Buying A Home Warranty On A Modular Home? Why You Should Read The Fine Print
Posted on: 10 June 2017
A home warranty is not the same as insurance. Some people get the two confused. If you are buying a modular home, for example, and you are offered a home warranty, the home warranty should not be used in lieu of a homeowner's insurance. Read the fine print before you buy the warranty, too. Here is why.
Pre-Fabricated Modular Homes May Have Factory Defects
The reason why trailer home and modular home manufacturers offer an optional home warranty is that these homes are pre-fabricated in a factory. Anything made in a factory may have some factory defects. While the manufacturers do everything they can to make their products pass quality assurance testing and quality controls, something could always go wrong or fail at a much later date. This is why they offer a warranty on your modular home, and why you can refuse it if you want.
The Fine Print Alludes Only to Factory Defects
Home warranties for modular homes often cover just factory defects in construction, materials and assembly. This means that anything else that happens to your modular home is not covered by the home warranty. Your homeowner's insurance covers most everything else, including fire and storm damage, which is why you cannot go without homeowner's insurance and try to lean on your warranty.
The Fine Print Highlights the Length of the Warranty Too
Whereas homeowner's insurance is auto-renewed annually, the home warranty on your modular home has an end date. It may be one, two, three, five or ten years. Some of the best modular home manufacturers may give you twelve, fifteen, or twenty years, but such terms are rare as it is assumed that a modular home will have some natural wear and tear after that length of time. The warranty is rarely renewable, although some manufacturers will offer you an extended warranty if you purchase it prior to the expiration of the original warranty.
There Is No Coverage for Foundation or in Situ Plumbing and Electrical
The warranty only covers the modular home and its contents as it left the factory. It would be highly unusual for a modular home company to cover the foundation, basement, garage, electrical or plumbing that is in situ when the sections of your modular home are dropped on top or next to these features and then connected to them. That said, make sure you have excellent insurance so that the whole of your house is covered for major repairs and damages.
To learn more about home warranties check out a home warranty company like High Tech Home Warranties. They can answer any other questions you have about what you can have covered by a home warranty.
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