A sales sheet tells you what a contract is supposed to mean. The contract tells you what it actually does. Before you compare two service contracts, you need the second document, and you should build the comparison from it yourself.
Fix the rows before you read
Pick the same rows for every contract you look at, and keep them in the same order. Use a plain page with one column per contract. The rows that usually matter most are the vehicle eligibility rule, meaning the age and mileage limits written into the contract; the waiting period before coverage starts; the money-back period and how any refund is calculated; the cancellation grounds for you and for the provider; the transfer rule; the claim route, meaning who pays the shop, who approves the repair, and whether you pay first and file later; and the exclusion language, meaning whether the contract lists what is covered or lists what is not.
Copy the wording, not your summary
Next to each row, paste the exact sentence from the contract instead of your own paraphrase. Two contracts can both say they cover the engine while differing in a single word that decides a claim. A word like may against will, or a phrase like sole against primary, changes who decides. Your summary will smooth that difference away. The exact words will not.
Mark what is missing
A blank row is information. If a contract says nothing about transfer, or nothing about how a claim is approved, mark it as silent. Silence is not a yes, and it is not a no either until you have asked. Put the question to the provider in writing before you sign, and paste the answer into the sheet.
Check whether the text is available at all
Some providers publish a sample contract you can read before you buy. If a provider will not show you the contract text before the sale, record that as a finding on the sheet. Our list of providers that publish a sample contract is a reasonable place to see which companies make the text easy to reach.
Compare your sheet against a published method
Once the sheet is full, you can hold it against the scoring rubric we publish. That lets you see which factors we weigh, and which ones you might weigh differently given your own car and your own tolerance for risk. Our methodology page explains how the points are assigned. Use it as a checklist for your own reading, not as a verdict you have to accept.