Sewer Backup Insurance
It is one of a homeowner’s worst nightmares – you walk into a room in your home and hear your feet sloshing on wet carpet and see water pooling in the corners. Questions flow through your mind. What happened? What is that smell? Where is the water coming from? How much is it going to cost to fix this? Perhaps you briefly find comfort in remembering that you have homeowners’ insurance and maybe even flood insurance. But will it be enough? Even if you think you are protected by your other coverages, don’t forget to add a sewer backup rider to your policy.
What Does Sewer Backup Insurance Cover?
Adding a sewer backup rider to your homeowners’ insurance policy adds an endorsement for water backup and sump discharge that will cover losses caused by:
- The backup of water or waterborne materials through a sewer or drain
- Water or waterborne material that overflows from a sump, even if the backup of water is due to sump pump mechanical failure. It would also cover damage to covered property, but excludes the sump pump itself and any related equipment that has broken down.
A sewer backup rider does not cover losses due to owner negligence, like damage resulting from forgetting to turn on your sump pump, or damages caused by a flood.
Why You Need Sewer Backup Coverage
Water, sewer, and sump backups can happen anywhere, often without warning. Anticipating and protecting your home and property from related damages is critical.
A standard homeowners’ insurance policy does not cover sewer or sump backup. Even if you have flood insurance, and the sewer or sump backup occurs during or immediately following heavy rain, it is still possible damages would not be covered.
How Much Does Sewer Backup Coverage Cost?
There are several variables to consider when calculating the cost of sewer backup insurance, but there are many affordable options. It is best to speak to an experienced insurance agent, like a member of the team at Hanson & Ryan Inc., to discuss coverage costs, limits, and deductibles and find the most affordable way to protect your home and personal property.
Protecting Your Home
Having sewer backup insurance is important to protect you from unavoidable water and sewer backups, but there are several things you can do to minimize the chances you could experience damages, including:
- Avoid flushing anything other than toilet paper down your drains.
- Dispose of cooled cooking grease in your garbage instead of down your drain.
- Landscape around your home’s foundation to ensure proper draining. It’s possible water entering your home is due to poor soil grading around your home’s exterior. Correcting it may fix the problem and reduce your anxieties over sewer or sump backup.
- Monitor shrub and tree roots. They can apply pressure to vulnerabilities in your sewer lines, creating cracks and causing buildup of debris. If such a problem persists, you may want to replace the pipe with one made of plastic.
- Make sure all plumbing connections are legal and up to code. Connecting flood control systems to your sanitary sewer could cause major trouble. Consult a plumber to inspect your systems and correct any illegal connections.
Your Local Sewer Backup Insurance Agents
Water backups can cause significant damages to your home and personal property, damages that can be costly. But you can mitigate challenges by having a comprehensive homeowners’ policy with a sewer backup rider. At Hanson & Ryan Inc., we pride ourselves in being detail-oriented and ensuring you are protected from any coverage gaps. We have been providing for our customers’ insurance needs since 1876. Please contact us today so our experts can help make sure you have the right insurance to suit your needs.
