TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2020
Water damage is one of the most pervasive and unsanitary hazards that might impact your home. That’s especially true when water damage comes from broken pipes or sewer overflows. This damage might occur underground, but it might easily cause water and waste to flood into the home. Unfortunately, your homeowners insurance might only provide limited, if any coverage. Therefore, you might need to get extended coverage endorsements to cover these items. Here’s what to do with your policy to ensure it offers protection. 
Homeowners Insurance for Flood & Water Damage
Homeowners insurance almost never covers water damage unless that damage originates in the home. For example, if a pipe bursts in your water heater and floods your living room, then your homeowners policy will likely pay. However, floods originating outside the home usually don’t have coverage. You’ll usually need to buy separate flood insurance if you want protection against hazards like flash flooding or storm surge.
Still, even flood policies won’t cover certain types of outside water damage. A sudden break in your sump pump or sewer lines often won’t have coverage under either standard homeowners or flood coverage. You might not be able to anticipate these events, but they can still cause a lot of damage to the home. They still need appropriate coverage.
There are solutions to getting coverage for sewer backups or utility line damage. Often, you can get them by adding endorsements directly to your homeowners policy.
Endorsements for Sewer and Water Line Backups
By buying endorsements for your homeowners insurance, you can expand your policy. You'll gain coverage for hazards that the policy won’t cover in its basic form. When it comes to sewer or water line damage and the resulting floods, then you likely have a couple of options at your disposal.
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Water Backup Coverage: If your water lines, sump pump or other plumbing back up and water and waste infiltrate the home, then this coverage can pay for the necessary repairs and remediation.
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Service Line Coverage: Various lines—electricity, water, internet—deliver utility services to your home. If these sustain damage, then this coverage can pay for the repairs to line. It can also cover any damage done to the property if repairmen must dig to reach the it.
Some insurers automatically add these endorsements to homeowners policies. In other cases you must explicitly request them when buying your coverage. Your agent can help you do so in a way that offers you ample protection without a significant increase in your premiums.
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