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Jump right to it: The best sewer and water line insurance plans are offered by Choice Home Warranty.

Your home insurance may have some expensive coverage gaps when it comes to sewer lines. If your sewer line fails, chances are good that you’re on the hook for repairs, which could cost thousands.

Sewer line insurance promises to protect your home from sewer line risks in exchange for a monthly premium or fee. Here’s what to consider.

Quick Look: The Best Sewer Line Insurance

• Best for Coverage for Normal Wear and Tear: Choice Home Warranty
• Best for Diminishing Deductible Option: American Family Insurance
• HomeServe
• Service Line Warranties of America
• American Water Resources
• Erie Insurance
• Mercury Insurance

Best Sewer Line Insurance

When choosing a sewer line protection insurance plan, you’ll find similar coverage available through warranty providers and insurers. However, some coverage plans may have deductibles, hidden costs or gaps in coverage that can cost you money if you need a sewer line repair.

It’s also important to note that sewer line insurance does not cover damage to your home. For sewer backup or sump pump overflow coverage, ask your home insurance provider if you can get a rider.

1. Choice Home Warranty

While not technically insurance, Choice Home Warranty offers valuable coverage, including for some things that may fall outside of your traditional home insurance policy, like sewer line insurance.

Choice Home Warranty offers several plans that provide coverage for plumbing issues, including 1 plan that offer sewer line coverage. Their plans offer protection for several other types of appliances and so forth that aren’t always covered with your traditional home insurance policy.

Get in touch with Choice Home Warranty for your free home warranty quote.

2. American Family Insurance

American Family Insurance is an insurance provider offering a wide range of both standard and niche policies. Their products include anything from home insurance to landlord insurance to sewer line coverage.

Their Sewer and Water Line Insurance policy covers the following:

• Wear and tear
• Sewer line collapse
• Rust, corrosion, decay and deterioration
• Electrical breakdown
• Mechanical breakdown
• Pressure system breakdown
• Hidden or latent defect
• Freezing of sewer line

American Family Insurance offers several other useful standalone and add-on policies, like water and power line insurance. Get in touch with them to get a free quote today.

3. HomeServe

As one of the nation’s best-known home warranty companies, HomeServe offers a selection of warranty products. These include sewer line coverage as well as bundled coverage. It pairs sewer line protection with other plumbing concerns, like interior plumbing and drainage system coverage. For sewer line coverage, expect to pay about $13 per month for $6,000 in coverage.

However, coverage per call is limited to $3,000 or $1,000 per call for service line restoration (as opposed to sewer line replacement). Like many providers, HomeServe has a 30-day wait period before coverage becomes effective. All covered repairs have a one-year guarantee.

4. Service Line Warranties of America

One of the most affordable plans also offers some of the best coverage limits. Service Line Warranties of America offers an unlimited annual benefit amount with an $8,500 per call coverage limit.

We found a plan for under $6 per month, although availability varies by area. Preexisting conditions may affect eligibility and homes that have had prior tree root removal from sewer or septic lines are not eligible. Repairs are performed by local licensed and insured technicians and work is guaranteed for one year.

5. American Water Resources

Choose from plans that cover sewer lines or bundled plans. These cover sewer and water lines as well as an option to add coverage for other plumbing emergencies. Basic sewer line coverage with American Water Resources is priced at $9 per month.

Coverage limits are $10,000 per occurrence, including sewer line repair, refill, and reseeding, as well as sidewalk or road repair related to the sewer line service. A $50 per call service fee may apply. Repairs are guaranteed for one year and coverage is subject to a 30-day waiting period.

6. Erie Insurance

A well-respected insurer with a history of protecting families dating back to 1925, Erie Insurance provides sewer line protection as part of a service line protection bundle. New or existing ErieSecure home insurance clients can add coverage, choosing from 2 plans that cover a range of utility lines including:

• Cable lines
• Internet lines
• Electrical wiring
• Natural gas pipes
• Propane pipes
• Sewer pipes

Erie’s Plus bundle provides up to $10,000 of coverage while the Select bundle extends coverage up to $25,000, enough to cover most big jobs. Your chosen deductible may apply for each occurrence, but higher coverage limits bring greater peace of mind. To inquire about coverage and pricing, just reach out to one of Erie’s 12,000 plus independent agents.

7. Mercury Insurance

One of the fastest-growing insurers and a company with a 50-year history of protecting families, Mercury Insurance. They offer service line protection as an add-on to its home insurance policies. $10,000 of coverage is paired with an affordable $500 deductible to provide coverage for a broad range of service lines, including sewer lines.

As a plus, Mercury’s coverage also helps pay for additional living expenses if your home becomes temporarily uninhabitable due to a covered service line claim. Not bad for a few extra dollars per month.

What is Sewer Line Insurance

Sewer lines and most service lines running from your house to a utility aren’t covered by standard home insurance. Some insurers offer a rider, an add-on that extends limited coverage, and there are also companies that sell sewer service line coverage as a standalone contract or as part of a larger home warranty.

What Does Sewer Line Insurance Cover?

Sewer lines can fail over time, either collapsing, becoming clogged or invaded by roots. The problem may cost hundreds to fix if it can be repaired from above ground.

If the problem requires digging and line replacement, you can expect to pay thousands to fix your sewer line if you don’t have coverage.

There are a few considerations before buying coverage. Most home insurance policies don’t cover damage from sewer backup. Often, this is available as an add-on and is separate from coverage for sewer lines themselves.

A smaller group of insurers also offer service line endorsements, add-ons that provide coverage for sewer line failures which expand your home insurance coverage. Specialized coverage for sewer line protection is also available from a number of dedicated providers or home warranty companies.

Average Cost of Sewer Line Insurance

When purchasing sewer line protection as standalone coverage, expect to pay about $10 to $15 per month or higher.

We found plans that only covered sewer lines for under $10 per month, although pricing and availability may vary by location. Many providers for sewer line protection partner with regional utility providers or only service select areas.

If your insurer offers a sewer line endorsement, your monthly cost is likely to be lower. However, if a deductible applies, the savings may be erased if you have a claim. It’s unusual to find a home insurance deductible of less than $500 and a $1,000 or higher deductible is more common.

Consider the deductible when comparing prices for coverage.

Who Needs Sewer Line Insurance?

Insurance is designed to cover life’s larger financial losses. Sewer line service is likely to cost thousands, so it’s worth considering. Older homes are more likely to need sewer line repair as pipes age.

To dive deeper, you have to look at the pipes. In homes built before the 1950s, sewer pipes were commonly made of clay, cast iron or a fiber conduit called Orangeburg. Of these pipe types, Orangeburg has proven itself to be the most problematic due to its porous nature. It absorbs moisture and its tendency to deform under pressure.

Orangeburg was used often in homes up until the 1970s. Even newer materials like ABS or PVC aren’t designed to last forever. Consider the potential cost of replacement when deciding if sewer line coverage is a good value.

For example, HomeAdvisor.com estimates the average cost to repair a sewer line at over $2,500 but cautions that costs could run much higher. If you were able to secure coverage for about $10 per month, your cost for a year of coverage is $120 for a year or $1,200 for a decade.

Clay pipes can last up to 50 or 60 years, while PVC can last over 100 years. If you have either of these types of pipes and you have a newer home, it’s unlikely that you need sewer line insurance.

Building an emergency savings account is a thriftier option. However, if your home is older, you may be on borrowed time. If you suspect you may have a sewer line failure sometime within the next 10 to 20 years, sewer line coverage can be a money-saver.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Sewer Lines?

This all depends on your provider, but sewer line coverage is often not built into a standard homeowners policy. Some providers do include it, though, and others offer it as an add-on or standalone policy. Some insurers may offer home warranties that include sewer line damage. Check out some of our favorite homeowners insurance policies below to see if they offer sewer line coverage as part of their available products.

Choosing the Right Sewer Line Insurance

Sewer line protection can be purchased as either a sewer line warranty product or as an add-on to your home insurance policy. Some insurers that offer service line coverage as an endorsement don’t advertise the coverage. Check with your home insurance provider or agent to see if there’s an add-on available. Check with competitors, too. If service line coverage is a priority for you, it may be worth considering a switch to an insurer that can provide the coverage you need.

Warranties or sewer line protection plans are often offered without deductibles but can be more costly on a monthly basis. As always, read the fine print before making a commitment. Many plans have exclusions that may affect coverage for your home.

Frequently Asked Questions

The post Best Sewer and Water Line Insurance Plans by Eric Huffman appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.