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TotalProtect Home Warranty Review
By Victor Rosario MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Part of being a homeowner is keeping your home’s systems and appliances in good working order. Experts recommend that homeowners budget about a dollar per square foot of a home’s area per year on home maintenance. So if you own a 2,500-square foot home, you should plan on spending about $2,500 on repairs and general upkeep. That’s a significant sum. And one of the most challenging aspects of maintaining your home is that many necessary home repairs are surprises. You just never know when a washing machine or air conditioning system is going to quit on you.
That’s why many homeowners turn to home warranties. A home warranty is a contract that helps cover the cost of maintaining household systems or appliances. Typically, a home warranty costs between $300 and $600 per year in premiums. In addition, you’ll pay a service call fee each time you file a claim with your home warranty company. Those fees are generally between $75 and $125 per call. So when you compare the average cost of home maintenance to the cost of a home warranty plan, a home warranty has the potential to save you quite a bit of money over the course of a year.
Today we’ll look at the home warranty plans previously offered under the brand name TotalProtect. They’re now sold by Cinch Home Services, a company established in 1978 and located in Boca Raton, Florida.
Table of Contents
- TotalProtect’s services
- TotalProtect’s coverage
- TotalProtect’s credentials
- TotalProtect’s accessibility
- TotalProtect’s customer satisfaction
- TotalProtect vs. the competition
- TotalProtect FAQs
- How we evaluated TotalProtect home warranties
- Summary of our TotalProtect review
24/7 support whenever your appliances fail
24/7 support whenever your appliances fail
- Large network of independent prescreened contractors and qualified technicians
- In business for over 30 years
- Good coverage on home systems
- Does not cover pre-existing issues
- They will replace items that fail if they can't be fixed regardless of age, make or model
No home inspection required
🔥 SALE: $150 OFF + 2 Months Free
- Members Can Save Up to 50% at Nike, Costco, Home Depot & 1000’s more
- Online Business Bureau Accredited with A+ Rating
- Covers Major Home Systems, HVAC & Appliances
- Free Roof Coverage, No Inspection Needed
Industry leader since 1971
Limited Time Offer: $150 Off Select Plans!*
- Home Warranty Plans Starting at $29.99 a Mo.
- Covering 2 Million Plus Members for 50+ Years
- No Age Limits on Covered Systems & Appliances
- No Inspections or Records Required
TotalProtect overview
- Three competitively-priced plans to choose from
- 180-day workmanship guarantee
- Choice of deductibles
- Substantial record of customer complaints
- Deductible choices on the high side of the industry average
TotalProtect’s services
Cinch/TotalProtect offers customers a choice of three plans. You can select a plan that covers home appliances, a plan that protects your home’s built-in systems, or a plan that combines both types of coverage. Each plan comes with its own price tags, with appliance coverage costing the least and combination coverage costing the most.
We requested quotes for a home located in a medium-sized midwestern city. The hypothetical home measured under 5,000 square feet. TotalProtect offers homeowners a choice of three service call fees — $100, $125, and $150 — and these prices reflect a $125 deductible:
- Appliance Plan: $36.32
- Systems Plan: $41.32
- Complete Home Plan: $48.32
TotalProtect’s coverage
Cinch/TotalProtect’s Appliance Plan includes coverage for the following home features:
- Clothes dryers
- Clothes washers
- Cooktops
- Ranges
- Range exhaust hoods
- Built-in microwaves
- Wall ovens
- Dishwashers
- Refrigerators
- Built-in food centers
- Free-standing ice makers
- Built-in trash compactors
Cinch/TotalProtect’s Systems Plan covers the following home features:
- Air conditioning and heating systems (HVAC), including duct work
- Electrical system
- Heating system
- Plumbing system (including toilets)
- Water heaters
- Attic fans
- Ceiling fans
- Central vacuums
- Garbage disposals
- Door bells
- Garage door openers
- Instant hot water dispensers
- Smoke detectors
- Sump pumps
- Whirlpools/jetted tubs
Cinch/TotalProtect’s Complete Home Plan covers everything included in its Appliance Plan and its System Plan. It also offers a unique feature: should you have to file a homeowner’s insurance plan due to the failure of a covered item, the company will provide reimbursement of your home policy’s deductible up to $500.
Cinch/TotalProtect, like most home warranty companies, offers a number of optional coverages for an additional fee. Add-on items include pools, spas, and combination pools/spas, septic tanks and septic tank pumping, and well pumps. Additional coverages are priced separately, with costs running from $4.58 to $22 per month.
The company also offers a Premier Upgrade package which provides additional coverage for building permits, code upgrades, and more.
TotalProtect’s credentials
Buying a home warranty is a significant financial commitment. That’s why it’s important to check into a home warranty company’s industry credentials and litigation history. Here’s what we learned about Cinch/TotalProtect.
Licenses and registrations
Cinch Home Services is duly licensed to do business in the states where it operates. In addition, the company has a network of more than 18,000 licensed service technicians nationwide. Technicians undergo a thorough screening process, including verification that they have active liability insurance policies in place. The company is registered with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulations, the organization that regulates home warranty companies in Cinch’s home state.
Regulatory or legal actions
We checked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s database and found no complaints pending against Cinch Home Services. We did uncover one lawsuit against the company filed in a California District Court in 2020, but overall the company has an excellent legal record.
TotalProtect’s accessibility
Availability
Cinch/TotalProtect plans are available in 48 states. So unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii, there’s a Cinch home warranty plan out there for you. Many home warranty companies are more regional and can’t extend warranty protection to so many customers.
Contact information
Cinch/TotalProtect makes it easy to get a free quote online. You can also get a quote by calling 855-563-0562. The company’s main telephone number is (888) 312-3811. You can mail the company at its corporate address: 4700 Exchange Ct Suite 3, Boca Raton, FL 33431. You can file a home warranty claim with TotalProtect conveniently online, as well.
User experience
TotalProtect, at the web address cinchhomeservices.com, offers a positive user experience. It’s easy to compare the features offered by each of its plans and to request a free quote. Coverages are listed plainly. The company publishes both a glossary of home warranty terms and a substantial FAQ section. For homeowners interested in delving into home maintenance, the company offers a blog called Easy Living by Cinch. The blog covers such topics as energy saving tips and how to rid your home of allergens.
Limitations
All home warranty services and policies have limitations and exclusions. In Cinch/TotalProtect’s case, the company doesn’t operate in all 48 states. But many more limitations can only be found by reading your home warranty contract in detail. For example, Cinch/TotalProtect may pay for sewer line repairs, but only under certain circumstances. It won’t cover “outside sewer line in excess of 500 feet in length, any outside sewer service line that’s not connected to a public sewer system, including but not limited to sewer lines connected to a septic system.” It may pay for gas pipe repairs, but only those you need for interior gas lines. Nor does it promise to replace an appliance with the same exact color or brand. And every home warranty has coverage limits: the total amount it will pay to repair or replace any covered item in your home.
Understanding a policy’s limitations is critical to deciding whether it’s a good value. Cinch/TotalProtect publishes a sample contract on its website so you can dig into the details of your coverage. Not all home warranty companies do that and we give the company points for its transparency.
TotalProtect’s customer satisfaction
We checked in with various consumer advocacy and review sites to get a grasp of how customers feel about Cinch/TotalProtect’s plans and service. We encourage homeowners to do the same for any home warranty company they’re considering.
Customer complaints
Home warranty companies, on the whole, attract a lot of complaints. Often these are due to customer’s misunderstanding the coverage and costs associated with their home warranty plans. Other complaints have to do with slow response times when it comes time to file a claim.
Cinch/TotalProtect is no exception to this rule, with over 1,300 complaints filed through the Better Business Bureau (BBB). While Cinch/TotalProtect has a good rating at the BBB, customers who review the company on the organization’s site give it a poor rating of 1.3 out of 5 stars. That being said, 51% of customers who review Cinch/TotalProtect on Trustpilot give the company a 5-star rating.
Third-Party ratings
Cinch/TotalProtect earns a B rating from the Better Business Bureau. Users on Trustpilot award the company 3.1 out of five stars. Cinch/TotalProtect earns an average of 2.5 stars from customers who review it on Google.
TotalProtect vs. the competition
Homeowners have a lot of choices when it comes to home warranty coverage and home warranty providers. We compared Cinch/TotalProtect to two other leaders in the home warranty industry, Liberty Home Guard and American Home Shield, to give you an idea of how Cinch/TotalProtect stands up to the competition.
| TotalProtect Home Warranty | Liberty Home Guard | American Home Shield | |
| Plan Options | Appliances-only, systems-only, and combo plans | Appliances-only, systems-only, combo plans | Systems-only and combo plans |
| Service call fee | $100, $125 or $150 | $125 | $75, $100, or $125 |
| Lowest monthly premium for a systems-and-appliances plan | $39.99 | $59.99 | $79.99 |
TotalProtect home warranty FAQs
How do I file a claim with TotalProtect home warranty?
Is there a waiting period before my coverage begins with TotalProtect?
Does TotalProtect have deductibles for a home warranty?
Does TotalProtect cover non-standard appliances and systems?
How can I change my plan with TotalProtect?
Is TotalProtect home warranty the same as Cinch Home Services home warranty?
How we evaluated TotalProtect home warranties
We took many factors into consideration when reviewing Cinch/TotalProtect. Does the company offer a variety of plans, so customers get precisely the coverage they need, from appliance repair to systems replacement? Does the company get good customer reviews? Are its premiums competitive and does it represent a good value?
We’ve taken into account these factors and more. Overall, we think Cinch/TotalProtect is well worth consideration if you’re looking for comprehensive coverage from your home warranty policy and a reputable company behind it.
Summary of our TotalProtect review
Cinch/TotalProtect offers competitively priced plans that give homeowners considerable leeway in the coverage they purchase and the service call fees they pay. With more than 40 years in business, the company has stood the test of time. Its reputation among consumers is on par with other home warranty companies. It stands out for a very generous workmanship guarantee and a unique homeowner’s insurance deductible reimbursement feature. And the company makes it easy for homeowners to understand its available coverage and compare plans and prices, providing an overall positive online experience.
