# Home Insurance - sewer backup protection question



## kubatron (Jan 17, 2011)

Hello

I received my annual renewal form this week and TD Meloche has cut down on the amount of coverage it'll provide for sewer back-up protection to $15K. This seems awfully low, does it not? A sewer back-up issue would be very costly to fix because of the mess that it is. Anyone care to share experiences if I should shop around and get other quotes or is $15K enough to cover this kind of incident? I'm overly panicked about being insured (or, not insured enough).

Thx!
Kuba


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Getting rid of the smell is the worst problem. If you have carpet, you will tear it up and replace it. If the depth of backup is deep, you will need to tear out lower drywall and after treating the wood studs, replace it. Mold behind the walls can be a serious problem for sensitive people. I think $15k would be good for anyone with DIY skills. But for many repairs it will just be a help.

We had a backup and managed to contain it to my workshop area with sandbags. Right outside the door was our carpeted games room! We also stopped all use of water until we got it fixed (2 days).


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

I think there is another thread on the same issue. 
If the sewer itself backed up, due to excess ground water getting into the sanitary sewer system, chances are that this could result in a lawsuit against the municipality..
provided of course that there was no ground water getting into the basement from flooded yards etc. 
If so, the insurance may not cover flood waters, unless you have a separate rider for that. Most insurance companies these days (especially after the Alberta and Toronto floods
of 2013) may not even offer that any more. I already did some shopping around before I decided to renew again with my current underwriter. Pretty much all are the same these
days. If you had a serious backup and the basement was fully finished with furniture, carpets and drywall, some of the drywall would have to be removed as sanitary sewage is
not a good thing to have soaking into drywall or even the studs. The studs can be treated but the drywall or panelling, once wet would have to be partially or totally removed
including any insulation that got wet. 

As far as the claim, bear in mind that usually you have a $500 to $1000 deductible anyway, and that would come off the top of the sewer backup coverage, so in essence, its only $14K of coverage.
As we discussed in the other thread (sewer backup insurance) in Frugality, about the only way to be sure is to have a plumbing contractor install a sewer backup valve in the main line.
While the cost of that may offset the $1000 deductible, at least it is like sewer backup insurance..peace of mind.


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## WHR_SPUR (Apr 9, 2014)

kubatron said:


> Hello
> 
> I received my annual renewal form this week and TD Meloche has cut down on the amount of coverage it'll provide for sewer back-up protection to $15K. This seems awfully low, does it not? A sewer back-up issue would be very costly to fix because of the mess that it is. Anyone care to share experiences if I should shop around and get other quotes or is $15K enough to cover this kind of incident? I'm overly panicked about being insured (or, not insured enough).
> 
> ...


I use to be a TD Meloche cleint as well as I use to work for them 10 years ago. It is best to shop around and not only compare the price, but also the coverage and who provides the best claims experience (how easy they make the process, and if they actually pay most claims). TD Meloche was one of the only personal line Insurers that was providing the broad sewer back up coverage at the time previous to the June floods in southern Alberta. I'm assuming they got hammered on this exposure and are now bringing their policy in line with other insurers, as well as recouping their losses. I'd also check the the sewer back up coverage they are now providing is the same as last years.

Sewer back up claims can be very expensive to repair. When considering the appropriate limit it is not enough to just consider the repair costs, but also the cost of replacing you damaged contents. I myself have over $15,000 of contents in my basement alone before even considering the cost to clean up and repair the damage.

I moved my business from TD last May because they provided a 10% increase on my auto policy with no claims. I now work for a large multinational insurance brokerage so i got a quote from our personal lines department and it resulted in a decrease of 24%. Take into consideration that with TD Meloche I was receiving a discount for being a member of an alumni association, and i now receive a discount as an employee of the brokerage (they essentially take no commission on my premium and therefore i save the commission amount).


If your concerned about being under insured, as well as getting the best price, my suggestion is to use a personal insurance broker and not dealing with a direct writing company such as TD. An insurance broker is there to ensure that you have the right coverage at the right price. Of course once you determine the appropriate coverage and limits with your broker and get a quote, you should then get quotes online from those direct writing companies for the same coverage and limits and compare them. 

Another benefit to dealing with a broker is once you purchase your insurance through them they owe you a duty of care. If they mess up, or provide incorrect advice as to your coverage or limits you may have a legal recourse against them should you suffer a loss that is not covered by the policy which the broker advised you would be.

If you do decide to use a broker it is best to use a truly independent broker. This means that they have access to a larger amount of insurers to place your business. Most brokers for personal lines are either owned directly by an insurer such as Brokerlink which is owned by ING, or an insurer provided some or all of the funds for the brokerage to be established. Not to say these types of brokerages don't offer other options when it comes to insurers, they just often offer less options for insurers, and are mostly set up to place a majority of their business with the parent company. That being said all insurance professionals are required to act in utmost good faith and do what is best for the client.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

See related thread under Frugality. http://canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/17936-Sewage-Backup-insurance


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

OhGreatGuru said:


> See related thread under Frugality. http://canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/17936-Sewage-Backup-insurance


I think we have to separate what is sewer backup from flooded basements due to flooding from surrounding ground water coming in from torrential rains, such as Calgary and Toronto 
experienced last summer. I doubt that any insurance company out there after "taking a bath" financially will be too eager to provide broad coverage for floods anymore, their risk
is too high in view of climatic changes that may (or may not be taking place).

If your house happens to be in a area where there is torrential rains AND some of that water finds it's way into the sanitary sewer system, the normal sewage in the sanitary trunk
sewer(s) will get so high that water will come back into the sewer line into your house. If that happens, the risk of flooding from any lower level toilets (like any toilets that
happen to be below ground level in the basement) WILL overflow as there is no check valve inside the standard toilets out there. 

That will be difficult to stop the water coming in that case, because unlike cold water from the municipal system, there is no master shut off valve in a toilet.
If the flooding is short term, only the carpets and floor coverings/lower part of the walls will get affected. However, if the flooding from the sewer is more prolonged,
well...the basement is underground and since the water will come out of the toilet unchecked...the water level could rise in a few hours...that means, the furnace,
the washer/dryer and any electrical appliance in the basement could get damaged beyond repair..if the power is still there. 

About the only thing that will stop the toilets from overflowing (and a toilet plunger will not help in this case) is that backwater valve installed in the main sewage line.

Here's the other consideration..not only could you get dirty sewer water coming into your basement, but the bacteria that is in the raw sewage.
The backwater valve makes sense, however if it is activated by sewage coming back into the house, you will not be able to use any of the toilets for very
long either as 12 litres per flush will fill up the pipe from the lowest toilet to the backwater valve, but this is a minor problem compared to the other.


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## buddyb (Aug 8, 2014)

*TD Meloche - Sewer Backup coverage reduction*



kubatron said:


> Hello
> 
> I received my annual renewal form this week and TD Meloche has cut down on the amount of coverage it'll provide for sewer back-up protection to $15K. This seems awfully low, does it not? A sewer back-up issue would be very costly to fix because of the mess that it is. Anyone care to share experiences if I should shop around and get other quotes or is $15K enough to cover this kind of incident? I'm overly panicked about being insured (or, not insured enough).
> 
> ...



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Looks like I'm in a similar canoe. TD Meloche just cut my coverage from 15k to 5k, which in my mind is totally wrong. That amount probably won't cover the inspection costs to review the damage after an "event". (I'm nowhere near a flood plain).

I have yet to re-address the change and the reasons for it. If TD Meloche now want a main-line sewer backwater valve installed to minimize damage, fair enough. If that still shuts me out of a reasonable amount of home protection - then it's time for me to go shopping for a new insurance provider. And I won't be looking just for Home insurance.

Hope to hear how others are dealing with this type of issue.

Buddyb


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