A service contract runs in stages, and the paper that governs each stage is not always the same document. Trace the contract from signature to the final covered day, and check the sentence that governs each stage before you need it.
Before coverage begins
Confirm that you hold the full contract, not only a summary or a sales sheet. Confirm the effective date and any waiting period, which is the time before coverage starts. Keep a copy and note when you received it. The state page on this site names the regulator and the statute that govern contracts sold in that state. For example, the Florida page names the regulator and statute for contracts sold there, so check the page for the state where you bought the contract.
During the coverage period
Learn which records the contract asks you to keep, which steps it requires before a repair starts, and how a claim is opened. Write down the claim number and the name of each person you speak with. If the contract requires approval before work begins, treat that step as part of the process, not a formality.
At a claim
When a covered repair is needed, follow the claim sequence the contract sets, and keep copies of each notice and each invoice. Compare each invoice with what the contract says is covered. Where the contract allows a written complaint, send it to the address the contract names, and keep proof that it was sent.
At renewal, transfer, cancellation, or expiry
Each of these ends or changes the contract. Check the renewal terms, the transfer terms if the unit is sold, the cancellation method and any refund formula, and the date on which coverage stops. Send any cancellation by the method the contract names, and keep proof that it arrived.
What this piece does not cover
This piece describes the usual stages and does not describe any particular contract. Each contract sets its own sequence, and this edition has not read any individual contract.