, your electrical system, and limited roof leak protection for an additional $23.
Step up to the Complete Home plan, which costs $46 per month, and you’ll get coverage for everything in the Kitchen Only plan, plus coverage for one gas- or electric-powered heating and centrally-ducted air conditioning system, your plumbing system (including stoppages), and your electrical system (including doorbells).
The Pinnacle plan adds in coverage for your water heater and “Supreme” features, which include more robust component coverage for appliances and systems, such as handles and knobs, filters, concrete-encased pipes, fees for hauling away irreparable equipment, and more. The Pinnacle plan is available for $60 per month.
2-10 Home Warranty offers homeowners choice when it comes to pool protection. You can choose between freshwater and saltwater pool coverage and coverage for an additional pool feature (like a whirlpool or heated spa). Prices for each differ. Coverage for freshwater pools costs $24 per month, saltwater pools cost $30 per month, and additional features cost $15 per month.
2-10 also offers the option of choosing your service call fee, with three options from $65 to $100. All prices above reflect a service call fee of $100. Service call fees for 2-10 plans are on the low end of average, making 2-10 an affordable way to get peace of mind around home repairs.
Best Home Warranties for Pools Guide
Main things to know before purchasing a home warranty for pools
If you’ve owned a pool for any length of time, you know that the pleasure it brings you comes at a steep price. Just opening and closing your pool each year is a considerable investment. Annual supplies and routine maintenance costs can reach $1,800 a year. If your pool requires major repairs, all bets are off. So many pool owners are willing to invest in home warranties to limit their financial exposure. The first thing to know if you buy a home warranty is that pool coverage is not included in a basic home warranty plan and will cost extra.
The second thing to keep in mind is that even when you purchase optional pool coverage, there are annual limits to how much your company will pay to repair your pool. Most home warranty companies cap coverage at $500, but there are some exceptions.
In addition, all home warranty companies impose a waiting period — usually 30 days. That means that coverage doesn’t kick in until you’ve paid for one month of coverage. Some companies offset that cost by offering one or more months of free coverage. But those months are tacked on at the end. You’ll always pay for your first month and be unable to file a claim during that period.
What does a home warranty cover for pools?
Both pool component coverage and coverage limits vary by warranty provider. The less you pay for pool coverage and your overall warranty, the fewer components are likely to be covered under your contract. Coverage limits tend to be lower with less expensive plans. Details on covered components can usually be found in the sample contracts warranty companies publish on their websites.
What are the exclusions of a home warranty for pools?
Exclusions will vary from one home warranty provider to the next. You can find details about covered components and coverage limits in a home warranty company’s sample contract. Most companies post sample contracts on their websites. If not, you should request one and read it carefully to understand what’s covered and what’s not under a plan.
How much does a home warranty cost for pools?
That depends entirely on which home warranty company you select. Some companies allow you to get a quote for optional pool coverage when you investigate the cost of its plans in general. But you may have to do a little digging to find this information. Calling the companies you’re considering is a good option if you’re looking to confirm costs.
Best Home Warranties for Pools FAQs
Are home warranties required for pools?
Buying a home warranty is a purely optional step. And adding a pool to your covered home features is an option within an option. Pools are high-ticket items. Depending on the climate in your hometown, you might need to protect them from damage during the winter. And you’ll definitely have to perform routine maintenance during the warmer months to keep your pool in top condition. While home warranties do not cover routine maintenance, they do protect you should your pool system break down. So as a pool owner, you may want to consider purchasing one.
How much is the service fee for a home warranty for pools?
The service fee for having a pool repaired is the same as the fee for any other service call under your home warranty. Service call fees vary by home warranty provider and range from $60 to $150 in today’s market. Some home warranty companies allow you to choose your service call fee. The lower the service call fee, the higher your premiums are likely to be.
Does a home warranty plan cover frozen pool equipment?
Home warranties do not cover damage to your pool caused by frozen water inside it. It covers components of a pool system, such as pump motors, pool sweep motors, pipes, and electrical components. Bear in mind that only problems caused by normal wear and tear are covered by a home warranty.
Does a home warranty cover waterhole leaks?
If the leak is caused by normal wear and tear to your pool components, your home warranty should cover it. But before purchasing pool coverage, it’s imperative that you read your home warranty contract carefully to learn precisely what’s covered and what’s not.
How We Chose the Best Home Warranties for Pools
Pool coverage is only available as an add-on feature to a general home warranty plan. So we evaluated each company’s options for overall home protection — how well it protects you from common breakdowns that drive up your home maintenance costs. We also considered how much room each company’s plans give for customization. Finally, we looked at the details of optional pool coverage itself, including choice of pool type, costs, and coverage limits.
