Best Home Warranties in Wisconsin

Home warranties can help cover the costs of unexpected breakdowns of your major systems and appliances. Our research team has analyzed 26 different home warranty companies to find the best coverage for you. By comparing customer ratings and reviews, coverage limits, prices and available plans, our team chose two companies that offer the best plans for your money.

Wisconsin has freezing winters with lots of snow and hot, humid summers with heavy storms. These harsh seasonal conditions can lead to more wear and tear on your systems and appliances, causing a costly repair bill, but a home warranty may help.

Home warranties help cover the cost of repairs or replacements on systems and appliances when they break down due to normal wear and tear. In Wisconsin, freezing temperatures can cause your pipes to burst, and the summer heat can overwork your air conditioner.

Although home warranties can help with unexpected repairs, it’s important to remember that most plans have coverage caps and exclusions. This means that the company won’t cover some things and will only pay up to a certain amount for parts and repairs. Double-check your contract before signing up to make sure you're getting the coverage you expect.

In Wisconsin, home warranties are regulated by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). The DATCP makes sure that home warranty companies follow fair practices and have clear, understandable contracts to protect consumers. Companies must also be able to show that they have enough money to pay for potential claims with financial records. These regulations help homeowners receive clear and reliable coverage so they know what they are signing up for.

Wisconsin has more thorough regulations for home warranties than many other states. Because of these regulations, home warranty companies must ensure:

• You will not have to do anything unreasonable to get warranty service
• If a problem is reported and not fixed during the warranty term, the company must fix it even if the coverage period ends
• If necessary, a breakdown will be repaired or replaced within a reasonable time, including removal and reinstallation
• That contracts are clear and easy to understand
• Contracts include exclusions, limitations and coverage caps

In Wisconsin, before home warranty providers can sell warranties in the state, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection also requires that they must:

• Submit all home warranty plans to the state commissioner for review
• Pay an application fee to submit plans
• Name the commissioner as the agent for the service of process on the warranty plan
• Receive a limited certificate of insurance authority
• Provide a deposit of securities of at least $50,000 for future claims

The 2011 Wisconsin Act 226 also requires home warranty companies to pay $400 to get licensed before selling warranties in Wisconsin. After the first year, companies have to pay $100 to renew their license annually.

Additionally, to protect consumers, home warranty providers must give a 60-day written notice and a reasonable refund if they decide to terminate the contract.

If you want to file a complaint or report a fraudulent home warranty company, you can do so on the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection website or over the phone.

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 selecting our top picks.

To choose the top home warranty companies in Wisconsin, we started with the 26 popular providers listed in our main home warranty guide. First, we narrowed it down to the ones available in Wisconsin. 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 offered 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 by not paying for coverage you don’t need. We checked to see what customization options each company offered, 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 coverage selected, but we confirmed our top picks’ prices were 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 were in line with industry standards.