Water is everywhere—and it could damage your home and property. From torrential downpours to faulty plumbing, your home could face water-related exposures from many different directions.
When it comes to water damage, one exposure that threatens homeowners is sewer backups. A sewer backup is when water backs up through your plumbing system and subsequently causes damage to parts of your home.
These backups can’t just be cleaned with a mop and bucket, either, as the water is likely to be highly contaminated—and will contaminate whatever else it damages. In general, most homeowners can spend at most $10,000 to clean up the mess from a sewer backup.
Common causes for sewer backups include clogged pipes, tree roots entangling pipes, the line between your house and the main breaking and sump pump failure.
The role of sewer backup insurance
Typically, sewer backup insurance is offered as an optional coverage or endorsement for a standard homeowners policy. Sewer backup insurance covers damage to property caused by water or waterborne material (sewage) that backs up through sewers or drains, or overflows or is discharged from a sump pump.
Some endorsements will not only cover backups that originate within the dwelling, but also occurring outside the dwelling. Most insurers offer limits of $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000, or $25,000 for this coverage.
Keep in mind that this optional insurance does not cover a drain backup resulting from a flood in the area. A private flood policy or a National Flood Insurance Program policy will be required to cover this type of loss.
Another optional endorsement provides coverage for direct physical loss to a utility line for certain specified causes. A utility line is defined in the endorsement and includes a water line. Limit options are $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000.
Why you should speak to your independent insurance agent
Sewer backups can cause thousands of dollars in damages and disrupt your life: contact your independent insurance agent today to find sewer backup coverage that fits your needs.
Matt McDonough is PIA Northeast's writer, editor and content curator. Matt joined PIA Northeast in September 2023. Before that, he had been an editor for the online entertainment magazine Collider from 2021-23 as a copy editor for its lists section. Matt entered the world of journalism at his alma mater, SUNY New Paltz, writing and reporting for the college's student run newspaper, The New Paltz Oracle. He graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Creative Writing in 2020.