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Does home insurance cover blocked drains?
We woke up one morning to find a bunch of water in our basement. Our drains were blocked and our pipes were backing up. We had to call out a plumber to fix it. He found tree roots had grown through our pipe, causing a backup. It was expensive, so I’d like to be reimbursed if possible. Will our home insurance cover blocked drains?
Emily Maracle · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Trees love water, which is a frustrating part of homeownership! It’s incredibly common for tree roots to break through pipes, which often causes a backup.
Home insurance
will cover blocked drains in some instances, but typically only if you have a water back up endorsement. A water back up and sump discharge or overflow endorsement covers damage caused by backed-up sewers and drains. That said, negligence and neglect are still excluded from coverage.
Since a tree root damaged your pipes and led to the blocked drains, your insurance company could choose to deny coverage. As a property owner, insurance companies believe you should continue to care for your home and ensure preventable damage doesn’t occur, even if it’s accidental or unexpected.
While it’s difficult to know whether a tree is infiltrating your pipes, your insurance company expects you to periodically snake your drains to ensure backups don’t occur.
To confirm what coverage you have under your home insurance policy, you’ll want to contact your provider. An agent can provide you with more information regarding your policy and its exclusions.
If you’d like to look into adding coverage or a new insurance company,
Jerry
can provide you with competitive quotes in under a minute. Swapping is just as effortless. To save even more money, Jerry can help you bundle your home and auto policies for maximum savings.View full answer
- Gregory R.
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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