Information Homeowners Should Know

UNDERSTAND SEWER AND DRAIN BACKUP

Water backups do not only cause damage that is difficult and expensive to repair, but it also creates health hazards in your home. 

Most homeowner's insurance policies do not cover sewer backup unless specific sewer or drain water backup coverage is added to the policy. Typically it is stated in Section I – Property Exclusions, water damage is excluded if caused by water or water-borne material which backs up through sewers or drains or which overflows or is discharged from a sump, sump pump or related equipment. 

The insurance company does not insure the city against the consequences of its poorly maintained sewer lines. Clogged drains are considered a maintenance problem, not a "sudden and accidental" event. Many people may not realize that they are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their house or sewer pipeline between the city sanitary sewers main. According to many city ordinances, these lines are the homeowner’s responsibility and homeowners are responsible for making repairs to these lines. Some cities offer a sewer backup protection program that may provide financial assistance to homeowners who install systems to protect their homes from sewer backup during a heavy rain event. See if your city offers any type of program to help in the event of a sewer back up.

When sewers and drains back up into homes the damaged area must be addressed by professionals. Rainbow International addresses water damage due to sewer and drain back up by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the damaged area to reduce the risk of disease. If you thought all water damage problems are cleaned up the same, Rainbow International has a professional perspective to share. As IICRC certified water damage restoration professionals, our job is to identify the water source, properly categorize the water damage situation based on the water source and time frame, and from there we have a plan for clean-up, following the ANSI/IICRC S500 guide to water damage restoration. Water damage is categorized level 1, 2, or 3. See the article: Water Damage - Categories of Water Loss.  Sewer back up is considered a category 3 water loss since it is highly contaminated and could cause serious illness. Water contaminated with sewage may contain a number of bacteria and viruses that can affect your health. The major health concern is related to organisms that affect the gastrointestinal tract. Our company uses special enzyme solutions that kill bacteria in sewage. This turns contaminated water into clean water.

The cost of restoring your property after sewer backup and drain backup can be thousands of dollars. You can avoid this out of pocket expense by adding sewer backup coverage to your insurance policy. A small premium every year is a small price to pay for significant peace of mind and protection. Rainbow International handles many sewer back and drain backup losses and we often find that many of the clients we service have to pay out pocket since they did not have this additional coverage in their policy. 

Reasons for sewer and drain backup

• Combined pipelines
• Aging sewer systems
• Blockages from tree roots
• Blockage in the sanitary main
• Abundance of rainwater from heavy rain storms