American Home Shield Reviews - Highlights, Coverage & More (2023)

Are you planning on buying home repair insurance? Do you want a reliable warranty that can help you repair or replace home appliances when needed? Then take time to do some legwork and read multiple home warranty service reviews before making your pick. AHS home warranty can be an option you might want to consider. They are regarded as one of the best home warranties companies for 2021. Read on to learn more about the company, its home warranty coverage, alternatives, pricing, etc.

Table of Contents:

• American Home Shield (AHS)—Overview and Highlights
• AHS Key Features and Services
• How Does It Work?
• How to File a Claim With American Home Shield?
• AHS Plans and Pricing
• Pros and Cons
• Customer Reviews and Online Ratings
• American Home Shield Alternatives
  • American Home Shield vs. Choice Home Warranty
  • American Home Shield vs. Select Home Warranty
  • American Home Shield vs. Cinch Home Warranty
• Conclusion
• FAQs

American Home Shield (AHS)—Overview and Highlights

What is American Home Shield?

Also known as AHS, American Home Shield is a company with fifty years of experience in the home warranties selling industry.

What is a home warranty, what does it cover?

Home warranties cover the costs for appliances or entire systems that need repairing or replacement. These are such repairments that are bound to happen as time passes. It is precisely these kinds of home warranties that are helping homeowners save hundreds of out-of-pocket dollars in damages, not to mention the hassle of finding a contractor to do the repairs.

Who is it Best For?

It is ideal for anyone that owns any kind of property: apartment, house, villa, etc. It is even convenient and much needed for real estate agencies, too. Since they have a lot on their hands while juggling with so many properties all at once. The AHS home warranty is of great value even to those with homeowners insurance policies.

Is it Worth It?

Yes. It is a worthwhile investment for homeowners in the USA, as it covers repairs and replacements on major appliances and systems around the house. In other words, a homeowners insurance policy only provides coverage for your home in events like theft or natural disaster. Still, the AHS home warranty focuses on keeping your appliances up and running to make your day-to-day living simple, comfortable, and accessible.

Is it Trustworthy?

Launched in 1971, AHS has been operating in the industry for nearly five decades. No wonder that American Home Shield warranty coverage is a preferred and top choice among homeowners nationwide, making them a trusted partner and one of the best home warranty companies in the market.

Currently, AHS has a customer base of nearly 2 million members and is growing.

Any Guarantee or Refund Policy?

You can cancel your AHS home service plan at any given time. Moreover, if you cancel the policy within the first month (during the first thirty days) of signing up, the company shall refund your contract fees. However, if you cancel after the first thirty days, a prorated amount will be refunded to you.

Awards and Recognitions

American Home Shield is an award-winning company. We would’ve been surprised if otherwise. After all, we’re speaking about an active, fifty-year-old company. The company is also enjoying an excellent BBB accreditation, and they also have another one by ConsumerAffairs.

Additionally, AHS is the winner of America’s Most Recommended Women’s Choice Award (2014-2020). And it doesn’t stop here. HomeWarrantyReviews.com has awarded it the Top-rated Home Warranty Awards (2015-2020).

Customer Support

American Home Shield offers round-the-clock customer support. Meaning, you can contact them 24/7 to file a claim online through the ‘MyAccount’ option. Or, you can also request any other kind of service from them, like an upgrade, or cancellation of your existing plan, etc.

Furthermore, they have separate phone lines for all call requests (one for sales and another one for cancellations). Therefore, you can quickly connect with their representatives.

Other ways of getting in touch with them are by emailing them on one of the below-designated email addresses:

However, as the company has independent contractors, it may limit the services to their business hours.

AHS Key Features and Services

What Does a Home Warranty Cover?

Regardless of how old your appliance may be, you can benefit from American Home Shield warranty coverage. AHS home warranty covers all the items that you include during the initial sign-up. On the plus side, you can include other items in the coverage, too (check their add-ons cover options).

Nonetheless, AHS separates them into two categories—systems and appliances. You can choose either one of the two categories or select a combo plan and enjoy warranties on items under both categories.

Check out the breakdown by category on what AHS home warranties cover:

Systems Covered: No money limit

• HVAC with ductwork
• Plumbing
• Water heaters
• Garbage disposals
• Instant cold and hot water dispensers
• Central vacuums
• Rekeying door locks
• Electrical
• Doorbells
• Smoke detectors
• Ceiling fans

Appliances Covered: For replacement/repair (not more than $3.000 an item)

• Built-in microwave ovens
• Trash compactors
• Free-standing ice makers
• Garage door openers
• Built-in food centers
• Refrigerators
• Ranges/ovens/cooktops
• Washers and dryers
• Dishwasher

Optional American Home Security Coverage Add-Ons

• Septic pump
• Well pump
• Roof leak repair coverage
• Swimming pool
• Hot tub
• Guesthouse

AHS Home Warranty— State Availability

The company offers home warranties across the country, in all 49 states except for Alaska.

American Home Shield warranty coverage by state

Does AHS offer any guarantee?

Yes, they do. American Home Shield offers a thirty-day workmanship guarantee on the appliances they’ve fixed for you. So, if you have any recurring problems with the device/appliance repaired by their technicians (during the first thirty days of repairment), AHS will have one to come back this time for free.

Does AHS require any inspection?

AHS doesn’t require any prior proof of inspection and maintenance.

What is the AHS Waiting Period?

After you purchase a warranty with AHS, you will have to wait thirty days before you can put it into use.

Any Complaint Resolution Program?

If the complaints are related to poor service quality offered by their technicians, and the same fails the repair, the policyholder shall get a free re-service.

How Does It Work?

What Makes American Home Shield Special? Why American Home Shield?

It is a customer-focused company committed to providing homeowners total home protection with comprehensive home appliances and systems coverage like no other. Not to mention the fact that this home warranty has a five-decade-long experience in this industry—that’s big in a market so competitive like this one.

Furthermore, AHS helps homeowners keep their homes running smoothly, all year round and all the time. Apart from extensive coverage, the power to customize plans takes their service experience to a whole new level. It makes it simple for customers to find the best home warranty according to their needs.

How to File a Claim With American Home Shield?

When browsing through different home warranty service reviews, we realized that the AHS filling process isn’t that hard; on the contrary, their warranty underlines everything pretty clearly.

Nonetheless, we’d like to go through the process together with you, step-by-step. First things first, make sure you store the warranty papers in a safe place and one that you’ll remember too.

Step 1 – Check whether the AH warranty covers the broken appliance and its malfunction.

Step 2 – Once you confirm that, it’s time to give their team a call or file a claim via their online web form. If you are filling the claim via their web form, look for the ‘Request Service’ button, and press on it. They’ll ask you to give them more details about the problem you’re having.

Step 3 – Upon your request, the company will immediately assign a trained and qualified contractor to visit your home and diagnose the item.

Step 4 – The assigned professional will provide you with the best solution (repair or replacement) as needed making sure your system or appliance is up and running as usual.

The contractor may fix the problem right then and there, but this depends on multiple factors (how big the damage is, what kind of damage it is, whether he has the necessary tools/parts with him, etc).

Step 5 – Remember that you need to pay a deductible for the repair visit you requested. The fee could be one of these three: $75, $100, $125. This is something AHS refers to as Trade Service Call Fee. It is not a one-time fee; You’ll pay for each request separately.

Step 6 – As soon as the contractor’s job is done, they will send an invoice to AHS and get paid for the repair/job they’ve done.

Step 7 – In most cases, you’ll have someone from American Home Shield to make a follow-up regarding the issue, just to make sure all’s good and fixed.

Step 8 – However, you can always use American Home Shield Login to check your request status.

AHS Pricing and Plans

American Home Shield offers budget-friendly plans to accommodate all homeowner’s necessities. Starting from only $39.99 a month, AHS offers three different affordable plans suited for every budget. Plus, you can customize plans too. Before making an informed choice, the best thing is to evaluate and compare the plans given below. And remember that the cost of a home warranty depends on the plan and add-ons you choose.

Though there aren’t any specific plan prices on their website, they still state that generally, the prices don’t exceed more than $500-$700 a year.

Each of the three plans mentioned above can be tailor-suited to fit the customer’s needs with AHS’s add-on coverage; thus, you can create your AHS flex plan. If you want to get add-ons, you can benefit from the extended coverage for an extra $50-$258.

The following are optional add-ons that you can include in the AHS plan you decide to purchase:

• Electronics Plan (at present, this add-on isn’t available in CA)
• Guest Unit (covers guest units no more than 750-square-feet)
• Pools and Inground Spas
• Septic Pump
• Well Pump
• Roof Leak Repairs (this is included only in the Shield Platinum plan)

Does It Have Any Free Trial Period?

Unfortunately, there is no free trial period. But they do offer a full-amount refund for the first thirty days of signing up. So, if you wish to cancel, you can do so easily without any charges.

Are There Any American Home Shield Promotions/Deals?

The company offers various discounts like:

• Refer a Friend program rewards customers with an Amazon gift card of $25 for each referred friend.
• Discounted Air Filters and discounts on retail prices.
• A $50 NAR (National Association of Realtors) Discount.
• $50 Multiple Property Discount.

Pros and Cons

Customer Reviews and Online Ratings

As we always say, no review is complete without verified customer reviews/comments and ratings by various well-known rating sites.

Online Ratings

Customer Reviews

The screenshots are reviews from verified customers left on ConsumerAffairs and Trustpilot.

Negative Customer Reviews

The screenshots are reviews from verified customers left on ConsumerAffairs, Trustpilot, and BBB.

American Home Shield Alternatives

This section will let you have a sneak peek into some of AHS’s best alternatives out there on the market today. For that purpose, our top choices include Choice Home Warranty, Select Home Warranty, and Cinch Home Warranty.

Let’s compare AHS with its competitors to determine which policy service provider is better:

American Home Shield (AHS) vs. Choice Home Warranty (CHW)

Although both companies offer equally good home warranties, American Home Shield is a better option if you want comprehensive coverage. This means if you are looking for a plan that covers repairs and replacements for maximum and all major systems and appliances around your home, AHS policy is a good choice. American Home Shield offers extensive coverage with add-ons.

On the other hand, Choice Home Warranty may be best suited for those tight on budget but who want to benefit from home warranties. The company offers two plans (Basic and Total) that may cost homeowners between $36 and $44 every month. Compared to American Home Shield plans that start at $39+.

Besides this, the Choice Home Warranty service fee is also less than AHS’s. They charge from $60-$85, while AHS charges from $75-$125.

American Home Shield (AHS) vs. Select Home Warranty (SHW)

When comparing the two, we have a clear winner—AHS. American Home Shield has 50 years of experience, while Select Home Warranty has been around for more or less 9 years. Also, AHS is available in 49 states, and SHW covers only 46 states (They don’t offer coverage to New York, Nevada, Washington, and Wisconsin).

American Home Shield (AHS) vs. Cinch Home Warranty (CHW)

Cinch Home Warranty, when compared to AHS, takes the lead in service delivery. The company claims to offer quick repairs in as little as two hours after the claim is made (if contacted during working hours). It is a well-established company serving for around 43 years now.

However, AHS might be a better option for those living in Hawaii because Cinch Home Warranty doesn’t step foot there. Also, American Home Shield has a lower trade service fee than Clinch Home Warranty. CHW trade service fee starts from $100-$150, which is above the industry average.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that AHS home warranty is a good option for homeowners who want flexible plans at affordable pricing. Home warranties by American Home Shield can help you repair and replace appliances and systems around your house ensuring they always function to their optimal level.

The AHS policy is pretty straightforward, with no hidden agendas. Of course, as with any other policy, no matter what it is about, make sure you read the fine print, too, before you agree on anything.

However, we still advise homeowners to spend some time researching their end. Read multiple home warranty service reviews to evaluate your options and choices available in the market.