Commonly $400 to $900 a year for a single-family plan, plus a service call fee of commonly $75 to $150 each time a contractor is dispatched, with pool, spa, septic and second-refrigerator coverage priced as add-ons on top of that.
A home warranty is a service contract, not insurance, and its price has three parts rather than one: the annual premium, the per-visit service fee, and the add-ons for anything the base plan leaves out. Comparing plans on the premium alone is the mistake, because the per-item cap is what decides whether a claim is worth anything.
This page is about the price. Whether one is worth buying at all, and which side of a purchase pays for it, are separate questions with their own pages.
The three numbers on every plan
The annual premium buys the contract for twelve months and commonly runs $400 to $900 for a standard single-family plan, with higher tiers reaching further. The service call fee is paid to the contractor each time one is dispatched, commonly $75 to $150, and most companies let you trade one against the other: a plan with a $125 fee costs less per year than the same plan with a $75 fee.
The third number is the per-item cap, and it is the one that decides what a claim is actually worth. Caps in the range of $1,500 to $3,000 on heating and cooling are common, which in the Las Vegas valley is a meaningful limit, because a full air conditioning replacement here commonly costs more than that. A plan with a low premium and a low cap is cheap for a reason.
What changes the price
- Tier. A systems-only plan is cheapest, systems plus appliances is the standard, and a top tier adding higher caps and code upgrade coverage costs the most.
- Add-ons. Pool and spa equipment, a septic system, a well pump, a second refrigerator, a stand-alone freezer, and roof leak coverage are each priced separately and are commonly $100 to $200 a year apiece.
- Square footage, on some companies, above roughly 5,000 square feet.
- Multiple units. A duplex or a rental commonly prices per unit rather than per building.
- Term. Paying for two or three years at once, or annually rather than monthly, commonly carries a discount.
The real annual cost, not the premium
A $650 plan with a $100 service fee costs $850 in a year with two service calls, which is the ordinary number of calls in an older home. Add a pool option and it is over a thousand. Set that against what the same money does sitting in a repair fund, where it is available for the roof, the fence, the windows and everything else a warranty does not touch.
The comparison that matters when shopping is total cost of a plausible year, not the premium. Take two plans, assume two calls, add the service fees, and check the caps on the two items most likely to fail in your house. On a valley home built before 2005 those are usually the air conditioning and the water heater.
In Nevada, check the provider is registered
A home warranty is a service contract under NRS chapter 690C rather than insurance, and a provider has to hold a certificate of registration from the Commissioner of Insurance under NRS 690C.150 before selling one here. The Nevada Division of Insurance publishes a lookup, and checking a company against it takes a minute and is worth doing before a plan is written into a purchase contract.
Because it is a service contract, what is promised is exactly what the contract document says, so read the covered items, the caps, the exclusions and the waiting period before buying. This is general information and not legal or insurance advice; Kouzr does not sell warranties.
Questions people ask
Is a home warranty worth the money?
It depends on whether you could absorb a surprise repair. For an owner with a repair fund the arithmetic usually favors self-funding; for an owner without one, a warranty converts a possible large bill into a certain small one, which is what it is for.
How much is the service call fee?
Commonly $75 to $150 per dispatch, chosen when you buy the plan, and charged for each separate trade that comes out. Two failures in the same week are usually two fees rather than one.
Can I buy a home warranty after closing?
Yes, at any time. Most companies impose a waiting period of about thirty days before coverage begins, which stops somebody from buying a plan the week the air conditioning fails.