Basis of Presentation	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Basis of Presentation [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Note 1. Basis of Presentation References in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “Frontdoor,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refer to frontdoor, inc. and all of its subsidiaries. Frontdoor is a Delaware corporation with its principal executive offices in Memphis, Tennessee. Certain amounts presented in the tables in this report are subject to rounding adjustments and, as a result, the totals in such tables may not sum. We are the largest provider of home service plans in the U.S., as measured by revenue, and operate under the American Home Shield, HSA, OneGuard and Landmark brands. Our customizable home service plans help customers protect and maintain their homes, typically their most valuable asset, from costly and unplanned breakdowns of essential home systems and appliances. Our home service plans cover the repair or replacement of major components of up to 21 household systems and appliances, including electrical, plumbing, central HVAC systems, water heaters, refrigerators, dishwashers and ranges/ovens/cooktops. In 2019, we launched our new on-demand home services business, just recently rebranded as ProConnect, and we acquired Streem, a technology startup that uses augmented reality, computer vision and machine learning to help home service professionals more quickly and accurately diagnose breakdowns and complete repairs and to help real estate professionals consult with and provide virtual tours to potential buyers and agents. We serve customers across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We recommend that the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated and combined financial statements and the notes thereto included in our 2019 Form 10-K. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for the fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for any interim period are not indicative of the results that might be achieved for a full year. Impact of COVID-19 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) characterized the recent novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) as a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, the U.S. declared a national emergency concerning the outbreak. The broader implications of COVID-19 on our results of operations and overall financial performance remain uncertain. In response to the pandemic, we have taken a number of steps to protect the well-being of our employees, customers and contractors, and we continue to respond to the real-time needs of our business. The COVID-19 situation remains very fluid, and we continue to adjust our response in real time. While we did not experience a material impact on our results of operations and overall financial performance during the first quarter, during the second and third quarters of 2020, our results of operations and financial performance were adversely impacted by COVID-19 as follows: We experienced a decline in first-year real estate sales attributable, in part, to the adverse impact COVID-19 had on U.S. existing home sales. Due to the annual nature of our service plan agreements, the impact of this decline will carry forward into future periods. We experienced an increase in appliance and plumbing claims primarily due to the increased usage of home systems and appliances driven by state and local shelter at home orders and recommendations. In addition, industry-wide availability challenges in the appliance trade have caused increased cost pressure. We increased our marketing spend in the first-year direct-to-consumer channel to help mitigate the decline in first-year real estate sales. We incurred incremental wages at our contact centers due to increased demand driven by temporary closures at our offshore business process outsourcers. We incurred incremental direct costs in response to COVID-19, which were temporary in nature and primarily related to incremental health and childcare benefits for our employees and hoteling costs related to our offshore business process outsourcers.

Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

References in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “Frontdoor,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refer to frontdoor, inc. and all of its subsidiaries. Frontdoor is a Delaware corporation with its principal executive offices in Memphis, Tennessee. Certain amounts presented in the tables in this report are subject to rounding adjustments and, as a result, the totals in such tables may not sum.

We are the largest provider of home service plans in the U.S., as measured by revenue, and operate under the American Home Shield, HSA, OneGuard and Landmark brands. Our customizable home service plans help customers protect and maintain their homes, typically their most valuable asset, from costly and unplanned breakdowns of essential home systems and appliances. Our home service plans cover the repair or replacement of major components of up to 21 household systems and appliances, including electrical, plumbing, central HVAC systems, water heaters, refrigerators, dishwashers and ranges/ovens/cooktops. In 2019, we launched our new on-demand home services business, just recently rebranded as ProConnect, and we acquired Streem, a technology startup that uses augmented reality, computer vision and machine learning to help home service professionals more quickly and accurately diagnose breakdowns and complete repairs and to help real estate professionals consult with and provide virtual tours to potential buyers and agents. We serve customers across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

We recommend that the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated and combined financial statements and the notes thereto included in our 2019 Form 10-K. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for the fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for any interim period are not indicative of the results that might be achieved for a full year.

Impact of COVID-19

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) characterized the recent novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) as a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, the U.S. declared a national emergency concerning the outbreak. The broader implications of COVID-19 on our results of operations and overall financial performance remain uncertain. In response to the pandemic, we have taken a number of steps to protect the well-being of our employees, customers and contractors, and we continue to respond to the real-time needs of our business. The COVID-19 situation remains very fluid, and we continue to adjust our response in real time.

While we did not experience a material impact on our results of operations and overall financial performance during the first quarter, during the second and third quarters of 2020, our results of operations and financial performance were adversely impacted by COVID-19 as follows:

We experienced a decline in first-year real estate sales attributable, in part, to the adverse impact COVID-19 had on U.S. existing home sales. Due to the annual nature of our service plan agreements, the impact of this decline will carry forward into future periods.

We experienced an increase in appliance and plumbing claims primarily due to the increased usage of home systems and appliances driven by state and local shelter at home orders and recommendations. In addition, industry-wide availability challenges in the appliance trade have caused increased cost pressure.

We increased our marketing spend in the first-year direct-to-consumer channel to help mitigate the decline in first-year real estate sales.

We incurred incremental wages at our contact centers due to increased demand driven by temporary closures at our offshore business process outsourcers.

We incurred incremental direct costs in response to COVID-19, which were temporary in nature and primarily related to incremental health and childcare benefits for our employees and hoteling costs related to our offshore business process outsourcers.