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American Home Shield vs. First Premier Home Warranty

Compare coverage, cost and reviews

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Written by Matt Zane
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Edited by Jon Bortin

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Personalized home warranties from multiple providers

American Home Shield and First Premier Home Warranty are two major home warranty companies. Both offer comprehensive coverage plans designed to safeguard your home's essential systems and appliances.

We recommend American Home Shield to homeowners who want a basic low-cost plan. With higher coverage ceilings than most home warranty companies, there’s no need to worry that choosing a low-cost plan from American Home Shield will result in poor coverage.

First Premier Home Warranty has lower service fees. It also offers its highest-tier plan at a lower cost than American Home Shield. This makes First Premier a better choice for buyers looking for the most comprehensive coverage.

American Home Shield vs. First Premier Home Warranty plans and pricing

Home warranty companies generally offer varying levels of coverage, but how companies separate their plans can be very different. Many companies split up coverage for appliances and systems.

Home warranty plans can be divided into three categories:

  • Appliance plans cover common home appliances, including washers, ovens and refrigerators. Most appliance plans do not cover home electronics, including televisions, but some companies offer electronics coverage for an additional cost.
  • System plans typically include coverage for your home’s plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems.
  • Combo plans cover both systems and appliances, though not all combo plans provide the same level of coverage.
Take a look at what you want your plan to cover. If your appliances are new and covered under a manufacturer’s warranty, you can save money by choosing a plan that only covers your home’s systems.

Pricing for home warranty plans typically depends on your choice of service fee, which is your out-of-pocket cost when filing a claim. Choosing a lower service fee increases the plan's cost. If you don't expect to make many claims, a higher service fee might save you money overall.

Here's a breakdown of the cost of American Home Shield and First Premier Home Warranty plans based on the service fee you choose:

American Home Shield pricing

American Home Shield lets you choose a service fee of $100 or $125, which is what you pay when you file a claim. Choosing a higher service fee reduces the monthly cost of your plan.

First Premier Home Warranty pricing

You cannot choose your service fee when you sign up with First Premier Home Warranty; you’ll always pay $75 when filing a claim with the company. However, you can get a discount for paying annually rather than monthly:

  • Premier plan: $649.99 per year
  • Platinum plan: $749.99 per year

*Cost information is accurate as of the time of publishing. Price quotes used a Texas ZIP code; pricing may vary in other locations.

American Home Shield vs. First Premier Home Warranty coverage

American Home Shield and First Premier Home Warranty both offer a range of plans designed to protect your home's systems and appliances, but there are some notable differences in their coverage options.

American Home Shield’s least expensive plan, ShieldSilver, only covers systems, while ShieldGold and SheldPlatinum are combo plans that cover both systems and appliances.

First Premier Home Warranty offers two plans, both of which cover systems and appliances.

American Home Shield vs. First Premier Home Warranty add-ons

American Home Shield and First Premier Home Warranty also offer additional coverage options. These add-ons allow you to customize your home warranty coverage, ensuring that your plan includes protection for items that may not be included in the standard packages.

American Home Shield add-ons

American Home Shield offers six add-ons. See pricing for the most popular additional coverage items below.

First Premier Home Warranty add-ons

You can get coverage for up to 19 add-ons in addition to First Premier Home Warranty’s base plans. Here’s the monthly pricing for the most popular add-ons:

American Home Shield vs. First Premier Home Warranty reviews and ratings

We looked at thousands of reviews from real home warranty customers. Here’s what home warranty shoppers care about most:

  • Technicians: Reviewers often mention the quality of a company’s in-network technicians. This typically relates to how quickly and adequately technicians identify and resolve issues with a home’s systems and appliances.
  • Customer service: Being able to reach a representative easily and resolve account issues efficiently are the hallmarks of good customer service. Customer service reviews also frequently mention how knowledgeable and polite the company’s representatives are.
  • Claims handling: Reviews about claims handling usually revolve around two things: speed and convenience. When customers complain about a poor claims process, it often relates to a slow response time for home repairs or a complicated system for submitting claims.
  • Coverage: Reviewers who discuss coverage typically mention how well a home warranty company honors its contract (in the reviewer’s opinion). A denied claim or an unsatisfactory coverage limit frustrates customers and leads to poor reviews.

Below we break down what percentage of American Home Shield and First Premier Home Warranty customer reviews over the last year mentioning one these four important factors reflected a happy or satisfied customer. The closer a company is to a 100% satisfaction rate, the better it is in that area.

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