You notice it on a straight road. You loosen your grip on the wheel and the car drifts toward one side, or you have to hold it slightly the other way to keep it in the lane. It may only happen on a crowned road or after a pothole. It is easy to shrug off. Before you buy a service contract, or before you decide whether the one you already have covers this, it helps to know what the symptom usually points to and which parts of the bill tend to fall outside a contract.
What the pull usually means
A steady pull has several common sources. Tire pressure that differs between the two sides of the car is the simplest. Uneven tire wear is another, and it often means the alignment has drifted out of specification. Worn steering or suspension parts, such as tie rod ends, ball joints, or bushings, can also let the wheels wander. A brake caliper that drags can produce a similar tug. Only a shop with the right equipment can sort these apart, so treat the symptom as a reason for an inspection, not as a diagnosis.
Read the tread before you read the brochure
Uneven wear is the clue most worth checking yourself. Look across each tire, not just the middle of the tread. Wear that is heavier on the inner or outer edge, or a scalloped or cupped pattern, points toward an alignment or suspension cause. An old coin pushed into the tread grooves is a common driveway check. If the tread is worn down to the wear bars, the tires themselves may be the item to replace, whatever else is going on.
Check whether the contract treats this as a wear item
This is where the paper matters. Many service contracts are written around mechanical breakdown of listed components, and many leave out items that wear out through normal use. Tires are the obvious case. Alignment is frequently treated as maintenance rather than repair. Brake pads, rotors, and wiper blades also show up on exclusion lists in many contracts. Search the contract for words such as wear, maintenance, tires, alignment, and exclusions. Then check whether a tie rod, ball joint, or bushing is named as a covered component, and whether the coverage works from a named list of parts or from an exclusion list. Those designs cover very different things.
Ask before the first visit
Before you sign, or before you take the car in for a claim, ask the seller or the contract administrator these questions in writing. Does the contract cover steering and suspension components, and which ones by name? Does it exclude alignment, tires, or diagnostic time? Who decides whether a pull is a covered failure or a maintenance item? Must the repair happen at an approved shop, and will that shop need written authorization before it starts work? If the diagnosis finds worn tires that were already due for replacement, who is responsible for that line?
Get the diagnosis in writing
Ask the shop for a written estimate that names the cause, not just the work performed. A line that says only alignment leaves open whether a worn joint was the real problem. Keep the inspection sheet and any alignment printout with your contract papers. If the pull returns after an alignment, document that repeat visit, because the cause may be a part the contract does or does not list.
When a contract will not solve it
A contract is not a substitute for routine maintenance. If the car pulls because the tires are worn out or the alignment has been neglected, a service contract is unlikely to pay for those items under most designs, and no contract makes a worn tire new again. The practical step is often the cheap one first: check the pressures on both sides, look at the tread, and book an alignment check before the pull wears the tires further. That is planning, not a promise about what any contract will pay.
Compare the paper, not the pitch
If you are still shopping, start with the published tables on this site. The companies that post a sample contract you can read before buying are listed on this page, and the side-by-side terms are on this comparison page. The methodology page explains how the scoring is built. When you open any sample contract, read the exclusion section first, because a steering or tire question is often answered there.