People compare service contracts by the price of the contract and stop there. The price you pay up front is only one line. The deductible and any visit charge in the contract decide what you pay at the counter when the car needs covered work, and they can change the total more than the sticker does over the life of the contract.
Read the deductible and visit charge sections as cost terms, not as footnotes. Then compare them the same way you compare the price.
What a deductible does
A deductible is the share of a covered repair that you pay before the contract pays the rest. Some contracts apply a deductible once for each visit, some apply it once for each covered repair, and some apply it once for each claim. Those three rules can produce very different bills for the same work. Ask which one applies, and ask whether a single visit with several covered repairs counts as one claim or several.
What a visit charge does
A visit charge is a flat fee some contracts ask you to pay when you bring the car in, separate from any deductible. It may be charged even when the shop finds that the problem is not covered. Find out whether the visit charge is refunded if the claim is approved, whether it is paid to the shop, and whether it stacks on top of the deductible.
How to read the two together
Write down what you would pay for a typical covered visit under each rule. Do not use the most dramatic repair you can imagine. Use a routine one that you expect the car to need at some point, and count the deductible, the visit charge, and any charges the contract says are your responsibility. Then compare the result across providers using the same repair.
A contract with a lower price and a higher deductible may cost more in practice if you visit the shop often. A contract with a higher price and a smaller deductible may cost less over a long stretch of ordinary use. You cannot tell which without the arithmetic, and the arithmetic needs the wording from the contract.
Questions to ask before you pay
- Is the deductible applied once for each visit, each repair, or each claim?
- Is there a visit charge, and is it refunded when the claim is approved?
- Does the deductible apply before or after the contract's payment is calculated?
- Does the deductible reset, or does it apply again on the next visit?
- Who collects the deductible, you or the shop, and when?
The figures themselves are on this site's comparison tables, which list the published terms for each provider. Start at the comparison page and then read the contract wording that backs up any figure you plan to rely on. For how we describe the terms behind the tables, see the scoring method.