Before you compare plans, confirm that the company offering the contract appears on the list your state publishes for service contract providers. The check takes a few minutes, and it turns a sales page into a claim you can verify against a public record.
Find the obligor
The obligor is the company legally responsible for paying covered claims under the contract. It is not always the brand name on the advertisement or the company that sold you the plan. A seller may market under one name while a separate company stands behind the contract, so the obligor is the name to check.
Ask the seller, in writing, for the obligor's exact legal name and mailing address. Compare that name against the contract itself, not against a website or a sales script.
Match the name to the roster
Open your state's published list and search for the obligor's legal name as it appears in the contract. Look for small differences such as a missing word, a different suffix, or a parent company listed in place of the contracting company. A mismatch is a reason to ask questions, not a conclusion, but do not skip it.
Check the address on the roster against the address on the contract. If the roster lists a company you cannot match to the contract, write down the difference and ask the seller to explain it in writing before you sign.
What a roster check does and does not tell you
A roster listing shows that the company appears in a public record for your state. It does not tell you how claims will be handled, how quickly visits happen, or whether the contract's exclusions are fair to you. Those questions belong to the contract itself and to the seller's written answers.
This site scores companies on a published rubric built from each company's own pages and state rosters. To see how those inputs are weighed, read Methodology: How The Home Coverage Report Scores Companies. To see how a contract reads in full before you commit, see Home warranties with a sample contract you can read before buying.