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First American Residence Guarantee stands out for its complete plans, particularly its starter plan which covers key home equipment and techniques at a aggressive worth, which makes it one in all our best home warranty companies.
Under, we overview First American Residence Guarantee, together with its protection, pricing, availability and customary buyer complaints. We additionally embrace side-by-side comparisons with different corporations so you can also make an knowledgeable choice when selecting a house guarantee.
Desk of Contents
First American Residence Guarantee overview
Based in 1984, First American Home Warranty (FAHW) has over 35 years of expertise within the residence guarantee trade, offering plans that cowl the price of repairing or changing residence techniques and home equipment of any age. Though the corporate is obtainable in solely 35 states, it options an intensive community of service suppliers.
- Flexibility to create a customized service bundle
- Covers improper installations and code violations
- Protection for rental and actual property properties
- Out there in solely 35 states
- No systems-only plan
- Roof leak protection prices further
First American Residence Guarantee plans
A home warranty offers protection for lined home equipment and residential techniques once they break as a consequence of regular put on and tear. This kind of service contract can prevent cash in out-of-pocket bills and offers peace of thoughts in opposition to unexpected malfunctions involving main residence objects like fridges or air conditioners.
First American Residence Guarantee gives three residence guarantee plans and allows you to select a service price of $75, $100 or $125. The plans are:
- Starter Plan
- Important Plan
- Premium Plan
The Starter Plan is probably the most fundamental plan, with protection for under three main residence techniques (plumbing, electrical and heating) and some kitchen home equipment. The Important Plan covers the identical objects because the Starter Plan plus garments washers and dryers, water heaters, air con techniques and storage door openers. The Premium Plan is probably the most complete plan and the one one that features protection for luxurious home equipment, water dispensers and central vacuums.
Plans can be found for single-family residential properties (owned or rented), multi-units, and visitor homes. As with most residence warranties, First American doesn’t cowl pre-existing circumstances and has a 30-day ready interval for protection to begin. You could, nonetheless, select a distinct begin date to your coverage as much as 60 days from the acquisition date.
First American Residence Guarantee protection
Under are all three First American plans and the objects that every cowl:
Starter Plan
(Begins round $42/month or $480/yr*)
Important Plan
(Begins round $52/month or $600/yr*)
Premium Plan
(Begins round $67/month or $780/yr*)
- Plumbing system
- Plumbing stoppages
- Bathroom tanks, bowls and mechanisms
- Electrical system
- Heating system
- Ductwork
- Refrigerant
- Dishwasher
- Kitchen fridge
- Kitchen vary hood
- Microwave oven (built-in solely)
- Oven, vary, cooktop
All lined objects within the Begin Plan, plus:
- Garments washer
- Garments dryer
- Trash compactor
- Water heater
- Followers (Attic, exhaust, ceiling, entire home)
- Storage door opener
- Air con
- Mini-split ductless techniques
- Concrete encasement
- HVAC lifting gear
- Improper installations or modifications
- Permits and code violations
- Refrigerant recapture, reclaim and disposal
All lined objects within the Starter and Important Plan, plus:
- Rubbish disposal
- Hose bibbs
- Set up floor stage cleanout
- Instantaneous scorching water dispenser
- Bathe head and bathe arm
- Full storage door system, together with springs, hinges and transmitters
- Taps
- Central vacuum system
- Window AC items
- Registers, grills, filters
Non-compulsory add ons
First American Residence Guarantee gives elective protection for the next objects:
- Properly pump
- Spa gear
- Pool gear
- HVAC tune-up
- Septic system
- Septic tank pumping
- Extra fridges
- Water softener
- Restricted roof leak
- Central air con
First American Residence Guarantee additionally gives merchandise for landlords, actual property buyers and householders within the course of of shopping for or promoting a house.
First American Residence Guarantee protection limits
Protection limits, or protection caps, are the utmost quantity a house guarantee firm can pay you for repairing or changing a selected residence equipment or system.
First American Residence Guarantee’s protection caps can differ relying on the bought service contract and the kind of guarantee declare you make. For example, First American covers as much as $3,500 per equipment with the Starter Plan and Important Plan, whereas the Premium Plan has a $7,000 restrict.
In case your equipment’s substitute or restore exceeds the protection cap, you‘d should pay the distinction out of pocket.
First American Residence Guarantee protection limits embrace:
$3,500 per equipment (Starter and Important)
$7,000 (Premium Plan)
$3,500 per equipment (Starter and Important)
$7,000 (Premium Plan)
As much as $500 (Important Plan)
As much as $1,000 (Premium Plan)
Bathroom tanks, bowls and mechanisms
As much as $600 per prevalence
As much as $500 (Important Plan)
As much as $1,500 (Premium plan)
What First American Residence Guarantee doesn’t cowl
Not the whole lot is roofed below the First American Residence Guarantee plans. The corporate does have exclusions for:
- Beauty points, recognized pre-existing circumstances or manufacturing unit defects
- Routine tune-ups or upkeep
- Injury from pure disasters — hearth, flood, smoke, lighting, earthquake or storms
- Alternative of things with poisonous supplies like mould, mildew, and asbestos
- Repairs or substitute on account of lacking components
- Points introduced by neglect, misuse, or poor upkeep
- Injury as a consequence of wooden rot (i.e. from a damaged pipe below the sink)
- Stoppages brought on by roots, collapsed or damaged traces exterior the property basis
For extra info on what objects are usually not lined you'll be able to examine First American Home Warranty sample contract.
First American Residence Guarantee availability
State availability
First American Residence Guarantee is obtainable in 35 states within the US, excluding:
- Alaska
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Wisconsin
Contact info
To request a guaranty service you'll be able to sign up by way of the web buyer portal and fill out a service request or you'll be able to contact a First American Residence Guarantee consultant by calling 800-992-3400.
All cancellations should be submitted by e-mail to cancellationsupport@firstam.com or requested by telephone at 800-327-9292 ext. 7521.
For different companies you'll be able to name the next telephone numbers:
Person expertise
First American’s web site gives complete details about its plans and protection choices. Like most residence guarantee corporations, it permits you to request a free quote on-line and evaluate its plans facet by facet.
When you turn into a consumer, you'll be able to place a declare and handle it on-line by way of the client portal, the place you'll be able to maintain observe of your declare standing and historical past.
First American’s response time is usually 48 hours. That is the time it may possibly take for a service supplier to contact you after submitting a declare. In accordance with the corporate, claims must be dispatched inside 4 hours after affirmation of protection if acquired throughout working hours Monday by way of Friday.
If no service supplier is instantly accessible after you contact customer support, First American might authorize using an out-of-network supplier and reimburse you the associated fee as much as the licensed quantity. Data on the reimbursement course of might be discovered in your service contract.
First American Residence Guarantee’s credentials
Regulatory or authorized actions
As of this writing, we discovered a lawsuit filed in July 2022 alleging violation of the Phone Client Safety Act (TCPA).
We additionally discovered a category motion criticism filed in opposition to First American residence Guarantee in October 2013 claiming the corporate refused to make well timed repairs, wrongfully denied claims and contracted substandard service suppliers. Nonetheless, the claims had been dismissed.
Though we all the time attempt to embrace correct and up-to-date info on regulatory and authorized actions, this info is probably not full or totally updated. We suggest you do your individual analysis as nicely.
First American Residence Guarantee’s buyer satisfaction
Third-party scores
- Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB): 1.78 out of 5 star score common based mostly on 1,890 buyer evaluations.
Buyer complaints
First American Residence Guarantee has been accredited by the BBB for the reason that yr 2000, and at the moment holds a B score.
On the time of publishing, the corporate had a complete of 4,444 complaints closed within the final three years, out of which 1,231 had been closed within the final 12 months.
Some widespread complaints we discovered in opposition to First American Residence Guarantee should do with:
- Delayed responses for service requests
- Points with fulfilling claims or getting authorization for replacements
- Uncomplete repairs
- Being unable to succeed in out or observe up service standing with contractors
- Points getting reimbursements
The analysis above relies on information that was accessible on the time of publication.
First American Residence Guarantee comparisons
First American Residence Guarantee plans supply complete protection and pretty excessive protection caps, nonetheless it isn’t accessible in all 50 states. As well as, First American solely gives roof leak protection as an add-on, that means you must pay further for a service that some corporations usually embrace of their plans.
Learn on to see how First American compares to different residence guarantee corporations within the trade: American Residence Protect and Previous Republic Residence Safety.
First American Residence Guarantee vs. American Residence Protect
American Residence Protect (AHS) offers related residence guarantee companies to First American Residence Guarantee. Each corporations’ plans cowl a mixture of techniques and home equipment with some variations in protection limits.
For example, American Residence Protect gives larger protection caps as much as $5,000 for HVAC techniques, whereas First American covers a most of $1,500. The AHS premium plan, ShieldPlatinum, additionally consists of protection for roof leak as much as $1,000. This service is barely accessible with First American for those who add it to your contract at an extra month-to-month cost.
Nonetheless, First American gives larger protection limits for home equipment than American Residence Protect. First American’s lower-tier plans — the Starter Plan and Important Plan— cowl as much as $3,500 per equipment and as much as $7,000 for those who select the Premium Plan. AHS, however, covers a most of $2,000 for its two lower-tier plans, and as much as $4,000 for premium clients.
A consideration about First American is that it’s solely accessible in 35 states, whereas American Residence Protect serves all states besides Hawaii and Alaska.
Service Name Payment
(or deductible)
First American Residence Guarantee
$42 - $82*
$75, $100, $125
Learn the complete American Home Shield review
First American Residence Guarantee vs. Previous Republic Residence Safety
Much like First American Residence Guarantee, Previous Republic Residence Safety gives three totally different plans that cowl a mixture of each home equipment and residential techniques. Previous Republic additionally options significantly larger protection limits, particularly for patrons who buy its Elite plan which doubles the protection quantity for kitchen home equipment and garments washers and dryers.
Previous Republic Residence Safety plans are: Fundamental, Deluxe and Elite.
The Fundamental plan consists of protection for heating, electrical, plumbing, kitchen home equipment, storage door opener, central vacuum and rekeying companies.
The Deluxe plan covers the identical objects because the Fundamental plan plus air con, washer and dryer, and full storage door system, together with springs, hinges, key pads and transmitters.
The Elite plan consists of all objects plus protection for improper installations, code violations, haul away and permits; as well as, it doubles protection for home equipment to as much as $7,000 per equipment and per plan time period.
Prospects with the Fundamental and Deluxe plan get a most protection restrict of $3,500 per equipment along with the utmost protection of $6,500 for heating techniques and air conditioners.
Nonetheless, Previous Republic is obtainable in fewer states than First American, servicing solely 32 states. Moreover, its plans are considerably dearer and have larger service charges of $100 and $125, whereas First American’s service price begins at $75.
Service Name Payment
(or deductible)
First American Residence Guarantee
$42 - $82*
Previous Republic Residence Safety
Learn the complete Old Republic Home Protection review
Discover different residence guarantee choices
Try our evaluations for different residence guarantee corporations you'll be able to think about:
First American Residence Guarantee Residence Guarantee FAQs
What's First American Residence Guarantee?
First American Residence Guarantee is a house guarantee firm that provides annual service contracts that cowl residence home equipment and techniques from surprising breakdowns requiring restore or substitute.
What does First American Residence Guarantee cowl?
First American Residence Guarantee plans cowl a mixture of residence techniques and home equipment, together with HVAC, kitchen home equipment, electrical techniques, water heaters, storage door openers and different main residence objects.
The right way to cancel First American Residence Guarantee?
First American offers a 30-day overview interval throughout which you'll cancel your contract for a full refund. After this era, you could be entitled to a prorated refund much less a $50 administrative price.
How a lot does First American Residence Guarantee price?
First American Residence Guarantee has service name charges of $75, $100 and $125. The Starter Plan begins at round $42 per thirty days, the Important Plan at $52 and the Premium plan prices about $67 per thirty days. Remember that pricing varies relying on the service price you select. It may additionally differ relying in your location.
How lengthy has First American Residence Guarantee been in enterprise?
First American Residence Guarantee has been in enterprise for over 35 years (since 1984).
How we evaluated First American Residence Guarantee
We evaluated First American Residence Guarantee based mostly on publicly accessible info. Our overview was based mostly on the next elements:
- Providers provided: We evaluated the corporate’s plans, protection caps and limitations, and in contrast them with these from comparable corporations.
- Value: We in contrast pricing with the protection provided to find out cost-effectiveness, and in contrast it to different residence guarantee suppliers.
- Authorized actions: We researched any authorized or regulatory actions filed in opposition to First American Residence Guarantee to evaluate the corporate's repute and habits.
- Customer support: We reviewed buyer complaints and evaluations on websites just like the BBB, and accessible info from shopper advocacy businesses just like the Bureau of Client Safety.
Abstract of Cash’s First American Residence Guarantee Overview
First American Home Warranty gives three tiers of residence guarantee plans with aggressive pricing when in comparison with different corporations. Its plans can be found for single-family items in addition to for rental and actual property properties.
First American additionally stands out due to its pretty excessive protection limits for home equipment, together with as much as $3,500 for patrons with the Starter Plan and Important Plan and as much as $7,000 with its Premium Plan. Nonetheless, the corporate is at the moment accessible in solely 35 states.
Make sure that to do your individual analysis and evaluate between residence guarantee suppliers earlier than deciding whether or not First American Residence Guarantee gives the protection you want.
