Home warranties and vehicle service contracts, checked against real regulation — not a marketing page
A home warranty or vehicle service contract is not insurance. It's a contract, regulated state by state in the US and province by province in Canada, sold in an industry whose single most common complaint is a claim denied over fine print almost no one reads before signing. We check real providers against the actual licensing rules and disclosure requirements that apply, and report what we find honestly — no paid rankings, no pay-to-list badge.
Record snapshot
- Records checked33
- Full reviews completed0
- Currently listed (passing)0
- Records checked, US / Canada18 / 15
Records checked: every provider whose public records we have started checking against our standard, even where some points could not be confirmed. Full reviews completed: providers where every applicable point was checked and ended as pass, fail or not applicable, with none unknown and none on hold. Listed (passing) means a full review completed with every applicable point passing, on independent, primary-source evidence.
No paid placements, no pay-to-list badge — ever.
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All guides →United States
How home warranties actually work
It's a service contract, not insurance — and whether it's regulated like one depends entirely on which state you're in.
Canada
How home warranties work in Canada
Ontario's Tarion and similar provincial programs are not the same thing as a purchased home-systems warranty — the two get confused constantly.
Auto
Extended warranty vs. manufacturer warranty
An "extended warranty" is legally a service contract, not a warranty at all — the FTC says so directly, and it changes who's actually on the hook.
Where we are right now
Check a provider →The standard is published and the Register is open — 33 provider records checked across the US and Canada so far, 0 of them with a full review completed, and none yet listed as passing — see Updates for a dated record of everything that changes from here.
- Records checked
- 33
- Full reviews completed
- 0
- Providers listed (passing)
- 0
- Paid placements
- 0, by policy
What that means in practice
- No paid rankings
- Every finding checked against a regulator's own record, not a provider's claim
- A failing verdict never named — only a passing one
- No paid "verified provider" badge, at any price
One email when the Register opens
A new state or provincial deep-dive, and a heads-up the day the first provider actually clears the standard — 33 records checked so far, 0 full reviews completed and none listed yet, because the bar is real. No launch hype, no affiliate blasts, unsubscribe in one click.
Recently updated
All updates →October 15, 2026
What a home warranty service fee is and how to compare it
This page explains what a home warranty service fee is and how to compare it between contracts.
October 15, 2026
Florida home warranty cancellation rights
This page covers Florida only. It explains the cancellation and refund rules that Florida's home warranty statute sets.
October 9, 2026
2 new US guides: North Dakota's property service contract exemption, and what a written warranty must disclose
A North Dakota guide sets out Century Code § 9-01-21, which says a property service contract is not subject to the insurance title, alongside § 26.1-40-18, which requires an insurance policy behind automobile warranty and service contracts. A federal guide lists the nine items 16 C.F.R. § 701.3 requires in a written consumer product warranty. Each is based on the cited primary sources and is general information rather than advice.