Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

American Home Shield During the Pandemic: While sales of existing homes dipped during the worst of the lockdowns, they soared for the rest of last year. But while home warranties have historically been closely tied to the sale of existing homes, American Home Shield has moved on to selling the annual policies directly to homeowners staying put, and then encouraging those homeowners to renew year after year.
June 10, 2021
Eighteenth Annual Product Warranty Report: When the pandemic began a year ago, shopping and work patterns changed radically, as many people found it hard to leave their homes or get to work. One would have expected a deep dive in warranty claims early on, but there was an even deeper drop in warranty accruals in the middle of the year, and a much higher makeup effort towards the end of the year.
March 25, 2021
Recreational Vehicle Warranties: If the old saying that no news is good news, then there's plenty of positive tidings coming out of the RV manufacturers. Homes on wheels, which fared much worse than either site-built homes or passenger cars during the last downturn, have nothing to say about the timing of the next one.
October 19, 2017
New Home Warranty Report: With products such as single-family homes, it's possible to measure warranty accruals not only per dollar of revenue, but also per unit sold. And then it becomes clear which companies have mastered their warranty cost estimation process and which are still making it up as they go along.
June 8, 2017
Home Warranty vs. Homebuilders' Warranties: When it comes to protection plans, consumers spent over $2 billion on home warranties last year while builders spent roughly $1.5 billion on warranty claims. Home warranties are an essential part of a sales transaction in some states, and homebuilder warranties are a major attraction for new home buyers. But most existing homes aren't covered by a protection plan, and the warranty costs for most new homes aren't reported publicly.
January 21, 2016
Warranty Accruals for New Homes: When a new home is sold, the builder sets aside a specific amount of money in the form of warranty accruals to cover its predicted warranty costs. Some builders do a consistently good job, accruing roughly the same amount per home sold from one season to the next. But others raise and lower their accrual rates over incredible ranges that seem to have little to do with predicted warranty costs.
August 13, 2015
New Home & RV Warranty Report: Put a home on wheels and its warranty costs rise. While the warranties on traditional site-built homes typically cost the builder about one percent of selling price, the warranty cost of mobile homes is somewhat higher. And the warranty cost of modular, prefabricated homes may be highest of all.
May 21, 2015
New Home Warranty Accruals: While the average homebuilder sets aside about one percent of revenue to cover warranty costs, the average new home is expected to cost around $2,500 over the life of its warranty. Luxury homes will cost more, but even some average-priced units have high warranty costs. It all depends on the builder.
December 18, 2014
Warranty Accruals for New Homes: Sometimes they set aside too much and sometimes they set aside too little. All but a few homebuilders seem to lack any sense of aim when it comes to determining how much to accrue for each new home they sell.
July 24, 2014
New Homes & Building Materials Warranty Report: As sales recover, warranty expense rates are getting back to normal for the builders. But some of their suppliers, such as the makers of electrical and plumbing fixtures, are now enjoying the results of a decade of warranty cost-cutting.
May 8, 2014
Homebuilding Warranty Metrics: The builders of single-family homes were always good at shifting warranty expenses to their suppliers and subcontractors. And though their warranty expenses are down considerably, that has more to do with slow sales than with anything else.
October 4, 2012
Power Equipment Warranty Report: While GE dominates the traditional end of the electrical power generation business, a whole group of new companies are jumping into the solar energy and electric car businesses. And some retailers that never had much to do with the gasoline engine are angling to become the new homes of the charging stations.
June 9, 2011
Home Warranties for Appliances? Though home warranties are mainly for heating and cooling systems, and are closely tied to resales of existing homes, their ability to cover major appliances overlaps somewhat with store-bought extended warranties. Or does it?
January 27, 2011
RV Service Contracts: Perched as it is at the junction of homes and vehicles, the RV industry has been hard-hit by the recession and the credit crunch. But the sellers of RV service contracts may have been helped by all that uncertainty, offering peace of mind to an industry full of turmoil.
April 29, 2010
Chinese Drywall Woes: It smells bad and it ruins anything made of copper or silver. The gases given off by wallboard imported from China may also sicken homeowners and their families. Some say the affected homes will have to be gutted or bulldozed. But others say a simple solution is possible, if the focus is shifted to how the foul odor is produced.
December 10, 2009
RV & New Home Warranties: Sales are declining so claims rates are rising. But a few homebuilders have radically cut the amount they set aside per unit sold, raising suspicions that they're intentionally estimating low. Meanwhile, homes on wheels continue to show higher warranty costs.
June 20, 2008
New Home Warranties: Pre-fab and mobile homes have much higher warranty costs than site-built homes. But even for site-built homes, there are big differences between the builders in the way they save and spend their warranty funds.
April 24, 2007
The Power of One: The Aon Warranty Group has turned vertical integration into a strategic advantage, expanding and acquiring its way to a position where it can sell extended warranties on electronics, homes, or cars, all of which it can underwrite itself.
November 30, 2004
Home Warranty Claims & Accruals: Homebuilding, heating and cooling each have their peak seasons. But do warranty claims for new homes and HVAC units also have a peak season? Recent data suggests that claims actually peak later in the year, months after sales do.
August 31, 2004
Home is Where the Warranty Is: Most of the major homebuilders recently reported details about their first quarter warranty spending. Here are the results, organized into segments for site-built homes, motorized recreational vehicles, and prefabricated/manufactured homes.
June 16, 2003