Does your homeowners insurance cover sewer back-ups?
The District makes every effort to be responsive to customer needs and concerns when a sewer backup occurs. The District inspects, cleans and maintains sewers on a regularly scheduled basis. Unfortunately, because a sewer is not a closed system, many things put into the sewer can clog the system. The District does not generally accept responsibility or assume liability for sewage backup incidents resulting from blockages within District lines. Blockages may result from causes not within District control such as vandalism, improper disposal of grease and solid waste products, unpredictable tree or plant root growth invading sewer pipe joints and customer connections, as well as other causes unknown or undiscoverable by the District in sufficient time to take corrective action. Large amounts of grease from restaurants and disposable (and cloth) diapers are two common items that cause problems.
Many homeowners’ insurance policies exclude damage resulting from sewer backups. The District urges you to check with your home insurer regarding the availability of additional sewer backup insurance. We have found that adding coverage for backups is relatively inexpensive, and we encourage all our customers to obtain coverage for sewer backups.
See the EMERGENCY SERVICES tab to learn more about what to do in the event of a sewer backup.
