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Cinch Home Services Home Warranty Review
By Rebecca Parson MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Cinch Home Services, formerly Cross Country Home Services, is a home warranty company that’s been around for over 40 years.
A home warranty company covers many of the costs of homeownership that homeowners insurance doesn’t. While homeowners insurance covers catastrophic events like fires and floods, more common occurrences like a broken water heater, electrical system or even a kitchen drawer can add up quickly and are not covered by homeowners insurance.
Cinch offers three plans and a few additional coverage options. The company is popular with homeowners because it covers pre-existing conditions and rust- or corrosion-caused damage. Cinch offers a 180-day service guarantee, one of the home warranty industry’s best guarantees.
It can be hard to decide on home warranty coverage. Making the wrong choice could prove expensive if an extensive repair comes up and your coverage is lacking. That’s why we’ve created this comprehensive review of Cinch’s warranty offerings, including pricing, coverage, and plans. We’ve also looked at consumer reviews to get some sense of how satisfied their customers are.
Keep reading to decide if a Cinch home warranty plan makes sense for you. Want a free quote from Cinch Home Services? Visit their website or call (833) 374-0461.
Cinch Home Services Home Warranty Overview
Cinch Home Services Home Warranty coverage
There are three Cinch home warranty plans available:
- Appliances plan, which starts at a $27.99 monthly premium.
- Built-in Systems plan, which starts at a $32.99 monthly premium.
- Complete Home plan, which starts at a $39.99 monthly premium.
You can also choose to add coverage for septic tanks, well pumps, spas and pools, as well as permitting costs and code upgrades.
Cinch’s plan pricing depends on where you live, costing more in areas with a higher cost of living. Price also depends on which deductible level you choose. Here are the prices for a home in Chicago, Illinois:
- $100 deductible
- Appliances plan: $44.99 per month
- Built-in Systems plan: $51.99 per month
- Complete Home plan: $61.99 per month
- $125 deductible
- Appliances plan: $43.32 per month
- Built-in Systems plan: $48.32 per month
- Complete Home plan: $58.32 per month
- $150 deductible
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- Appliances plan: $34.99 per month
- Built-in Systems plan: $39.99 per month
- Complete Home plan: $49.99 per month
What it offers
What does Cinch home warranty cover? As a home warranty provider, Cinch offers coverage for many things that homeowners’ insurance plans don’t, including kitchen appliances, plumbing and electrical systems, water heaters, and rust damage.
Unusually (compared to other home warranty companies), Cinch covers all knobs, handles, and drawers, as well as doorbells and smoke detectors. Cinch also offers credit toward changing filters in refrigerators or air conditioning units.
What it doesn’t offer
What isn’t included in Cinch home warranty coverage? Coverage doesn’t cover non-mechanical items, like your windows, doors, roof and walls. Also, things that have been improperly installed or repaired may not be covered.
Cinch doesn’t offer coverage for damage caused by acts of nature such as hurricanes or floods, which homeowners’ insurance typically covers.
To prevent under-coverage, read a sample contract with the Cinch home warranty terms and conditions before you sign up.
Cinch Home Warranty plans
Cinch Home Services offers three home warranty plans: Appliances, Built-in Systems, and Complete Home. Cinch also offers optional add-ons, a 180-day workmanship guarantee, coverage of unknown pre-existing conditions and rust and corrosion coverage. Cinch gives discounts on new appliances and an annual homeowners insurance deductible reimbursement if you have Cinch’s Complete Home plan and pay a deductible on a qualifying homeowners insurance claim.
Additionally, Cinch offers these two unexpected perks in all its plans:
- Cinch’s $50 Green Reward. After your first plan payment, Cinch will email you instructions on redeeming a $50 reward for purchasing green and energy-efficient home upgrades, including smart home gadgets, LED light bulbs and programmable thermostats.
- Air Conditioner or Water Filter Credit. After your first plan payment, Cinch will email instructions on redeeming this $25 reward.
Home appliances
Cinch’s Home Appliances plan covers large home appliances, including:
- Cooktops
- Dishwashers
- Built-in food centers
- Freestanding ice makers
- Built-in microwaves
- Range exhaust hoods
- Ranges
- Refrigerators
- Built-in trash compactors
- Wall ovens
- Clothes washers and dryers
The Home Appliance plan also includes a 24/7 service request line and rust and corrosion coverage.
Built-in systems
Cinch’s Built-in Systems plan covers repairs and replacements of systems including:
- Heating and cooling
- Central air electric split and mini-splits
- Cooling and heating geothermal units
- Cooling and heating package units
- Electric baseboard
- Floor furnaces
- Forced air units
- Heating mini-splits
- Heat pumps
- Hot water or steam-circulating heaters
- Wall-mounted air conditioners and heaters
- Electrical systems
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- Attic, exhaust and vent fans (built-in)
- Battery-operated and hardwired smoke detectors
- Ceiling fans
- Central vacuums
- Direct current wiring and light fixtures
- Doorbells
- Garage door openers
- Plumbing systems
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- Drain and sewer stoppages
- Garbage disposals
- Instant hot/cold water dispenser
- Permanently installed sump pump
- Plumbing valves, lines and other components
- Standard and tankless water heaters
- Toilets
- Whirlpool/jetted tub (built-in) motors, pumps and air switch assemblies
Like the Home Appliance plan, the Built-in Systems plan includes a 24/7 service request line and rust and corrosion coverage.
Complete
Cinch’s Complete plan covers everything in the Home Appliance and Built-in Systems plans.
The one additional service that only comes with the Complete plan is that Cinch will reimburse you if you need to pay a deductible on a qualifying homeowners insurance claim (one claim per year).
Are there exclusions?
There are several exclusions to Cinch’s plans, including:
- Tree damage and other damage caused by unforeseen acts of nature
- Theft, vandalism and other damage caused by people
- Pest damage, including that done by termites and insects
- Mold (but Cinch does state that it may cover the cause of mold, such as a leaking pipe)
- Roof leaks
- System or appliance failures that aren’t due to normal wear and tear
- Commercial-grade appliances or components
- Manufacturer-recalled items
- Products the Consumer Product Safety Commission has deemed defective
What do online reviews say about Cinch Home Warranties?
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has accredited Cinch Home Services and given it a B rating, while its reviews on the platform average 1.13 out of 5.
A common theme among reviews is that Cinch customers appreciate how the warranty covered parts of their home that they weren’t necessarily considering might need replacement. The warranty saved them money on these expensive parts. Newer homeowners have found Cinch particularly helpful, especially those who purchased older homes, which tend to have more frequent and costly problems.
Additionally, many reviewers appreciated Cinch’s fast response time to service requests. Each step of the process tends to move quickly, from service request and appointment to diagnosis and repair. However, the company does currently include a warning on its website that states that due to supply chain issues, repairs that require new parts may take longer than usual. These issues are industry-wide; any repair person, with any provider, is currently confronting these limitations shaped by the global market.
Negative reviews frequently mention calling customer service and speaking with representatives who don’t understand the details of the contract and what the warranty covers. This can result in more time spent relaying or explaining contract details rather than fixing the problem. Other reviews express frustration with telling customer service what the problem is and getting the company to send someone to fix the problem rather than to merely diagnose it.
Cinch Home Services Home Warranty FAQ
Our evaluation criteria for Cinch Home Warranty
When assessing a home warranty company’s coverage, several critical factors must be considered. Our criteria for reviewing Cinch included plan cost, coverage, response time to service requests, payout caps and plan exclusions. We also factored in third-party ratings and customer reviews and looked for negative mentions of the brand in the news (we didn’t find any).
Cinch Home Services Home Warranty Summary
Cinch Home Services makes it easy to file a claim with a user-friendly interface for customers. The company also covers more of the common issues people may need to be covered, like rust damage and broken drawers.
Cinch’s guarantee of coverage for unknown pre-existing issues could save homeowners quite a bit of money. The company’s response time to service requests is faster than others in the industry.
The company’s customer-review score on BBB is relatively low but is comparable to other home-warranty companies on BBB.
Cinch’s three plans are solid options for homeowners looking for coverage for things their homeowners insurance doesn’t cover. That said, we suggest you look at a few options in your search for the best home warranty company, so you can be sure to find the right fit for your home and family.
