I asked this in the plumbing section as it has to do with sewer backup, but this is likely a good place to post it as well...

I purchased my house about 2 years ago and did not purchase sewer backup insurance, as my insurance agent said I did not need it since my house is on a slab. Now that I think about it, I feel kind of stupid that I did not verify this advice with someone...

Anyway, a friend of mine just had his basement damaged do to his sewer backing up and it got me thinking about the fact that I do not have insurance for that... my question is, does the plumbing mechanics of a house on a slab make me immune to my sewer backing up?

Thanks for the help.

No, you are not immune because you are on a slab. Where there is a sewer line, it can back up.

I will even go as far as to say that if your house is on a slab with no basement, this should seem like a must, as the sewer line will back up into your living area, making things all the more disgusting and costly.

Granted, a backup in a basement isn't a pretty picture either, but if I had to choose, Id rather sewage back up in a basement as oppsed to my bathroom. Of course you have to have some type of fixture in the basement for water to back up into.

Yep, if it backs up in a basement, you clean it out, and hose the basement out ( unless it is a finished basement)

But in a house wthout a basement, and no crawl space, on a slab the backup will all go directly into the hosue.

I always mention New Orleans, how many lived under sea level and did not have flood insurance.

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Originally Posted by Dillinger

I asked this in the plumbing section as it has to do with sewer backup, but this is likely a good place to post it as well...

I purchased my house about 2 years ago and did not purchase sewer backup insurance, as my insurance agent said I did not need it since my house is on a slab. Now that I think about it, I feel kind of stupid that I did not verify this advice with someone...

Anyways, a friend of mine just had his basement damaged do to his sewer backing up and it got me thinking about the fact that I do not have insurance for that...my question is, does the plumbing mechanics of a house on a slab make me immune to my sewer backing up?

Thanks for the help.

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I am an ins agent, never heard of "sewer backup insurance", enlighted me some if you can. Right off hand, if the backup damage was caused by the utility company not maintaining say the lines off you property, then they would be responsible right, so why the need except you are concerning with the backup being caused by some malfunction that occurs on your property or with your plumbing?

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Originally Posted by RichardBondMan

I am an ins agent, never heard of "sewer backup insurance", enlighted me some if you can. Right off hand, if the backup damage was caused by the utility company not maintaining say the lines off you property, then they would be responsible right, so why the need except you are concerning with the backup being caused by some malfunction that occurs on your property or with your plumbing?

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It does excist, I had it on my older home with a septic and my insurance was through State Farm.

Whether a utility has to pay for a sewer backup may be in question.
About 5 years ago, a sewer line somewhere in the suburbs of Roanoke Virginia backed up and ruined the basements of a whole block of houses. I may be mistaken, but I think the utility got out of paying anything, other than the cost of fixing the problem that caused it. Thus, that is why it was on the news, all the people got to complaining about it.

Around here, utilities and municipalities are quick to pass the buck or deny responsibility to anything.

If you visited or called me for such insurance, I would ask you to contact your homeowner's or renter's insurance company to see if such an incident were covered. I know of no company that has a separate policy known as "sewer backup insurance". There are so many other perils that can affect a structure other than a sewer backing up - consider for a minute how minuscule the market would be for a company that is trying to sell only a "sewer backup" insurance policy. The coverage is (or is not) part of a more comprehensive policy that typically covers many other perils that all structures might be exposed to.

The insurance I was speaking about was just a rider to my homeowners policy, I don't know of anyone who offers it as a stand alone policy.

I recently experienced sewer back up in that two feet of water entered my house through the sewer. When I called USAA regarding my coverage I did have a rider for sewer backup on my policy the denied coverage and refused to pay sewer back up according to USAA is not when water or anything else backs up your sewer and ruins your basement washer dryer and maybe your brand new three week old furnace ($7,200) This is a rip off the defination of sewer backup changes with who ever you talk to. There is really no coverage there is a $1,000 deductib which means if My sewer just backed up I would call the rooder rutter man for less than two hundred dollars There should be a class action suit against the insurancer companies for misrepresentation of this policy

Keep in mind you only pay the rutter man $200 but what about coverage to your furniture? They won't pay for that! You ins co will if you have the back up coverage added. This type of coverage is an endorsement to the policy for an additional premium. The deduc is $1000 but the ins co will pay for the rest up to the limits on your policy. This type of coverage is NOT a rip off as you stated... when your policy was written this is offered to you, if you chose not to take the coverage, then you should have signed something showing you declinded the covg. If you did not sign anything, you may want to call your adjuster (claims) and inform them that you were not offered the coverage and see if they can reimburse you SOME of you $ back. As for the agent, make sure they add the coverage to your policy at this point. The prob can always happen again. @usaavictim

It seems that the most that any insurance company will pay for sewer backup is 10,000.00 if you are covered, which did not come near to covering my losses. I have not found anyone who will cover more than that. My costs were 35,000.00, and that did not account for items other than washer, dryer, furnace and hot water heater.

That is the limit of the coverage for the policy or the limit you purchased. .