What if reading a contract was easy? What if the company highlighted all the important parts you need to know—even repeating key points—and put the main claims process in a super convenient spot? That’s how we do things at America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW).
How it started
APHW’s contract began as your standard carbon-copied stack of paper; simple and efficient, until Marketing Director (then Graphic Designer) Jeff Fett joined the team in 2013. While he was out training with an Area Sales Manager, he visited an agency just outside of Detroit with clear acrylic office walls—and a scene that caught his eye.
“I saw a real estate agent grab our warranty off the shelf and just plop it like a dead fish in front of their client to take home to read,” he described. “I could tell the agent didn’t really want to explain the warranty, and the homeowner (who’d spent the last couple hours signing legal documents already) had this look of, ‘Another document?’”
The interaction showed Jeff the potential of giving our warranty document a makeover.
A new direction
“It had to be presented in a way that was inviting to read and easily understandable,” Jeff recalled. “Normally when someone needs to use their home warranty, there’s a crisis. I wanted to make the warranty very user friendly, so you could clearly see what the claims process was and what was and wasn’t covered.
“The information you needed to resolve the crisis needed to be easy to find.”
Beyond being easy to use, the look of the warranty needed to convey how important families are to America’s Preferred Home Warranty. “We care about the family living in the home first,” Jeff said. “We want you to know that you’re our main concern, so when something goes wrong, you’re taken care of first.”
So the contract transformed from a carbon-copy stack of paper to a colorful, bound brochure, with a cover focused on the family, instead of the house.
Where to look
This past year the warranty brochure received some new coverages and got a facelift. Everything you know and love is still there, but we’ve organized things even more efficiently based on feedback from homeowners and agents. There are five sections you will find useful:
- The Acceptance/Invoice Page is right behind the cover, to make your selections.
- Plans & Pricing details are on the next page for easy viewing.
- What Is Covered details exactly what is and is not covered, and in which plans.
- The Terms & Conditions are just 2 and a half pages, including any limitations you may wish to know. These are followed by state-specific language, where only your state applies to you.
- How to Start A Claim is easily located on the back of the brochure.
Is smaller print difficult?
APHW has you covered with two options:
- Request a PDF document of our warranty brochure, with which you can zoom in on crystal clear print, or;
- Discover What We Cover online, and visit our Basic Coverage Details and Terms and Conditions pages, featuring larger type.
But there’s more
APHW’s easy-to-read contract is just one reason why “consumers can rest assured they are in good hands,” as stated by Better Business Bureau Executive Board Member Dr. Anita Hicks during their annual Torch Awards for Ethics ceremony recognizing APHW with a Torch Award.
“We will continue providing content showing our homeowners that we are here to support them,” Jeff said. “We can help them maintain their home systems and appliances in the short term, while of course also letting them know that, should something go wrong, we are definitely here to help.”
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