When Your Sewer Backs Up
The consequences of a sewer backup are very unfortunate, and is a dirty and costly job to clean up. When there is excessive snow melting or higher than average rainfall in a certain area, this can make the drainage system overloaded, and it can cause a sewer backup. The waste water flows back, through the pipes, into your home. When sewage flows into your home, the damages can be very expensive and messy to clean up, and also there are health implications. Immediate cleanup is required, and can be very expensive. While there are some steps you can take to prevent sewer backup damage, the only way to financially protect your family and home against sewer backup damage is to buy insurance.
The tub or sink can just fill with the excess water sometimes, but if it goes through the toilet pipe, it will flow over the edge more quickly since it is full of water, and this situation can happen with no warning. The bacteria laden water can get all over your home, and it can also damage your furniture or other possessions.
Sewer backup is usually excluded from the list of insurable damages in traditional insurance company policies. Most times, the homeowner can pay extra and have a rider attached to include it. In some areas, the risk of flooding causing sewer back up is so high, that insurers will only add sewer back up coverage in small increments, up to a specified limit. This limit may or may not be sufficient to cover the cleanup, let alone the replacement of damaged goods. Carpeting needs to be replaced after, and many times, new drywall will also need to be put in. And think about the cost to replace all of the belongings kept in your basement.
Sewer backup insurance will protect a homeowner from the cleanup costs and damages associated when sewer waste flows into a home. When the policy you hold deals with losses using a replacement cost calculation, damaged property will be covered as well. Other policies provide coverage on an actual cash value basis. When a policy is designed like this, property that is damaged will be covered based on the depreciated value of each item.
In the majority of cases, the city you live in will not be legally responsible for sewer backups. Unless sewer backup is mentioned specifically in your home insurance policy, a rider must be purchased to be covered in case of damages from this cause. The cost varies with your home's risk for a backup. Damages that will be covered have their limits, and they will have their own deductibles, with these riders. The limits vary with the type of policy coverage and the insurer.
Most homeowners probably don't realize that they are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their main sewer line - the pipeline that runs between their house and the municipality's sewer main, usually located underneath the street. The property owner is responsible for maintaining the sewer line to the street or public right of way, as owner of the line, they are expected to maintain it.
As the years pass, cracks can form on the lines, they can have obstructions, or they can simply deteriorate and collapse. It can be difficult to know if the line is damaged. If there is a major rainstorm or melt, the issue with the pipes will become obvious quickly.
Typically, sewer backup is not covered by a home or business insurance policy, so to be safeguarded against these unfortunate circumstances, the purchase of a rider is necessary. Take the time to make sure you are protected.
The tub or sink can just fill with the excess water sometimes, but if it goes through the toilet pipe, it will flow over the edge more quickly since it is full of water, and this situation can happen with no warning. The bacteria laden water can get all over your home, and it can also damage your furniture or other possessions.
Sewer backup is usually excluded from the list of insurable damages in traditional insurance company policies. Most times, the homeowner can pay extra and have a rider attached to include it. In some areas, the risk of flooding causing sewer back up is so high, that insurers will only add sewer back up coverage in small increments, up to a specified limit. This limit may or may not be sufficient to cover the cleanup, let alone the replacement of damaged goods. Carpeting needs to be replaced after, and many times, new drywall will also need to be put in. And think about the cost to replace all of the belongings kept in your basement.
Sewer backup insurance will protect a homeowner from the cleanup costs and damages associated when sewer waste flows into a home. When the policy you hold deals with losses using a replacement cost calculation, damaged property will be covered as well. Other policies provide coverage on an actual cash value basis. When a policy is designed like this, property that is damaged will be covered based on the depreciated value of each item.
In the majority of cases, the city you live in will not be legally responsible for sewer backups. Unless sewer backup is mentioned specifically in your home insurance policy, a rider must be purchased to be covered in case of damages from this cause. The cost varies with your home's risk for a backup. Damages that will be covered have their limits, and they will have their own deductibles, with these riders. The limits vary with the type of policy coverage and the insurer.
Most homeowners probably don't realize that they are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their main sewer line - the pipeline that runs between their house and the municipality's sewer main, usually located underneath the street. The property owner is responsible for maintaining the sewer line to the street or public right of way, as owner of the line, they are expected to maintain it.
As the years pass, cracks can form on the lines, they can have obstructions, or they can simply deteriorate and collapse. It can be difficult to know if the line is damaged. If there is a major rainstorm or melt, the issue with the pipes will become obvious quickly.
Typically, sewer backup is not covered by a home or business insurance policy, so to be safeguarded against these unfortunate circumstances, the purchase of a rider is necessary. Take the time to make sure you are protected.
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