Sewer/Water Policy

[Kate]

I am just wondering if any of you have an insurance policy covering the sewer/water lines from the edge of the street to your home?

In my city, the city will cover any sewer or water line pipe, etc. damage up to my property line next to the street. But, if the line breaks on my property, I am stuck with a huge bill if this problem occurs.

I can get coverage at $95 a year. Even though I may not need it for 20 years (and hopefully never), I would still be money ahead even if I kept the policy all of these years. Backhoes, etc. are not cheap.

I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks.

Kate

[Molly Brown]

Did you read the fine print on that =93insurance policy=94? If I=92m not mistaken the insurance company will choose the contractor that will do the work. Which means he can charge what ever he wants and if it=92s over the limit of what the policy will pay then you=92re stuck with the cost anyway. How about doing a Google search on a key sentence on the fine print and posting a link to it so we all here can take it apart.

[Kate]

Yes, I did read the fine print. The company is called, "National Water Company", and if you type that in Google Search, it will pop up.

They cover up to $5,000 in coverage per occurrence, within $5,000 aggregate for Water Line Protection policy. The same applies for the sewer line policy.

You are right, my ins. co. chose the contractor. I live in a very small town, and this area has been trying to find a contractor for years. I see a lot of this type of repair being done to sewer/water lines in this town, but mostly around older homes. My home is only 13 years old, but I understand newer homes have problems too.

Thanks for your input, and I hope this helps clear things up a bit.

Like I said, I welcome all feedback.

Thanks.

[HeyBub]

Hmm. My son had his sewer line replaced, about 70' from the house to the city main line.

His neighbor (a Guatemalan) dug up the old stuff (some kind of thin, black, plastic) laid in the '60s. The original was replaced with some new plastic pipe about 6" in diameter - I think it was green - with 3/8" thick walls, then covered it all back up.

Total cost was $450.

I'm glad my son has made friends in the immigrant community - they do good work and have many contacts who will do similar good work in other specialties off the books.

[Kate]

I am quite sure they would have to be busting out concrete in my case.

[Vic Smith]

I hear you, but around here you can't get away with unpermitted, unlicensed outside sewer work. The "officials" will see you doing it. But folks should really ask around and keep their ears open for getting some things done. I've saved a lot of money that way. These guys usually don't advertise, so you have to stay alert to find them. As far as those sewer lines, best insurance is to cut down any trees around them. Might keep leaves out of the gutters too.

--Vic

[George]

No

We have been getting lots of those solicitations from the water company. I can understand why because there is big money to be made selling "insurance". First it was generalized marketing. Recent ones have fluffed it up to scare folks. Now they have pictures of a backhoe digging up a lawn and claims like "it just cost your neighbor in "Smithville" $13,000 to repair their water line...

[Ed Pawlowski]

At that rate, I'd have paid for $4500 over the years and not needed it yet. I'd rather use my money for other things or put it into a "house repair" account for when things do happen. That insurance company is making money off of you can paying employees.

The electric company installed a new pole down from my house. They drilled right through my sewer line and it backed up a few weeks later. Total cost (paid by them) was $1350 for the repair.

[Colbyt]

The last one of those policies I read before I started routinely trashing them stated that "the repairs to the line was covered but the concrete, landscaping and other incidentals were not".

Be sure you read the thing with a reconvicted mindset of how are they going to screw me.

Colbyt

[Molly Brown]

May I ask how your son even knew exactly where his sewer line was? Most owners don=92t have the slightest idea where the sewer line is or how deep it is in order to dig to replace it. You can have a plumber locate it for you but around here in California they charge $300.00 just to find it for you.

[HeyBub]

I'm not sure, but I think he has access to it as it leaves the house. I presume the digging started there and just followed the (alleged) pipe to the sanitary main.

[hrhofmann]

Virtually every sewer connection I have seen in houses/buildings under construction over the past 60+ years run straight out to the sewer line in the street, or up the back property line where the sewers are run in the back lot line. I have never seen one run diagonally out to the street or back lot line, as that would require more digging and more piping.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I'm glad you said "virtually every" as opposed to "every". Mine runs out at an angle of about 30 degrees and is a long run to the sewer as I'm the first house on that line and it is the shortest distance. My next door neighbor a couple of hundred feet away is on another line going in the opposite direction. He is also uphill from me and the highest point on that line.

[Colbyt]

I had the same plumber as Ed.

Actually mine runs on an angle to allow for the under basement drain run. My original tap was on the other side of the lot but some one screwed up the mains installation and it was not deep enough.

Colbyt

[Larry W]

$95 per year does not sound unreasonable. I had to have a length of underground pipe replaced a few years ago and IIRC the cost was about $1400. Some other things to consider, though, are the deductible and the whether the insurance company will raise your rates if a claim is filed.

[Fat Dumb & Happy]

My old house, the sewer line was broken when I bought it, it was maybe two feet deep and made of 2' sections of 4 inch clay tile pipe. I dug up about 15 feet of it and shoved three inch plastic sewerline in into the old pipe hearing it crunch through the root balls at each of the old joints until I got it most of the way to to the alley, then plumbed it back to the old line coming out of the house. So far it's worked for 20+ years. And my old steel water service line developed a leak about 15 years ago, I dug a new trench by hand all 50 feet of it taking my time and soaking the ground each night. I replaced it with

3/4 inch PVC from the meter and through the old hole in the wall into the basement. Not a big deal really if you take your time and know what you are doing. And park cars around to block the view so the city doesn't bother you when you are doing it.

[Kate]

No there is no deductible, and this is a separate policy from my Homeowner's/Automobile policies. The agent told me to not hesitate if I need to file a claim on my homeowner's policy.

Thanks.

[Kate]

The problem is that I am not capable of doing any of this type of repair work. I also live in a very small town and finding someone to do this type of work can be a challenge when an emergency comes up.

Still, I appreciate your feedback and will still research this matter.

Many thanks.

[HeyBub]

I suspect EVERY town in America has a Guatemalan or two...

[George]

Our local water system is gravity fed from mountain reservoirs. So there tends to be high pressure in the early AM. Like in many areas folks started using black plastic tubing for water service lines. After some years many of those lines started to fail because they can't withstand the pressure surges. Now all new and replacement lines are K copper.

My buddies parents bought the water line and sewer line "insurance". They have a plastic service line. The line failed right inside the wall and flooded the basement. Insurance paid contractor shows up and cuts out the split section and inserts a coupling and some clamps and declares the job done. My buddy follows up and finds out they will only do the least amount of work required. If the line breaks 20 more times they will just put more bandaids on it. A few months later the line failed in another spot and flooded the basement again.

My buddy hired a contractor and in less than two hours they installed a brand new copper service line.