What Does the Walmart Protection Plan Cover: Accidents and Exclusions

A Walmart Protection Plan covers mechanical and electrical failures on most products you buy from Walmart, and on select portable electronics it also covers accidental drops and spills. Coverage starts on the date of purchase, and if the item can’t be repaired, you get a replacement or a cash settlement. What the plan does not cover is just as important: loss, theft, intentional damage, cosmetic scratches, and ordinary wear and tear are all excluded.¹

The Standard Plan: Breakdowns and Electrical Failures

The Standard Plan is the baseline coverage attached to most products, including TVs, home appliances, lawn and garden equipment, power tools, and general merchandise. It covers:

Mechanical and electrical failures — internal component breakdowns that stop the product from working as intended.
Power surges and power supply failures.
Breakdowns that happen during normal use.
Products that simply won’t power on.

TV plans also bundle in premium tech support at no extra cost, covering issues with the screen, remote, power system, and speakers.¹

The Accident Plan: Drops, Spills, and Cracked Screens

The Accident Plan is only available for select portable electronics such as laptops, tablets, phones, and headphones. It includes everything in the Standard Plan and adds:

Drops and cracked screens from accidental falls or impacts.
Spills and liquid damage.

Walmart offers a separate mattress accident plan that covers stains, rips, and tears.² One point worth being clear on: accidental damage is not covered under the Standard Plan. If you buy a TV or a kitchen appliance, you’re protected against mechanical breakdowns, but not against knocking it over or spilling something on it.¹

Coverage for Furniture, Jewelry, and Large Appliances

Specialized product categories have their own covered-problem lists.

Furniture and Rugs

Furniture plans cover upholstered fabric, leather, vinyl, wood, glass, laminates, metal, and stone. Standard furniture coverage handles seam separation, broken hardware, joint and weld separation, structural defects, and broken mechanical elements like hinges, casters, and drawer guides. A “Plus” tier adds cracks, peeling veneers, chips, gouges, and finish damage such as warping or bubbling. Accident coverage goes further, protecting against unintentional stains from a single incident, rips, tears, burns, punctures, and glass breakage on tables and desks. Rug coverage follows the same pattern: standard covers stains, and the accident tier adds rips, tears, burns, and punctures. Claims for furniture, rugs, and mattresses must be filed within 30 days of the damage.³

Jewelry and Watches

Jewelry plans cover defects in materials and workmanship. Specifically: cracked diamonds or gemstones up to 0.25 carat, loss of stones from defective settings, broken or bent prongs, broken chains and clasps, and cracked ring shanks. Watch plans cover broken bands, cases, clasps, crowns, cracked crystals, and internal movement failures.³

Large Appliances

Refrigerators, washing machines, and other large appliances fall under the Standard Plan, so they’re covered for mechanical and electrical failures, power surges, and breakdowns during normal use.⁴ Refrigerator and freezer plans add a food spoilage benefit: if a covered mechanical failure causes food to go bad, the plan reimburses up to $150 per appliance per incident, provided you submit documented proof of the loss.⁵

What the Plans Do Not Cover

Every Walmart Protection Plan excludes:

Intentional damage.
Loss and theft — the plan is not insurance for missing items.
Cosmetic damage like scratches and dents that don’t affect function.
Pre-existing conditions.
Normal wear and tear.
Consumables such as toner, ink cartridges, and batteries.
Software issues and lost data.
Heavy commercial, educational, rental, or industrial use, unless a specific business-use plan was purchased at the time of sale.

For furniture and mattress plans, stains from incontinence, body oils, perspiration, dyes, paints, bleaches, flooding, rust, fire, or caustic materials are also excluded.³

How Claims and Payouts Work

You can file a claim online at WalmartProtection.com or by calling 1-877-538-4389. Walmart says the online portal is fastest, and many claims are approved instantly.² A receipt is required for every claim, so keep yours — you can text a photo to 202202, store it in an account at WalmartProtection.com, or save it through the Walmart app.⁶

SquareTrade decides how each claim is resolved. The usual sequence is a repair attempt first, handled on-site, through the mail with free shipping, or at a local service center. If the item can’t be repaired, the company will replace it with a product of similar quality and functionality or issue a cash settlement or gift card.³ You don’t get to pick between repair, replacement, and reimbursement; the provider makes that call.

A “No Lemon” policy kicks in if a product needs a third repair for the same problem within any twelve-month period, after two prior completed repairs for that issue. At that point, the company will replace the product or provide a cash settlement. This policy does not apply to accidental damage claims.³

The maximum the plan will pay out across all claims is the “Coverage Amount,” defined as the purchase price of the product excluding taxes and fees. If you paid $500 for a TV plus $40 in sales tax, $500 is the ceiling. A replacement product may retail for less than the original as long as it matches the original’s features and functionality.³ Walmart’s help page states that plans cover replacements or repairs at no additional cost where applicable, suggesting no service fees or deductibles when you file.⁴

How It Overlaps With the Manufacturer’s Warranty

Coverage begins the day you buy the product, not after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.⁴ But if a problem comes up during the manufacturer’s warranty period, which is typically 90 days to one year, and the issue is one the manufacturer’s warranty handles, you’ll be referred to the manufacturer for service rather than to SquareTrade.¹ The protection plan acts as a backstop during the manufacturer’s warranty period and becomes the primary coverage once that warranty runs out.

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SquareTrade. Walmart Protection Plans
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Walmart. Walmart Product Care Plans
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SquareTrade. Walmart Protection Plan Terms and Conditions
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Walmart. Walmart Protection Plans by Allstate
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Asurion. Sample Terms and Conditions – Major Appliance Service Plan
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SquareTrade. Walmart Protection Plans by Allstate