Equipment-breakdown coverage: the cheap home-insurance add-on that pays when an appliance dies

Most homeowners insurance will not pay a cent when an appliance simply stops working — that is the well-known gap. NerdWallet lays out the inexpensive fix many people miss: equipment-breakdown coverage.

It is an endorsement you add to a homeowners policy, usually for about $25 to $50 a year, with its own deductible (often around $500). It pays to repair or replace home systems and appliances — HVAC, water heaters, refrigerators, washers, electronics — when they fail from a sudden mechanical or electrical breakdown. Some policies even cover food spoilage. What it will not cover is normal wear and tear, or damage from fire and weather, which fall to your standard policy.

That makes it broader than a typical home warranty, but it is not a cure-all: the failure has to be sudden and accidental. OwnWise helps you tell a genuine breakdown from end-of-life wear before you file — so you do not burn a claim on something that was never covered.