# Sewer main & water line insurance



## plumberkc (Jun 23, 2011)

*Sewer main &amp; water line insurance*

Homeowners in my area are targeted heavily by companies offering sewer and water main line insurance. 

Seems a lot like warranty companies with water heaters. Always charging double for expansion tanks and PRV's. 

I am trying to identify the downside of using these types of insurance companies. In my area most of the work goes to out of town companies who then sub out the work while taking half the profit. 

Seems like the downsides for sewer are you don't usually get your line replaced, just repaired. They also seem to leave people hanging for several days while they are without sewer.


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

Here the amounts they are willing to pay are low but I have had some customers get the max they pay out and pay the rest out of pocket. Some this worked for others it did not because I was not on the list of contractors they could use.


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## plumberkc (Jun 23, 2011)

Cuda said:


> Here the amounts they are willing to pay are low but I have had some customers get the max they pay out and pay the rest out of pocket. Some this worked for others it did not because I was not on the list of contractors they could use.


Can you elaborate on the shortfalls of their service?


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

shortfalls? hmmm it usually is very cheap like $5 per month, around here the average sewer camera job is $199 but the insurance company pays $75.00 but because of some amount of volume some camera guys will do it (I won't) The average water replacement is $3500 and the insurance company pays out $2500 max so all in all for the cost to the homeowner is small and the pay out is a bit low for any job as long as the insurance company will write the full amount and let the customer pay any extra needed out of pocket it's a good deal really.


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## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

Thars a tough racket! Cuda is right about the pay out amounts. I subbed for a guy that does our area. Most homeowners put up a real fight having to pay anything! Theres a ton of gray areas on whats covered, how much they will spend. Etc. the paperwork and red tape seemed to be far from worth it. You have to do massive volume to even turn a profit.


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## plumberkc (Jun 23, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm not so much interested in being a sub for these companies, more focused on writing up blogs that convince homeowners not to purchase the insurance.


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## fixitright (Jan 5, 2012)

We have at least one municipality near here that offers main line insurance for replacement.

The way it's written seems to be a good deal for the homeowners. 
I have no idea how much contractors get paid.

That said we have another municipality that requires all home sales to have a sewer inspection and any flaw is a fail and needs repair. 

Their thought is not with the homeowner in mind but ground water contamination and seepage back into the lateral thus sending ground water to the treatment plant.

I believe we will see more of this in the future. Anything like this in your areas?


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