# SEWER INSURANCE? Collapsed pipes from house to street?



## alecmcmahon (Apr 30, 2010)

I've been in my home about a year now, My next door neighbor had mentioned that the 1950's sewer pipes used on our street have been failing over the past few years.

He had to replace his about 5-6 years ago and it ran him near $20,000 dollars.

He said that there is Sewer insurance out there that can be purchased to help recoup some of the cost of when and if it happens.

Though, my home owners ins. company ( naragesst bay insurance ) doesnt offer this. 

Anybody familiar with this type of insurance ? 

Any insight about it , and what company might offer this would be great.

Thanks!


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

There is some info on the web about it. It sounds like an added premium that may or may not help you in the long run. You should get an opinion from your insurance agent. If they do not offer it it is probably because there is not a high demand for it.

A better insurance would be to pay a plumber to run a camera through the line to look for potential problems. If the plumber finds signs of trouble, you may find sewer insurance worth your while.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

Jim F said:


> A better insurance would be to pay a plumber to run a camera through the line to look for potential problems. If the plumber finds signs of trouble, you may find sewer insurance worth your while.


I never heard of sewer insurance, but if they do have it, and the plumber found signs of trouble ahead of time, wouldn't they consider that a pre-existing condition and deny coverage?:laughing:

Mike Hawkins


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## iamrfixit (Jan 30, 2011)

I've never heard of anything like that. Insurance companies generally cover themselves pretty well, if they did write such a thing they would likely want an inspection done before they would insure anyway. 

I don't know where you are located but 20 grand to connect to a municipal sewer is completely over the top and way out of line. Even a septic system can be installed for around 10k. There must be way more to that story or your neighbor got totally ripped off! 

Around here 75 foot of pipe replacement would cost about $2000-3000 and that is too high! I rented a backhoe and replaced my own, total cost was about $350 and a day of hard work for me and a friend.:thumbup:


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## md2lgyk (Jan 6, 2009)

Wow. Unless you're 200 yards from the municipal sewer, $20,000 is w-a-a-a-y too much. I had to replace my sewer pipe once (about 100 ft) and it was less than $3,000. The septic system in my new house was only $4,000.

Failure of older sewer pipes is not uncommon since they're clay pipe. Especially if there are trees nearby. But I have never heard of sewer insurance either.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Yeah 20k seems crazy. I guess the part that is near/under the street would be tricky, maybe that's why it cost so much as the city has to dig the street up and then repave.


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## WirelessG (Mar 22, 2009)

My brother moved into a remodeled house (I think it was originally built in the 60's or 70') about 10 years ago and his sewer pipe collapsed.It cost him around $5k and it was his responsibility because the collapse was some certain distance form his house. I don't know what the critical distance was, but had the collapse been closer to the street, it would have been the city's responsibility.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

That is typical in just about every city out there. Some infrastructures in this country date back to Colonial days, and still have not been updated.


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## no1hustler (Aug 11, 2010)

I think your neighbor is a sewer insurance salesman.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

Maybe there was more involved than just the sewer pipe. I've got a pretty good quote on my sewer lateral replacemet of $2000 for the whole run under the driveway to where it comes out of the ground in my crawlspace, and with that quote I also had another $6000 to replace the driveway plus $10,000 to pour a foundation wall (I have no foundation). So all together it will be $18000, but for the time being I'm just getting the sewer pipe and a gravel driveway for $2600.


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## SamB (Apr 28, 2011)

*Check with your city*

In my city, the city will pay for part of it. My friend had to have one replaced in her backyard. Had to dig down 15 feet. Since it also impacted the neighbor behind her she ended up only paying a third. City 1/3, neighbor 1/3, and her 1/3. I think hers ended up being around 1500 for her portion. Worth checking.


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

I thought if I gave this a bump with some info there would be more responses. There is some info on Google about sewer insurance so it is probably not a complete urban legend. The posings I saw were in the neighborhood of 12 dollars a month so it sounds like one of those feel good insurances like the phone co sells on interior wiring and hardware or like the 5 dollar a month accidental damage insurance Verizon Wireless sells for cell phones.

I also though 20k sounded like a lot of money for a sewer pipe. I paid in the neighborhood of 300 to replace my water service.


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## Docwhitley (Jul 19, 2010)

Well.... I am sitting at the VA right now and I can not think of the name for some reason but, I have an Insurance company that is as someone else said a supplemental insurance company that only covers the Main water line and the sewer line. I will post the name when I get back in the office. The premium is around 30 a quarter which seems fair to me. Big part for me is that I have never had a claim disputed.

Couple oother things.... $300 for a water main is cheap. I wont touch even a small one for less than $1000 but, it is relative to where you live... here the pipe must be 3 feet deep.... Some places it only needs to be 12 inches.

The Most I have been paid for a sewer was 18000 and I was 3000 below next lowest bid. Sewer line was 12 feet deep at the house but, 26 feet at the street. So 20k is easily possible.

I recommend keeping up on technology if you are worried about your sewer and if there are a lot of them collapsing in the area well it might be time to start investigating. What I would look for is a company that is doing Sewer linings. The procedure will basically inject an epoxy lining through the pipe leaving a completely seamless interior. This prevents any digging at all. Cost is about the same as if you did just a basic sewer but, if the "old Man" that paid me 18K would have listened to me he would have saved about 15K plus all of the Landscaping. 

Other thing to look at is does you current insurance cover the excavating portion.... Some do... Some dont...


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## alecmcmahon (Apr 30, 2010)

Thanks, I actually found out my water company offers " Line Care " insurance.

http://www.middlesexwater.com/share/html/LineCare/

But it sounds like it's hard to qualify, They come out and do an inspection- They'll run a camera through and check for roots, cracks, etc. Then decide if your approved or not.  
My house was built in the 50's, so im sure there will be cracks and roots and such.. If i didn't have these things i wouldn't want line care insurance!

fools.

I'll keep the board updated incase anybody else is interested.


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## MegaMagma39 (Apr 16, 2011)

Wow...if they do all that to determine if you're qualified, I would think that chances are the only people who are going to qualify would be those whose pipes are in perfect condition! Sounds like a true scam to me...


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

Docwhitley said:


> $300 for a water main is cheap. I wont touch even a small one for less than $1000 but, it is relative to where you live... here the pipe must be 3 feet deep.... Some places it only needs to be 12 inches


Well the village supplied the labor to hook up the water service on both ends. I bought the 1 inch copper pipe from them at their cost so that was a big help. The guy I hired to dig up the old service and bury the new work afterword charged 275. So all in all, probably closer to 350. And yeah it is 4 ft deep.

Interestingly, someone had dug this up before and there was a spliced on piece of galvanized in the middle of the original 3/4" copper.


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## dtsman (Jan 1, 2011)

Here is a picture of mine being done last year. It was no where near 20k. I could have saved alot of money by digging the trench myself, but a team of 3 had the trench dug in less than a full day. They added a cleanout at the far end. This is it waiting for the inspector before back fill.




Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy. 
(Red Green)


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## alecmcmahon (Apr 30, 2010)

dtsman said:


> Here is a picture of mine being done last year. It was no where near 20k. I could have saved alot of money by digging the trench myself, but a team of 3 had the trench dug in less than a full day. They added a cleanout at the far end. This is it waiting for the inspector before back fill.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Nice, but it does look like yours is about 24"-36" down, the sewer line in my property is about 12 feet below ground.


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## dtsman (Jan 1, 2011)

Wow 12' is deep. I am in south Texas. No freeze line here, but clay that will break a shovel handle.



Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy. 
(Red Green)


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## Docwhitley (Jul 19, 2010)

Forgot to post this the other day

http://www.homeserveusa.com/Solutions.html


I have had good luck with them.


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