As a homeowner, knowing your insurance coverage is important, particularly when it comes to costly fixes. One area that many homeowners tend to neglect is their sewer lines. Damages to your sewer line can be expensive to remediate, but are they covered by your typical home insurance policy? In this article, we’re going to cover the details of home insurance coverage, what is generally not covered, and how you can protect your home from sewer systems.
What Is a Sewer Line and Why Does It Matter?
A sewer line is the pipeline that links your home’s plumbing system to the public sewer system or a septic tank. It transports wastewater and sewage from your home to the city’s main system of sewage disposal, keeping your household plumbing working.
That said, it is common for sewer lines to get damaged over time, as they are buried underground and may be subject to wear-and-tear, tree root intrusion, shifting soil, or natural deterioration. Having to repair or replace a sewer line can cost thousands of dollars, which can be a financial burden.
What Does Standard Home Insurance Cover Regarding Sewer Line Damage?
Typically Excluded in Standard Policies
A standard home insurance policy does not cover sewer line damage. Home insurance typically covers your house and possessions against risks, such as fire, theft or vandalism. However, the responsibility to maintain sewer lines usually falls to the homeowner, and so standard coverage does not include sewer line repairs unless they are tied to a covered peril.
Covered Situations
Though rare, there are a few circumstances in which sewer line damage might be covered by a typical home insurance policy:
- Sudden and Accidental Damage: If the sewer line is damaged by fire, a lightning strike, or another covered cause of loss (as specified in the policy), your insurer might cover the damage to your home.
- Vandalism or Theft: If damage to the sewer line is intentional, the result of a break-in, or an act of vandalism, some policies may cover repairs depending on the terms of the policy.
But typical causes of sewer line damage — such as tree roots breaking into the pipes, corrosion or general wear and tear — are not covered under standard home insurance policies.
Sewer Backup Coverage
What is Sewer Backup?
Sewer backup is when wastewater backs up into your house through drains or toilets, generally as a result of a blockage or malfunction in the sewer line. This can lead to serious damage for your floors, walls, and personal possessions.
Many homeowners waste their money though because they wrongly assume that sewer backup damage is covered under their default home insurance policy. But this is not usually the case.
Optional Add-on Coverage
To guard against sewer backups, homeowners can add an endorsement (often referred to as “overflow or sump pump coverage”) to their home insurance policy.
What Does Sewer Backup Coverage Provide?
- Repairs and Restoration: Covers cleanup and restoration expenses for damage done by sewer backup, including mold removal, flooring replacement, etc., and repairing any water-damaged parts of the home.
- Loss of Personal Property: Covers damage to your personal belongings like furniture and electronics that may get damaged will getting caught in the sewer backup.
What Sewer Backup Coverage Doesn’t Cover:
- Sewer Line Repair: This coverage protects your home against damage from a sewer backup but not the cost of repair or the replacement of the sewer line itself.
How to Obtain Sewer Backup Coverage
This is an optional endorsement, so you\’ll need to ask your insurer for it. Some insurers might offer it automatically, while others might ask you to opt in and pay an additional premium. Always check the details of your policy regarding sewer backup coverage.
Service Line Coverage: A New Choice for Homeowners
What is Service Line Coverage?
Over the last few years, insurance companies have started offering service line coverage for many types of underground utility lines, including the sewer line that connects your home to municipal services. This coverage is usually offered as an optional endorsement or rider to your homeowners’ policy.
What’s Included with Service Line Coverage?
- Repair or Replacement of Damaged Service Lines: This pays for repairing or replacing damaged sewer lines (and other service lines, like water or gas lines) running from your house to the street or main service connection.
- Covered Damages: Damages covered by a service line policy usually include damage resulting from deterioration, accidents, corrosion, tree root intrusion or other external damage from construction or other causes.
Why You Need Service Line Coverage
Repairing sewer lines can be costly, and many homeowners don’t realize they are responsible for keeping the line up to where it connects to the public sewer system. Service line coverage fills this gap, providing financial protection for repairs that would otherwise fall to the homeowner.
How to Add Service Line Coverage
Similar to sewer backup coverage, service line coverage is not part of standard policies and needs an endorsement. It’s important to check with your insurance company whether they provide this type of coverage and if so how much it will cost. For many homeowners, this additional coverage offers peace of mind, especially considering sewer line repairs can cost thousands.
Whose Responsibility Are the Sewer Lines: Municipal or Homeowner?
The municipality usually owns and maintains the main sewer lines that run down the street, but homeowners own the sewer line that connects from their home to the public system. This includes:
- That portion of the sewer line which runs under the property (from the house to under the road connection point).
The work required to repair a sewer line in this part of the home will fall on the homeowner\’s shoulders, which can make sewer line coverage particularly beneficial to homeowners who wish to go through life without incurring those costs.
What You Can Do to Avoid Problems as a Homeowner
Sewer line issues can run you tons of money to repair, but you can prevent a costly problem by taking these precautions:
- Routine Inspections: Seek regular sewer line inspections from a professional plumber, particularly if your home is older or situated in an area subject to aggressive tree roots.
- Don’t Flush the Debris: Pay attention to what goes down your drains and toilets. Don’t flush large objects, grease, or anything that won’t break down and can cause a blockage in the sewer system.
- Preventive Measures Using Tree Roots: If large trees are near your sewer line, put root barriers or consult with an arborist to prevent root intrusion.
- Explore a Maintenance Plan: Many towns offer some form of sewer line maintenance plan to assist with repair costs. Please verify with your local government if it exists in your jurisdiction.
Conclusion
Damage to sewer lines is a major risk for homeowners, but it usually isn\’t covered by regular home insurance. All is not lost though and you have a number of choices for protecting your property against the expensive cost of sewer line repair. Add-on options for sewer backup coverage and service line coverage can offer that protection you want. Always check with your insurance policy and discuss with your agent about the coverage that’s best for your home.
But with a few proactive, smart additions to a homeowner policy, you can protect around your home from sewer line damage and all that comes from it, and enjoy more peace of mind.