Whether you live near the sandy beaches of Ocean City or recently bought a new home in Baltimore, homeownership comes with major responsibilities. Over time, your home’s major systems and appliances may stop working due to normal wear and tear. A home warranty protects you from unexpected repair or replacement costs caused by an appliance or system breakdown.
The This Old House Reviews Team researched and compared a variety of home warranty providers to find the best home warranty companies in the United States and selected the top providers in Maryland.
Maryland’s Top 4 Home Warranty Companies
The highest-rated Maryland home warranty companies include the following:
- Liberty Home Guard: Best Customer Ratings
- American Home Shield: Best Coverage Caps
- Select Home Warranty: Best Value
- First American Home Warranty: Best Appliance Coverage
Annual Home Warranty Cost Calculator
Our team created a calculator to break down the estimated annual cost of owning a home warranty. Enter your monthly premium, service call fee, and estimated number of claims to see your projected annual cost. It’s best to request a quote directly from one of our recommended providers, as annual costs and service fees vary between them.
Lifespan and repair cost data sourced from InterNACHI and Home Depot
Liberty Home Guard
Liberty Home Guard (LHG) is an excellent choice for homeowners who want coverage for unique items outside the typical scope of a home warranty policy. With its 38 add-on options, you can customize coverage to meet your home’s specific needs. Alongside its extensive add-on coverage, LHG provides a 60-day workmanship guarantee.
Pros and Cons
✔ Offers 38 add-on options, including saltwater pools, reverse osmosis systems, and lawn sprinkler systems
✔ Provides access to customer service representatives via a live-chat feature
✔ Extends a 60-day workmanship guarantee
✘ Shows inconsistency around assigned service call fees
Plans and Pricing
Liberty Home Guard offers three plan options: Appliance Guard, Systems Guard, and Total Home Guard. Appliance Guard covers essential appliances, such as your clothes washer, clothes dryer, and refrigerator. Systems Guard covers major built-in systems, including your air conditioning, ductwork, and water heater. Total Home Guard combines the coverage of the two other plans, making it LHG’s most comprehensive plan.
Liberty Home Guard offers an unparalleled suite of add-on options:
LHG assigns a service call fee to your account based on your add-ons, plan, and the location of your home. The service call fee costs between $65 and $125 per claim.
Here’s Liberty Home Guard’s monthly prices per plan:
- Appliance Guard: $49.99 per month
- Systems Guard: $54.99 per month
- Total Home Guard: $59.99 per month
To request a custom quote, call 866-452-9107 or use Liberty Home Guard’s online quote tool.
Learn more: Liberty Home Guard Review
American Home Shield
American Home Shield (AHS) offers flexible coverage plans for those who want control over their monthly premium. AHS provides three coverage plans and three service call fees, plus it offers generous coverage caps per covered item. AHS also offers coverage for rust, sediment, and corrosion damage and items with undetectable pre-existing conditions.
Pros and Cons
✔ Upholds solid reputation due to over 50 years serving the home warranty industry
✔ Offers additional coverage for electronics
✔ Allows you to set your own service call fee
✘ Doesn’t allow you to choose your own service provider
Plans and Pricing
AHS offers three plan options: ShieldPlatinum™, ShieldGold™, and ShieldSilver™. The ShieldSilver plan is American Home Shield’s most basic plan, covering 14 important home systems. The ShieldGold is its mid-tier plan, covering an additional nine appliances. The ShieldPlatinum plan is its most comprehensive coverage plan, covering 23 essential systems and appliances.
Additionally, American Home Shield allows you to add coverage for any of the following appliances and systems: Pool/spa, well pump, septic pump, guest unit under 750 square feet, additional electronics coverage
You can expect to pay between $39 and $110 per month for an American Home Shield plan. Like other home warranty companies in Maryland, American Home Shield charges customers a service fee whenever you file a claim. AHS allows customers to choose between $75 and $125. The higher the service fee you choose, the lower your monthly premium.
Learn more: American Home Shield Review
Select Home Warranty
Select Home Warranty provides one of the most cost-effective home warranties in Maryland. This company charges low monthly premiums, service call fees, and includes free roof coverage in each plan. In addition, Select offers generous HVAC coverage within its affordable systems plan, for those who only need HVAC coverage.
Pros and Cons
✔ Offers lower service call fees compared to other providers
✔ Includes complementary two months of coverage for new customers
✔ Provides 24/7 customer service
✘ Charges a $75 cancellation fee
✘ Limits appliance and add-on coverage caps
Plans and Pricing
Customers can choose from Select’s three affordable plans—Bronze Care, Gold Care, and Platinum Care. Gold Care is for systems, Bronze Care is for appliances, and Platinum Care is for both. Select pairs each plan with a $400 roof-leak repair limit, plus it extends a 30-day workmanship guarantee.
You can get coverage for more areas of your home with Select’s add-ons, including ones for these items: Plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, switches and outlets, pool and spa equipment, well pump
Select charges a $75 service call fee every time you request service.
Here’s the pricing for each Select Home Warranty plan:
- Bronze Care: $44.42 per month
- Gold Care: $44.42 per month
- Platinum Care: $47.75 per month
Learn more: Select Home Warranty Review
First American Home Warranty
First American Home Warranty is close to American Home Shield in terms of experience with 35 years in the home warranty industry. The company offers three plans, flexible service call fees, and generous appliance and home system coverage caps. In addition, First American bundles the First American Advantage upgrade with its Essential and Premium plans, which covers appliance installation and removal fees.
Pros and Cons
✔ Provides generous coverage caps for appliances and home systems
✔ Includes coverage for items regardless of age
✔ Extends over 35 years of experience in the home warranty industry
✘ Excludes air conditioning coverage from Starter Plan
Plans and Pricing
First American provides three coverage options: The Starter Plan, Essential Plan, and Premium Plan. The Starter and Essential plans include coverage for a mix of essential systems and appliance, plus a $3,500 coverage limit per appliance. The Premium Plan increases the appliance limit to $7,000 per covered appliance. It also adds coverage for additional home items, such as instant hot water dispensers.
If you want more coverage, you have these add-on options: Additional refrigeration, central air conditioning system, HVAC tune-up, limited roof-leak, pool and spa equipment, septic system/pumping, water softeners, and well pumps.
The service fee for First American Home Warranty ranges from $75, $100, and $125 per visit. Selecting a higher service call fee lowers your monthly premium and vice versa.
Here is the pricing information for First American Home Warranty coverage:
- Starter Plan: $47–$67 per month
- Essential Plan: $57–$72 per month
- Premium Plan: $72–$87 per month
Learn more: First American Home Warranty Review
Our Conclusion
The This Old House Reviews Team recommends every provider in this article for Maryland residents. We recommend Liberty Home Guard due to its responsive customer service team and a long list of add-on options. American Home Shield provides comprehensive policies with generous coverage caps, and Select Home Warranty is also worth considering due to its budget-friendly plans that include limited roof-leak coverage.
Plan pricing varies based on where you live, the square footage of your home, and the type of coverage you select. Therefore, we recommend getting quotes from three different providers so you can compare coverage and select a plan that falls within your budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team backs up our home warranty ratings and recommendations with a detailed rating methodology to objectively score each provider. We conduct research by speaking with company representatives, requesting quotes, analyzing sample contracts from each company, and conducting focus groups and consumer surveys. We then score each provider against our review standards for coverage, value, trustworthiness and transparency, availability, and customer service to arrive at a final score out of 100.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.