The count
This is the question at the center of every protection-plan fight, and the ranking answers online get it wrong in both directions — one explainer simplifies Lowe's rule, another quotes numbers from the wrong document. Here are both stores' rules from the plans' own published documents, the trap inside Lowe's version, and how to count your own repairs the way a reviewer will.
| Home Depot (SquareTrade/Allstate era) | Lowe's (Assurant family) | |
|---|---|---|
| The count | 2 service repairs for the same issue, and a 3rd needed | 3 covered repairs on 3 separate occasions, and a 4th required |
| The outcome | Replacement, or reimbursement of the original purchase price plus tax (Home Depot eGift Card) | Payment up to the original Retail Cost plus tax; or a replacement (new, rebuilt, or refurbished) at their sole discretion — and a replacement ends the contract |
| The framing trap | SquareTrade's standard terms count repairs within any 12-month period; Home Depot's coverage page says during the protection plan term. Two readings — count with dates and be ready to argue the coverage page's own words. | The definition trap: diagnosis, customer education, telephone troubleshooting, alignments, cleanings, and "no fault found" visits are expressly NOT covered repairs. Five visits can be a count of one. |
| Source | Official appliance brochure + coverage-details page; SquareTrade standard T&Cs | Protection Plan Terms & Conditions, doc ELPP0009S-1219 |
The free checker applies both stores' rules to your numbers — including the no-fault-found exclusion — and shows the outcome your count has earned.
Once the count has triggered, another repair is their preference, not your obligation under the rule — ask for the determination in writing. A written refusal is a document a regulator complaint can act on; a verbal "let's try one more fix" is not. If you accept the repair anyway (sometimes the practical choice), get the count acknowledged in writing first, so the next failure starts from the triggered position, not from zero.
Count your own case. The free checker takes your store, your plan date, your repair history, and your dates — and returns your lemon count, your live clocks, and the money the plan owes. Run the checker →
The pages above are the map. The kit is the paperwork: the repair log that proves the count, the script for your administrator, and the complaint pack for when the stall continues.
One payment, yours to keep. We never ask for your store or plan-portal password — you file everything yourself. See everything inside the kit →