9 Home Warranty Claims Nebraskans Find Out Aren’t Covered

Nebraska’s homeownership rate hit 67.2% in 2025, according to Census Bureau data.

A lot of those homeowners buy a home warranty from a name like American Home Shield or Old Republic.

No provider’s perfect, of course.

These are the home warranty claims Nebraskans find out aren’t covered, and the same exclusions catch homeowners everywhere else providers sell these contracts.

Note: This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Home warranty contract terms and coverage limits vary by provider and are subject to change.

1. Pre-Existing Conditions

Nearly every home warranty contract carries a pre-existing condition clause.

It trips up more first-time claims than any other line in the paperwork.

Choice Home Warranty’s contract excludes any system with a known or unknown pre-existing condition.

The company still denies a furnace that was already limping along before the plan started, even if nobody could have caught the problem during a walkthrough.

Nobody signs up expecting that.

Every major provider carries some version of the same clause, so shopping around rarely dodges it.

2. Improper Installation

Old Republic denies claims traced back to how a system was originally installed, and its home warranty plan documents say so in plain language.

The plan excludes repairs needed because of improper installation, repair, or modification of the covered item.

A furnace installed by the home’s original builder twenty years ago can still void today’s claim if a technician calls the install noncompliant.

Nobody touched a wrench.

That’s the frustrating part, since the flaw predates every owner who has lived there.

3. Code Violations

Bringing a repair up to current building code costs money a home warranty’s base price rarely covers.

American Home Shield’s contract states plainly that it isn’t responsible for correcting code violations, not even ones the repair itself triggers.

A technician fixes the failed part, and the code-required upgrade around it lands on the homeowner’s bill.

Not covered.

Some providers sell that protection back separately, as a capped add-on instead of part of the base price.

4. Skipped Maintenance

Does skipping a filter change void a home warranty claim?

The Federal Trade Commission raises exactly that question, asking whether a provider can deny coverage over routine upkeep the homeowner never documented.

Choice Home Warranty’s contract excludes any malfunction caused by neglect, which covers a system nobody ever had serviced.

No service records, no payout.

American Home Shield treats it differently, since its contract counts insufficient maintenance among the malfunction causes it still covers, alongside rust, corrosion, and sediment buildup.

That gap between providers is worth knowing before picking one.

5. Cosmetic Damage

Matching decor was never the point of a home warranty repair.

American Home Shield’s contract backs that up, excluding cosmetic defects that don’t affect how the covered item functions.

A technician can swap in a replacement dishwasher panel in the wrong color or a mismatched brand, and the repair still counts as complete.

Scratches, dents, and scuffs from the repair itself fall under the same line.

Looks don’t count.

Function is the whole contract, and looks were never in it.

6. Secondary Damage

A leaking dishwasher gets a free repair under a home warranty, but the water-warped floor underneath it is a separate bill.

American Home Shield’s contract makes that split explicit, stating it isn’t liable for secondary, incidental, or consequential damage tied to a covered item’s failure.

The appliance and the water damage don’t file as one claim.

They don’t travel together.

Homeowners insurance is the coverage built for that second bill, not the warranty.

7. Commercial Use

Providers write home warranty plans for owner-occupied homes, not businesses that happen to operate out of one.

Old Republic’s plan is explicit that it covers residential-use property only, and it names day care centers and fraternity or sorority houses among the disqualifying uses.

A licensed in-home day care can void the whole plan, even on the bedrooms nobody uses for it.

A home office is fine.

Paying customers cross that line the moment they start walking through the door regularly.

8. Unauthorized Repairs

A home warranty company’s approval has to come before the repair, not after.

Old Republic’s contract states plainly that it won’t reimburse for services performed without prior authorization.

Calling a trusted local repairman first, before opening a claim, forfeits reimbursement even when the fix was done correctly.

Order matters here.

The claim has to come before the wrench does, not after.

9. Manufacturer Warranty Overlap

A manufacturer’s warranty can outrank a home warranty plan on the very same appliance.

Choice Home Warranty’s contract excludes anything still under an existing manufacturer’s or distributor’s warranty, along with anything tied to a manufacturer’s recall.

A five-year-old furnace can carry a ten-year parts warranty from the manufacturer that nobody remembers signing up for.

Two warranties, one winner.

The home warranty company routes the claim back to the manufacturer instead of paying it.

How Often Companies Deny Claims

Home warranty companies deny or delay roughly one in ten claims nationwide, based on a January 2026 survey of 2,000 homeowners by This Old House.

Companies denied nearly 4% of claims outright, and another 6% sat unresolved when the survey closed.

Not a rounding error.

Every respondent behind that figure had filed a claim within the past five years, so it counts what happened, not what people feared might happen.

Nebraska’s Regulatory Gap

State law treats a home warranty as a service contract, not as insurance, and that distinction changes who’s watching these companies.

Nebraska Revised Statute 44-102.01 defines a service contract on a home’s systems and appliances, then states plainly that insurance doesn’t include a service contract.

No insurance department oversight.