Before you need it
Before You Need It: The What-If House
Walk through a fictional house and find the questions worth asking a licensed agent.
Basement
It came up the drain.
Water pushes up through the floor drain and spreads toward the storage boxes. Most policies treat this as backup, which is usually excluded unless an endorsement was added.
Select a detail in the scene to read what it raises.
One useful distinction
Backup is water that starts in the pipes and comes up into the house. Groundwater seeping through the walls or floor is usually treated as flood or seepage and excluded. A backup caused by an outside flood is often called flood too, even though it arrived through the drain. Look for the words water backup, sewer, drain, or sump under Optional Coverages or Forms and Endorsements on your declarations page, or ask.
Questions for your licensed agent
- Does my policy include a water or sewer backup endorsement, and where is it listed?
- What is the limit, does it cover both the structure and my belongings, and which deductible applies?
- Would a backup caused by heavy rain be treated as flood under my policy?
That explains the situation. What does your policy say?
A CoverageDecoder report takes your answers, and your policy if you upload it, and explains in plain English what it addresses, what it limits, what it leaves out, and what you pay first. Your questions for the agent come written, with an email ready to send.
Works for homeowners, renters, condo and townhouse owners, and first-time buyers. No policy yet? The report works from your answers alone.
Read the full sewer backup guide
Source for review: Insurance Information Institute, water backup and sump pump overflow coverage https://www.iii.org/ (link opens in a new tab). Sources are for review and general education.
CoverageDecoder is educational only. It does not sell insurance and does not give advice about your specific policy. Your actual policy and a licensed agent control any decision.