Best Home Warranties in Virginia

In Virginia, most home warranties include a list of coverage items, but some also allow for more customization. You can save a lot of time and money down the road by choosing a less expensive plan that only covers the things that are absolutely crucial to you and your home. However, this kind of limited coverage may be less than helpful over the long term. It’s hard to predict what will go wrong in your home, and a home warranty with the wrong coverage isn’t of much use.

Pool coverage is almost always an add-on option if it’s available.

Some home warranty companies in Virginia also cap how much they’re willing to pay for a claim, which can be an issue if repairs add up quickly. For example, if you live in an expensive city like Great Falls or McLean, you might want to find a plan that offers higher coverage limits.

Virginia also has all types of weather, ranging from hot and humid summers to cool and dry winters. As such, your home needs to be able to withstand the changing seasons. Environmental systems, like heating and air conditioning, can break down when overworked, so it’s a good idea to make sure those systems are covered.

Many Virginians also deal with water problems in their home, especially in coastal cities like Norfolk and Hampton. While a home warranty won’t keep you from paying to fix flood or storm damage (that’s what insurance is for), you may want warranty coverage for your sump pump or roof if you expect recurring issues with water intrusion.

In Virginia, home warranty companies are regulated by the Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs (OCRP), which is part of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). Many other states put their respective departments of insurance in charge of these regulations.

Here are two regulations to keep in mind regarding home warranties in Virginia:

• All home warranty companies in Virginia must be registered prior to offering service, and for added support and oversight, these companies are required to re-register every year by July 1.
• Home warranty companies in Virginia are also required to hold aside a certain amount of money in a corporate surety to help demonstrate financial responsibility.

If you end up having an issue with your home warranty provider that you can’t resolve, consider filling out a report with the OCRP for help.

» MORE: Does a home warranty cover pest control?

ConsumerAffairs carefully collects in-depth, verified reviews to tell each customer’s experience with a company. We believe customer experiences are a crucial indicator when evaluating companies, so these reviews are a significant factor when we make our top picks.

To choose the top home warranty companies in Virginia, we started with the 26 popular providers listed in our main home warranty guide. First, we narrowed it down to the ones available in Virginia. We then weighted several key features to get our final rankings:

• Coverage options: We broke down each company’s home warranty plans to ensure they offer multiple coverage options to fit a variety of needs.
• Plan flexibility: Customizing a plan can tailor it to your needs and help you save money so you don’t pay for coverage you don’t need. We checked to see what customization options each company offers, including the ability to select a service fee and the number and cost of add-on coverages.
• Cost: Costs for home warranty plans vary based on the size of the home and the type of coverage, but we confirmed our top picks’ prices are competitive in the home warranty industry.
• Service call fee: We looked at the service fee each company charged to send a technician to your house to ensure our top picks are in line with industry standards.

Virginia has some quirks when it comes to buying a home warranty, but overall, the process in the Old Dominion is much like it is anywhere else. To learn more about home warranty companies, check out our home warranty buyers guide or our article on home warranty coverage.