Does your Homeowner's Insurance cover this?

Chanhassen homeowners cleaning up after sewage backup

Excerpt:

Chanhassen residents cleaning up after a broken water main sent raw sewage pouring into their homes have discovered yet another chapter in the catastrophe: Insurance may not cover the damage.

At around 7:30 Wednesday night, an 8-inch water main ruptured near the block of 8600 Chanhassen Hills Drive South. The rupture sent thousands of water gushing into sewer lines. The sewage ultimately ended up in more than a dozen homes in the area.

But residents say they can handle the accident, just not what they've discovered in its aftermath.

"The flooding itself, it happens. You deal with it," said Humphrey McKenzie about the mess.

"[But] it's irritating, because you buy home owner's insurance because you expect it to protect you from things that take away from your home value. Things that make your home less valuable, and to me, this is just one of those situations," he added.

McKenzie and his neighbors discovered what experts admit is a lesser-known truth of homeowners' insurance policies -- they don't always cover sewage backup disasters.

"It's not covered under a regular home owner's policy. But for a very small amount of money extra, you can add a rider, called 'back up of sewer and drain endorsement,'" said Mark Kulda with the Insurance Federation of Minnesota.

Kulda said the coverage -- which costs between $25-$30 a year -- can go a long way toward mitigating the damage. Kulda acknowledges a strict "cap" on what the coverage will pay for -- the cap will vary depending on the policy -- but he says it's still worth picking up the additional insurance.

And he recommends all homeowners review their own policies.

Comment: I checked my Allstate policy and we are covered for $ 10,000 with a $ 1,000 deductible. I increased it today to a $ 20,000 level with an inexpensive rider.