Is Water and Sewer Line Protection Insurance Worth it? (credit card, contractor)
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everything in life we insure against is always something with pretty low odds of happening , but these are things , which if we were the unlucky ones on the wrong side of the statistic it would be a financial hardship .
when these breaks happen , they can be many thousands of dollars
Every couple of months a letter from NYC DEP arrives offering water and sewer line protection insurance for our home from a company called American Water Resources (AWR). Supposedly this will cover any costs and repairs in the case your lines leak or breaks.
The costs of the insurance is $4.49 per month for water line protection and $8.47 per month for sewer line protection. On paper, it seems like a decent deal especially if the pipes from your home to the street are old.
At the same time, after some research, the company AWR is getting mixed reviews. Their terms and conditions has a long list of exceptions they will not cover. Also, been seeing some complaints from people that their contractors would make excuses such as "pre-existing conditions" to get out of repairs they are supposed to cover.
Have any of you received this letter and what are your thoughts if it is worth it? If you've decided to join, what has been your experience like?
An old jewish man told me a very very long time ago when I was a young lad..... Insurance .....Insurance.... Insurance....
I have this and more with Homeserve. Does it cost money. Heck yeah. Is it worth it. Not until something major breaks.
My thermostat failed during a bliizard while I was away and my wife was home alone. One phone call. 1 hour later. All better.
So what are you getting out of it? Peace of mind my friend...piece of mind.......
As someone who works for DEP. You want this is insurance it’s low cost and will save you thousands. Most of last winter I had to explain to people that because the water line is broke. You have 2 options 1- get it fixed by an outside outfit or 2- don’t get it fixed and our crews will come out dig up the street and turn your tap off. Leaving the home with no water at all. Now the people who had the insurance I believe it’s like 13$ or so a month had no worries at all... Fresh water is about 6-10k to fix depending on where your line taps into the main and sewer is 11-20k. Just get the insurance.
I just signed up for it. They bill the premium on the city issued water bill. I spend $13 a month on things I don't need. If I live in this house another 50 years and the pipe breaks I will be thousands ahead compared to the repair and the premium I have been paying.
Google the company and read the complaints that claims were denied for various reasons. Here's one in Queens that was deemed to be a pre-existing condition a year after coverage:
Google the company and read the complaints that claims were denied for various reasons. Here's one in Queens that was deemed to be a pre-existing condition a year after coverage:
You can't be told it is a pre existing conditon ( pre inspection ) if prior to contract a camera inspection was never conducted.
The assumption of sewer being operational during contract falls on them. Their responsibility. I can't see you not winning in small claims.
Just an opinion.
We got the insurance for our house years ago. Has paid for itself 10 fold.
Two years ago our sewer had to be replaced. Fully covered! We saw no bill.
Since then we have had multiple sewer backups for various reasons that they came and fixed. All included in the low monthly fee.
Our neighbors sewer also broke shortly after ours, she didn't get the insurance. She was literally up a "Creek" because she was getting quotes of $15-$18,000 for replacement. She finally took a loan out to repair. Sucks for her.
This is a NO BRAINER and their customer service has been helpful when needed
Just for the record, everyone here is calling it "insurance". It's not described as insurance by the company or the DEP, it's called a "protection program". There must be a legal difference, maybe just that it's not regulated by the NYS Department of Financial Services which regulates insurance.
The concept is great but there are quite a few complaints about claims not being covered that seemingly should be covered.
They will cover all the things that DO NOT happen to you.
They will weasel out of paying anything that DOES happen to you.
Insurance companies DO NOT lose money.
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