This particular company is probably worth avoiding even more than most home warranty companies. It is important to understand that a home warranty is not the same as homeowner’s insurance. In fact, warranties exclude coverage on any damage that is already covered by the homeowner’s insurance. Also, they are not designed to cover pre-existing conditions or to remedy building code violations, and they are usually short term agreements only lasting a year.
A Lesson in What to Consider
Meritage should receive some credit for being more transparent than most companies about what they do not cover upfront on their website. Most companies tend to misdirect the potential customer with the very specific lists of appliances and systems that their warranties cover. Meritage actually provides a list of materials and issues that they will not cover on their website. It is very instructive to read the list of exclusions: it gives a real sense of how little these warranties will save in the moment. If a plumbing leak destroys your ceiling, they only fix the plumbing. They also require you to pay a service fee every time the technician or service provider visits. The fee is payable to the service provider regardless of whether a repair or replacement takes place or not.
The Service Agreement is Rife with Exclusions and Limits
Meritage exclusion list includes paint, grout, caulk, sheetrock, and seven other items. It is hard to imagine a large repair that would involve many of the excluded materials. The warranty will not remove or dispose of anything that they decide to replace. The quality of service seems to vary radically across systems, since the quality of their service providers seems vary dramatically. Reading the customer ratings of these services across companies make it obvious that where you are matters considerably as to the value of their service