How to Read BBB Ratings for Home Warranty Companies

What a BBB Grade Is Built From

BBB rates businesses from A+ to F on a 100-point scale in which each element adds or deducts points. According to BBB, the elements include:

• Complaint history: how many complaints, whether the business answered and resolved them, and how large the business is.
• Time in business.
• Transparency: a rating drops when a business withholds product, service or ownership information.
• Unkept commitments: for example, not honoring mediation settlements or arbitration awards.
• Licensing and advertising problems.
• Government action: licensing or government actions against the business.

Customer reviews posted on BBB do not change the rating, and accreditation is separate from the rating. BBB also states that a rating is not a guarantee of a business's reliability. "NR" means no rating because information is insufficient or the file is under review; it is not a negative grade.

How to Use BBB Data When You Compare

• Read the complaints, not only the letter. Complaints about denied claims or advertising that did not match the contract matter more than billing mix-ups.
• Adjust for size. A large company can have thousands of complaints and still handle them better than a small one with a handful.
• Look at how complaints ended. Whether the business responded and resolved them is part of the grade.
• Check the government-action section of the profile for any listed actions.
• Remember the limit. A grade reflects complaint handling and practices, not whether a plan's caps and exclusions suit your home.

BBB Grades in Our Data

These are the grades recorded in our research for each company we review. They change, so confirm the current grade and read the profile on bbb.org before you rely on one.