Most homeowners think of a service contract as a signing event, but the coverage you actually use happens during a visit. Each visit has a sequence of steps, and each step should leave a written trace. Walking through them in order shows where a gap would appear.

The call and the reference number

Report the problem by the route the contract names, and get a claim or reference number before anything else happens. Write down the time, the name of the person you spoke with, and what you described. Ask whether the reference number must appear on the work order and any invoice.

Scheduling the visit

Ask who schedules the visit, whether the provider calls before arriving, what the arrival window is, and whether a missed visit restarts the process. Confirm the access you will provide, including gate codes, pets, and locked rooms.

Preparing the equipment area

Clear a path to the appliance or system, have the make and model ready, and keep the manual and the serial label where the technician can see them. If the problem involves gas, electricity, or water, the safety rules of the trade come first, and the contract may say what the homeowner should not attempt. Safety decisions of this kind belong to qualified trades and local authorities, not to this guide.

During the visit

Ask the technician to describe the diagnosis before any work begins. Ask what is covered, what is not, and whether any part needs your approval before it is ordered. Ask that the diagnosis be written on the work order, in the technician's words.

Authorization before repairs

Do not let work begin on any charge you have not seen in writing. If the provider says a part is needed beyond what the contract pays for, ask for the reason in writing and ask what the contract says about that situation.

Close-out

Read the completed work order before you sign it. Confirm that the parts listed match what was installed, that the visit date is correct, and that the reference number appears on the paper. Keep the copy with the contract.

What this guide does not show

This guide describes the general steps of a visit and does not describe how any particular provider runs its visits. The state pages on this site say which rules each state has been read on. Where a page says a rule was not read, check the statute or program named on that page.