Imagine waking up one morning to the realization that a sewage backup caused four inches of dirty water to overflow into your basement. You call the insurance company, only to discover that your standard homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover losses caused by water backup. The agent on the phone will undoubtedly proceed to inform you that water backup coverage can be added for an additional premium, and you will be stuck standing in your own... “excluded peril.”
Water backup is an optional coverage that can be added by endorsement to a standard homeowner's policy. This endorsement protects your home, up to a specified limit, from losses resulting from water that overflows or backs up into your home from:
It may come as a surprise to you, but the standard home insurance policy does not automatically include this highly consequential coverage. Considering that a backup in any of these critical water removal systems will result in a costly loss to your property, we aim to include this coverage on every homeowner’s quote we provide.
For new buyers searching for low price coverage options, we add water backup coverage with the lowest limit possible, usually $5,000. With a $1,000 deductible, this is a fairly limited amount of coverage. For our balanced and great coverage options, we increase this limit to $10,000 to make sure that your insurance policy provides plenty of coverage for any losses resulting from water backup.
If this is your first-time buying home insurance or are starting from scratch, we include water backup on every quote. If you already have coverage and are looking to switch insurers, we strongly recommend you consider including this coverage; so you don’t get stuck standing in your own “excluded peril”.
