When people compare service contracts, they often look at the headline price and the name of the cover. At the shop, the bill can still include charges the paper leaves with the owner. Those charges decide much of what you actually pay for a repair, so they belong on the list before any comparison begins.
Charges that often sit outside the covered repair
Common examples include a diagnostic or inspection charge, a trip or call-out charge, shop supplies, disposal of fluids or old parts, taxes, and the share of each claim that you pay yourself. Not every paper uses these words, and some bundle them. Read the schedule or the cost section, not only the cover page.
Search your own paper
Search for the words diagnostic, inspection, trip, call-out, supplies, disposal, tax, and customer responsibility. Note the page and clause for each one. If a charge is described as payable at the time of service, mark it as your cost unless the paper says otherwise.
Ask the administrator
Ask which charges the administrator will pay and which you will pay. Ask whether a diagnostic charge is refunded or credited if the fault turns out to be covered. Ask whether any of your payments has a ceiling, and where that ceiling is written. Get each answer in writing.
Compare on the same basis
When you compare two papers, write down each out-of-pocket line for each one, then compare the totals for the same type of fault, not the names of the covers. A paper with a lower headline price can cost more at the shop if its visit charges are higher.
Check the state rules
What a seller must disclose can differ from state to state. Each state page on this site sets out the regulator, the governing statute, and whether a roster is published. For example, the Florida page at statecoverageindex.com/florida.html shows how that state is set out. Any published figures are in the tables on this site, not on this page.
This edition gives no figures for any contract, and it has not read the terms of any particular seller. Use the list above on the paper in front of you, and take any unanswered question about what you will pay to the administrator in writing before you sign.